Challenge: The main challenge of the project is to investigate how endocrinological stress affects behaviour, cognition, and affect, in interactive environments, e.g., video games, with the goal to establish game-based digital biomarkers of stress and investigate the robustness of digital biomarkers of stress natural gameplay. In this project, you will develop and adapt videogame environments, conduct lab and online studies, evaluate experiential and behavioural research data, and present your work at international conferences. You will have the chance to build a national and international network positioning you for future academic and industrial research.

Embeddedness: You will be embedded in the Systemic Change group in Industrial Design where we investigate technological interventions in the context of contemporary societal challenges, with a strong affiliation with the Future Everyday group where we bridge the gap between emerging technologies and people's everyday life. You will be part of a thriving PhD community involved in projects ranging from health care to game technology, to the aesthetics of artificial intelligence. You will be part of an eclectic group of technologists, passionate researchers, and experienced practitioners—your work will be positioned between curiosity-driven research, societal relevance, and concrete impact.

Contribution: Connected to both groups, you will contribute to the construction of digital biomarkers to enable research approaches to study pathologies beyond stress unobtrusively, opening perspectives on how pathologies manifest in digital behaviour. The goal of your work will be to go beyond existing approaches and establish novel methods and protocols that advance our understanding of digital trace data, pathology, and the deliberate construction of digital biomarkers.

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e): Where innovation starts, and people matter! TU/e is a young university, founded in 1956 by industry, local government and academia. Today, this spirit of collaboration is still at the heart of the university community. We foster an open culture where everyone feels free to exchange ideas and take initiatives.

Eindhoven University of Technology combines scientific curiosity with a hands-on mentality. Fundamental knowledge enables us to design solutions for the highly complex problems of today and tomorrow. We understand things by making them and we make things by understanding them.

Our campus is in the center of one of the most powerful technology hubs in the world: Brainport Eindhoven. Globally, we stand out when it comes to collaborating with advanced industries.

Together with other institutions, we form a thriving ecosystem with one common aim—to improve quality of life through sustainable innovations.

The Department of Industrial Design (ID) is one of the nine departments of TU/e and has an internationally leading position, conducting exciting research on the intersection of Design, Technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Social Sciences and Humanities. In particular, the department aims to inspire and educate a new generation of design engineers who can contribute with their novel designs, their fluency in AI/ML algorithms and data, and their academic critical questioning, to the imminent and complex societal challenges our world is facing today.
https://www.tue.nl/en/our-university/departments/industrial-design.

• A master's degree (or an equivalent university degree) in Computer Science, Cognitive Psychology, Data Science, Game Design, or Industrial Design.
• Affinity with topics related to affective computing, interaction design, and games user research will be an asset for this project.
• A research-oriented attitude.
• Ability to work in a team.
• Fluent in spoken and written English.

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university with the possibility to present your work at international conferences.
• A full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months.
• To develop your teaching skills, you will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• To support you during your PhD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will make a Training and Supervision plan and you will have free access to a personal development program for PhD students (PROOF program).
• A gross monthly salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• Should you come from abroad and comply with certain conditions, you can make use of the so-called '30% facility', which permits you not to pay tax on 30% of your salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.