About the DECIDE ProjectThe
DECIDE project is a large-scale, NWO-funded research initiative under the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA). It brings together
10 Dutch universities, over
50 academic researchers, and
30 societal partners in an ambitious inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration. Our shared mission is to develop strategies towards the design and implement a new generation of
transparent, citizen-empowering AI systems, with a focus on
AI-supported decision-making that contribute to
the empowerment and democratic participation of citizens.
The project addresses real-world challenges across domains such as
healthcare, mobility, public governance, and healthy lifestyles. By co-developing strategies with societal stakeholders, DECIDE aims to create solutions that have tangible impact on society.
Your Role as a PhD studentAs a PhD candidate, you will be part of a
multidisciplinary team of PhD students and become part of a
vibrant inter- and transdisciplinary research community. You will:
- Collaborating across disciplines and with societal stakeholders to achieve real-world impact.
- Participate in joint training programs on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research methods, citizen engagement, and ethical AI.
- Contribute to cutting-edge research that bridges theory and practice.
Project structureDECIDE is organized into
10 work packages (WPs):
- Six WPs focus on disciplinary perspectives in psychology, education, computer sciences, law, and philosophy.
- Four WPs address citizen-empowerment-scenarios (CES) in healthcare, mobility, public governance, and healthy living.
Each PhD position is embedded in one work package and supervised by a
multidisciplinary team of academic and societal experts. Detailed descriptions of the work packages and their interconnections are available on the DECIDE website
https://decideproject.nl/We are looking for an excellent and enthusiastic
PhD researcher to join the DECIDE project at the
University of Twente. Your research will focus on the work package that is dedicated to
Education. In your project, you will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of teachers to design, implement, and evaluate an educational program that fosters a
new type of AI literacy in university students. The instructional approach that will be used is Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) in which multi-disciplinary teams of students learn by conducting research and design projects on a societal problem in collaboration with stakeholders.
Your educational design research will be supervised by the section of
Instructional Technology (IST), while the design and implementation of the educational program will be supervised by the
Philosophy section of the BMS faculty. Additionally, you will be part of the multi-disciplinary team of participants in this work package.
In this project, you will participate in a Professional Learning Community of teachers and educational specialists from Universities of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Saxion, Hogeschool van Amsterdam), Vocational Education (ROC van Twente, ROC van Amsterdam) and Kohnstamm Institute, who aim at mutual exchange of experiences and instructional materials targeting the design of educational programs on AI literacy in different professional settings.
As part of your role, you will:
- Conduct original design-based research within the field of education, resulting in a PhD thesis.
- Collaborate with other PhD candidates, postdocs, and societal partners across the consortium, including participation in the Professional Learning Community.
- Participate in DECIDE training programs, workshops, and summer schools, and participate in the Twente Graduate School.
- Gain practical experience in large-scale open-source AI software projects, such as ASReview.
- Engage in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary activities, including citizen science and co-design initiatives.