You will be engaged in two main areas of activity:

1. Research and supervision (50%)
This work applies HCI methods to develop a comprehensive understanding of urban mobility barriers from the perspective of lived human experience. Methods from Human-Building Interaction are used to examine how people interact with built urban environments. Data-oriented approaches are employed to analyze the impacts of urban mobility barriers on diverse communities, with a particular focus on people living with disabilities. This includes analyzing existing data from Dutch municipalities, open datasets, and data collected by other researchers in the BEAT project. In parallel, qualitative research methods, especially from affective interaction design, are used to capture the emotional and experiential aspects of navigating urban spaces. These methods examine affective metrics such as perceived safety, comfort, and opportunities for social interaction. The outcomes are synthesized into integrated multidisciplinary solutions that combine data-driven analysis with design-oriented approaches to inform inclusive and actionable urban mobility interventions.

2. Project Management and Coordination (50%)
Contributing to the leadership of the BEAT project, which addresses informal urban mobility barriers through a multidisciplinary approach and active collaboration with stakeholders from both public and private sectors. As an experienced multidisciplinary researcher, you will also join the project management team from the early stages of the project, assisting the project lead (Dr. Hamed Alavi) in the scientific management of BEAT. This includes contributing to the overall vision of the project, co-monitoring progress, and co-coordinating internal scientific events and activities.

The successful candidate will have:

• PhD degree in Human-Building Interaction with a design and data-oriented perspective.
• Experience in research in the domain of affective interaction design
• Background in large-scale data engineering
• Personal or professional experience of working with people and communities living with disabilities.
• Experience of work in (and preferably coordination of) multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder teams
• Excellent research skills and strong publication record in HBI and affective interaction
• Proficiency in written and verbal English.
• Dutch language proficiency to the B1 level

We offer a temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 2 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 12 months, and after satisfactory evaluation, it will be extended for a total duration of 2 years). The starting date is September 2026.

The gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 3,546 to € 5,538 (scale 10). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. The UFO profile Researcher 4 is applicable. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Curious about our extensive secondary benefits package? You can read more about it here.