The Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programme Business & IT (BIT) offers you a 2-year position combining postmaster education and a design project. The educational programme, carried out at the University of Twente, will have an in-depth and broadening character with ample attention for professional development and partly tailored to the design project.
Note: EngD replaces the PDEng degree as of 1 September 2022. This means that if you graduate on or after 1 September 2022, you will receive a diploma with the degree of EngD. EngD is used as a degree already in the United Kingdom (UK) for programs that resemble our programs. We change our degree because the Universities of Applied Science in the Netherlands are starting with Professional Doctorate (PD) trajectories. Therefore, we want to avoid confusion between those trajectories and our programs at academic level. Only the name of the degree changes; the content of our programs is not affected. If you want to know more, please read more here

The challenge & the project
The Pervasive Systems research group at the University of Twente is looking for a PhD and two EngD candidates to perform research and development on a multidisciplinary project involving Digital Twins, Augmented Reality, and Deep Learning. The main research objective for this EngD position is to develop a data platform (for 3D Digital Twins) in which the assets of the two use cases can be modelled and analysed to get insight into the structural condition of the assets such as bridges and sheet pile. We will focus on integrating different and heterogenous sensor data streams, combining in-situ and remote sensing. A suite of event processing and data visualization tools will be developed.

The prospective candidates are expected to perform high quality and internationally visible research that gets published at top tier conferences and journals. Candidates will work at the Pervasive Systems Research group, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. The candidates are expected to collaborate with project partners including TUDelft, TU/e, and Leiden University, but also the asset owners, engineering companies, and research institute TNO.

The vacancies are within the scope of the SUstainaBle and reLIable Macro stEel infra-structures (SUBLIME) project, and is a collaboration between 4 universities, industry, and asset owners. The project is funded by the national research foundation NWO, together with the supporting partners from industry. It merely deals with the degradation of large steel infrastructures through corrosion and fatigue which results in significant unforeseen maintenance or replacement costs. The goal of this project is to improve our knowledge on how to increase the sustainability and reliability of such infrastructures, combining a technical and governance perspective. Predictive digital twins will be developed that integrate structural health monitoring and prediction models.

• You have a Master's degree in either Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Telecommunication Engineering, or Mathematics.
• You have interest and some knowledge on Structural Health Monitoring, Structural Prediction Models, and Digital Twins.
• Knowledge on signal processing, computer vision, embedded systems, cyber-physical-systems, and human interaction is an additional merit.
• Preferably, you have hand-on experience with software development for Structural Health Monitoring (preferentially Digital Twins platforms) combined with intermediate programming skills (e.g. in Java, Python, C#).
• Moreover, we are looking for a strong personality to defend your research ideas not only at university but also in an industrial context.
• You have good communication skills and you have a strong interest in operating at the crossroads of different disciplines.
• We encourage applications from outstanding candidates with a keen interest in doing research in novel methods for real-world applications.
• You are able to do independent research and have publication skills.
• Applicants with a non-Dutch qualification and who have not had secondary and tertiary education in English can only be admitted with an IELTS-test showing a total band score of at least 6.5, Internet TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT) showing a score of at least 90, or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE).

• We offer you a very challenging position for two years in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment. In this time, we will provide you with a tailor-made postmaster design programme that has an educational component (~50%) as well as a design project (~50%).
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU).
• The salary is € 2.089,- gross per month.
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme.
• We provide excellent mentorship and a stimulating research environment with excellent facilities;
• On successfully completing the programme, you will receive a certified degree. You will be entitled to use the academic degree Engineering Doctorate (EngD) and will be registered as a Technological Designer in the Dutch register kept by the Royal Institution of Engineers in the Netherlands (KIVI).