PhD at TU Delft developing co-design methodologies for accessible AI/XR technologies.
Job description
TACIT Project
Around 25% of the Dutch population lives with long-term visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities and diversities, often facing barriers to participation, equity, and inclusion. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), which mandates that EU service providers ensure digital accessibility by 2025, marks a critical step toward reducing these inequalities. However, technology that is not co-designed with the communities it is intended to serve often fails to address real needs and is not widely adopted. The TACIT project aims to improve access to public services, expedite compliance with the EAA, promote innovation in assistive technology, and encourage broader societal inclusion through equitable, inclusive, and human-centered design.
PhD on Inclusive Co-Design Methodology
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join the TACIT project, focusing on accessibility, disability studies, (co-)design methods, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The ideal candidate is passionate about creating socially impactful inclusive co-design methods and eager to collaborate directly with people with disabilities, caregivers, designers, technology developers, and other relevant stakeholders.
Position Overview
In this PhD position, you will contribute to a key work package within TACIT that aims to enable disabled communities to lead AI and XR-enabled technology development in partnership with diverse stakeholders. Your research will focus on co-creating a comprehensive methodology for collaborative design that can be applied to current and future accessibility projects, ensuring that diverse voices are justly included in the design process. Your research will specifically study the work, methods, and experiences of co-designing through hands-on collaboration and real-world case studies.
Note: A related Ph.D. Position focusing on understanding inclusivity and participation in co-design activities with disabled communities is available at the University of Amsterdam's Informatics Institute. Applicants may apply for both positions.
What You'll Do
In this PhD position, you will develop and validate inclusive co-design methodologies for transdisciplinary accessibility projects. Specifically, you will:
- Scrutinize existing research methodologies in practice: Examine existing multistakeholder collaborations addressing accessibility challenges using ethnographic research, field studies, and research-through-design.
- Engage directly with communities: Work with disabled communities, technology developers, and other project stakeholders to identify their needs for co-design methods for inclusive AI and XR technologies, and to understand their experiences with these technologies.
- Iterative development and validation of co-design methodologies: Collaborate with disabled communities and other stakeholders to guide the development, testing, and validation of co-design methods, and consolidate insights for best practices and design guidelines.
- Collaborate across the TACIT project: Collaborate with other PhD candidates and researchers working on the project to share insights and learn from its different sub-projects.
The successful PhD candidate will be based at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of TU Delft (Netherlands) and collaborate with all partners in the TACIT project.
Job requirements
The successful PhD candidate will have:
- Master's degree (or equivalent) in Design Sciences, Human-Computer Interaction, Disability Studies, Social Sciences or a related field.
- Ability and willingness to work in a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder team including working with people with disabilities.
- Excellent research and design skills
- Proficiency in written and verbal English
- Fluency in Dutch is recommended but not mandatory
- Prior publications and experience in the fields mentioned above are assets but not a requirement
TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.
At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.
Challenge. Change. Impact!
Faculty Industrial Design Engineering
Matching the evolution of people with the speed of the revolution of technology. This is the focus of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). Delft designers act as a bridge between advances in technology and the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.
IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as its development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in our inspiring hall, labs and studios.
In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs we rehearse possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future. here to go to the website of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.
Conditions of employment
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.
As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.
Coming to Delft Service, offers information on their website to help you prepare your relocation. In addition, Coming to Delft Service organises events to help you settle in the Netherlands, and expand your (social) network in Delft. A Dual Career Programme is available, to support your accompanying partner with their job search in the Netherlands.
Additional information
Application procedure
Please note that if you lean too heavily on ChatGPT or a similar LLM, your application letter will be very generic and difficult for us to judge.
Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.
- You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
- As part of knowledge security, TU Delft conducts a risk assessment during the recruitment of personnel. We do this, among other things, to prevent the unwanted transfer of sensitive knowledge and technology. The assessment is based on information provided by the candidates themselves, such as their motivation letter and CV, and takes place at the final stages of the selection process. When the outcome of the assessment is negative, the candidate will be informed. The processing of personal data in the context of the risk assessment is carried out on the legal basis of the GDPR: performing a public task in the public interest. You can find more information about this assessment on our website about knowledge security.
- Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.