The 4TU.Centre for Engineering and Education and the LDE-Centre for Education and Learning are looking for a PhD candidate in Engineering Education.
Delft University of Technology is investing in Collaborative Design Labs for Education purposes, which allow for concurrent and integrated product development activities in virtual learning environments. Concurrent Design in Engineering Education focuses on improving the efficiency of students’ engineering processes as well as training them in advanced, industry-relevant design techniques with a strong focus on team effort.

Specific use cases include, but are not limited to: Facilitating Bachelors Design for System Engineering projects, Facilitating Masters Design Studies (e.g., Systems Engineering, Engineering of Aerospace Vehicles, Space Mission and Aerospace Vehicle Design Projects or combinations thereof), Facilitating collaborative design phases for student Dream teams, graduate and undergraduate teams of Delft University of Technology participating in competitions and challenges.

From an educational perspective, the collaborative design process makes designing very motivating – it is a highly interactive, dynamic, fast paced method of design. Students can see the holistic result of their work at the end of each stage iteration, which can be in as little time as a single day. The instruction design has the power to facilitate near-instantaneous feedback on the consequences of design decisions at the mission and system level. On a product or mission level, it enables to teach complex interactivity between customers and stakeholders and designers for a validated set of mission requirements and constraints. On a system level, it offers a powerful method to educate students on the inter-dependencies  between subsystems, also using (internal and external) reviews as an important driving force.

The proposed research project shall deliver empirical evidence for effects on student motivation, efficient collaboration of different team perspectives, gain of students on specific skills in design teams, as also the embedded use of different collaboration and personalized learning facilities in a Collaborative Design Lab (CDL). The CDL shall be used as a “design methods and –processes playground”.

Next to the research project, the PhD candidate will fulfil 1 year of teaching activities to support design education as performed at the TU-Delft, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering. Activities may include supervising team design projects in the BSc and MSc as well as supervising MSc thesis students focussing on improved design methods for use in team design projects including the development of vehicle integrated design models. The teaching activities shall contribute to the development of the didactic skills of the candidate and shall be recorded in the training and supervision plan.
You will collaborate with the staff at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering (AE) and be embedded in both the LDE-Centre for Education at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science (EEMC) and the 4TU.Centre for Engineering Education who is sponsoring this project.

You have an MSc degree in a relevant social science or technical discipline (e.g. Education, Instructional Design, Design (interface design), Education Psychology, Sociology) either with a strong affinity and/or experience with engineering design processes or a strong affinity with Education. You are particularly encouraged to apply when you are also versed in the methodologies of social science research and educational evaluations.
Sufficient knowledge of developments in the world of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), online teamwork and collaboration and experience with innovative approaches to digital delivery and practices, and issues surrounding digital copyright, ethics, and ownership is a distinct advantage. Fluency in English is a prerequisite (Cambridge English Proficiency, level C2, oral and written), while non-Dutch speaking applicants shall be willing to learn Dutch (basic level).
You are willing to realise some of the teaching facilitation roles for international audiences. Experience with course development is an asset. You are able to stimulate student learning and to maximize student participation.
You have an open, effective communication style. You are a team player and you have participated actively in project teams within an academic context.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years (+1 year).

Delft University of Technology provides an attractive, internationally-oriented academic environment where young people receive an advanced education and scholars conduct first-rate research.
Remuneration will be according to standard salary levels. This implies a minimum of € 2395 and a maximum of € 3061 gross per month for a full-time appointment of 38 hours per week (salary scale 10, Dutch Universities Conditions of Employment). Each year the standard salary is supplemented with a holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
Delft University of Technology offers a customisable compensation package, a discount for health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. An International Children’s Centre offers childcare and an international primary school. Dual Career Services offers support to accompanying partners. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Delft University of Technology. The Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment; an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor; and a Doctoral Education Programme aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills. Please visit www.tudelft.nl/phd for more information.
Starting date: Preferably 1 September 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter. 

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers both in business and in a social context. TU Delft offers 16 Bachelor’s and 32 Master’s programmes to more than 23,000 students. Our scientific staff consists of 3,500 staff members and 2,800 PhD candidates. Together we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

4TU.CEE and LDE- CEL

The 4 TU Centre for Engineering Education is a consortium of the 4 technical universities, Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, University Twente, Wageningen University and Research. The Centre for Engineering Education The 4TU.CEE aims to gather, develop and implement up-to-date expertise in engineering education. (New) improvements in education are implemented and the effectiveness of these improvements is monitored and analysed. The expertise and experiences of all four partners is exchanged to benefit all partners.
4TU.CEE facilitates teaching staff to improve their teaching competencies by developing, exploring and demonstrating the newest educational methods. An overview of 4TU.CEE, its activities and innovation topics it is involved with can be found in our brochure.

An explicit task of 4TU.CEE is to contribute to the international community of engineering education and to seek cooperation where appropriate. 4TU.CEE collaborates with educational communities such as SEFI, CDIO, and related organisations.
For further information on 4TU.CEE, please consult https://www.4tu.nl/cee/en/about_us/

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Education and Learning (LDE-CEL) is an interuniversity and interdisciplinary research centre as well as an innovation and training platform that aims to discover what makes university learning and teaching work and how it can be innovated and improved. The three universities are the testing ground for continuous innovation and improvement of university learning and teaching. These are the main activities of CEL:
Our universities want their education to be evidence-based. Within the three universities, educational scientists conduct research into education and learning in order to discover the conditions for study success. CEL aims to give a powerful impetus to the development of innovative online, blended, and on-campus teaching strategies and materials. Research in the centre is multidisciplinary and profits from comparative analyses, mixed methods, large research populations and big data. PhD students work on the CEL research programme that concentrates on online learning and covers three main areas. These are the characteristics of:

• The teacher
• The learner
• The learning environment

Within the LDE universities a broader PhD Network is formed to connect all PhDs research  CEL also has national and international partners to contribute to programmes such as SURF and ERASMUS+.
Further information on the LDE – Centre Education and Learning is available on our website: https://www.educationandlearning.nl/about-us.