Category: Announcements

Our partner at Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Assistant. Apply now!

Where: Faculteit Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, TU/e
Duration: 22 months (1.0 FTE)
Start: ASAP

Job description

The Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) has several BSc and MSc programs in two separate schools. The School of Innovation Sciences focuses on the development and use of new technologies in a broad societal context. Research is multi-disciplinary, based on fundamental scientific insights and methods. Main areas of interest are economics and sociology of technological developments, sustainable innovation policy, human-technology interaction, and the history and philosophy of technology.

The Human-Technology Interaction (HTI) Group of the School of Innovation Sciences concentrates expertise in both social sciences and engineering, studying technology and its relations to humans and human well-being, within the broader context of a socially and ecologically sustainable society. The HTI group has a strong track record in education at the TU/e, running the BSc program Psychology and Technology and a (international) Master program in Human-Technology Interaction. Current research topics at the Human-Technology Interaction group include data science, affective computing, persuasive technology, virtual environments, digital gaming, recommender systems, online behavior, interactive lighting, robotics, embodied interfaces, and smart environments.

Project Context
In the past, cyberattacks would be largely limited to cyberspace, but since the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) they now routinely extend to the physical world, with smart homes, cars, wearables and other highly computerized and networked systems becoming victim to cyberattacks. In the European project ‘Cocoon: Emotion psychology meets cyber-physical security in IoT smart homes’ the focus is on smart homes. The home ought to be a safe haven where the occupant can experience a sense of privacy and control, of personal autonomy, and the integrity of one’s self and one’s family members. These qualities are at stake when the IoT network security is compromised. This project is a collaboration between TU/e,  University of Reading, University of Greenwich, Gent University, and ETH Zurich.

Goal of the project
The project combines technological research in the domain of cybersecurity and psychological research on people’s reactions to IoT or smart home related cyberattacks, including the effects on people’s relationships with their home (e.g., place attachment). By taking such interdisciplinary approach, the project aims to better understand the risks and possible long-terms consequences of cyberattacks, but also to develop and test novel tools for intrusion detection and for educating home owners in how to best manage their IoT / smart home infrastructure and data (e.g., through visualization methods). A large part of the research will be conducted in naturalistic field trials involving households in the participating countries. The HTI group will be actively involved in setting up these field trials and conducting psychological research aimed at explaining the short- and long-term effects of cyberattacks on occupants’ sense of home and related well-being.

Role and requirements

The candidate should have a PhD in environmental psychology, social psychology, human-technology interaction, or a related discipline. We are looking for candidates with an interest in developing and conducting psychological research in the context of smart homes, and to inform the user-centered design of IoT security tools. Candidates who are knowledgeable of or have an affinity with people-place relations and place attachment are in particular invited to apply. Candidates should have proven track record in managing, designing and conducting field research, and have solid experience with empirical research methods and the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Successful candidates have excellent writing and documentation skills, good analytical and research capabilities, and excellent communication and organization skills, in particular in the context of multidisciplinary and international research projects.

Position details

We offer:

• a challenging job in a dynamic and ambitious University;
• full-time employment as a Postdoctoral research for a period of 22 months;
• gross salary is in the range of € 42.817 – € 56.214 per annum (on a full-time basis), this includes 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end of year allowance;
• a broad package of fringe benefits (including an excellent technical infrastructure, child care, moving expenses, savings schemes, and excellent sports facilities);

More information

Information
More detailed information can be obtained from prof.dr. Wijnand IJsselsteijn (w.a.ijsselsteijn@tue.nl), or dr.ir. Antal Haans (a.haans@tue.nl).
Further information about the appointment can be obtained from: Kim van Puijenbroek, personnel officer IE&IS, (pz.ieis@tue.nl).

Application
Your application must contain the following documents (all in English):

• A letter of interest, stating your motivation to apply
• An extensive curriculum vitae
• At least two names (with email addresses) of people willing to act as references

If you are interested, we invite you to apply before May 31^st , 2017. You can apply by pressing the ‘apply now’ button for this vacancy on the TU/e web-site. We don’t accept applications sent by e-mail. You can only upload the maximum of 5 documents of 2 Mb each. If you have more than 5 documents, you will need to combine them.