PHD Stress in Action

As a PhD student your main mission is to help the Stress in Action community research and implement the most effective tools for the continuous, reliable and daily life recording of the physiological stress response. You will begin by contributing to data collection and reporting in the Stress in Action validation pipeline at VU where we assess the reliability, validity, and usability of both research-grade and consumer wearables in natural settings. These include smartwatches, rings, skin patches, stretch-band electrodes, and sensor-infused clothing. With the most promising tools selected for stress assessment in daily life you will then coordinate an extensive study that uses this toolkit in the Netherlands Twin Register. Monozygotic and dizygotic twins will be monitored in daily life for a period of six months using wearables, passive sensing and Ecological Momentary assessment. In the first two days we also employ the VU-AMS that measures the heart period time series, blood pressure, the pre-ejection period, electrodermal activity, and peak-valley based respiratory sinus arrhythmia as measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. Your thesis will be grounded in the rich, high-resolution datasets generated through the validation pipeline and this ambitious cohort study. You’ll focus on ambulatory psychophysiology, exploring which features are most predictive of stress-protective lifestyles (e.g. exercise), coping and personality styles, and polygenetic risk for stress-related cardiometabolic and mental health outcomes.

• MSc-degree (research master) in (bio)psychology, neuroscience, behavior genetics, health sciences, biomedical technology, medical physics, computer science or a related discipline (also candidates close to graduating are encouraged to apply)
• Strong interest in experimental (psycho)physiological research and/or advanced signal analytics
• Knowledge of predictive modelling using multilevel models or machine learning approaches
• Familiarity and/or affinity with behavior genetics and genetic epidemiology
• Programming skills in Python, R, Matlab or other tools for physiological signal analysis
• Strong affinity and preferably experience with writing research papers
• English conversation, writing skills, and presentation skills
• Communication and social skills

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

• a salary of minimum € 2.901,00 (PhD) in the first year and maximum € 3.707,00 (PhD) in the fourth year gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile PhD candidate.
• Your employment contract will initially last 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• contribution to commuting expenses
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
• solid pension scheme (ABP)

About the project
In the Stress in Action project, 95 multidisciplinary scientists from six Dutch Universities collaborate around the theme ‘stress in daily life’. Divided over three Research Themes and three Support Cores, the Stress in Action consortium, we will validate daily-life stress assessments, examine which contextual factors contribute to the experience of daily-life stress, and examine how daily-life stress leads to the development of both mental and cardiometabolic diseases. The project is funded through the Dutch Scientific Organization under the Gravitation program. More details can be found here: www.stress-in-action.nl

About the department
At the department Biological Psychology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam we conduct research and education on the causes of individual differences in health behaviours and disease outcomes using the Netherlands Twin Register as a main resource. It is a department with a long tradition in stress research where enthusiastic and ambitious academics work on generating knowledge and translating this to improvements in health and wellbeing. Our research on the role of genetic and environmental factors - including stress- belongs to the international top. For the Stress in Action project, there is a close connection with researchers from University of Twente, Erasmus Medical Center, Amsterdam UMC, the University of Groningen and its UMC Groningen, and Utrecht University.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
Developing knowledge for an active, healthy and meaningful life: that is our mission at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at VU Amsterdam. We maintain a broad focus on the fields of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society. From healthy aging to e-health, and from training top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education. A multidisciplinary approach allows us to arrive at a better understanding of human behaviour and movement. Our aims are to help people live healthier lives, learn better and function better.

Are you interested in joining Behavioural and Movement Sciences? You are the kind of person who feels at home working in an ambitious faculty, with an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We offer you all the space you need for personal development. Together with your 630 colleagues, you will take care of about 4,200 students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.