Post-doctoral researcher in human-centered digital co-design

Aalto University is an interdisciplinary community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. Aalto’s core strategy follows three cross-cutting themes: sustainable solutions, entrepreneurial mindset and radical creativity. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 12 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campuses are located in Espoo and Helsinki, Finland.  

The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is a Nordic leader in higher education for design, fashion, games, media, architecture, film, art education and fine art. We produce world-class research e.g. in design, digital media and visual culture, art education, urban planning and architecture. Our graduates innovate in and beyond their fields, drawing on over a century of tradition of our institution, a humane and forward-looking approach, and the latest technologies. The Department of Design is a community of creative and responsible researchers and design experts. We educate front-line design professionals and visionaries for established, changing and emerging fields of design. (https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design ). 

Post-doctoral researcher in human-centered digital co-design

The position will begin by the 1st of May 2022 or as agreed and lasts for two years.  

Your role and goals

­­The overall job-profile of the post-doctoral researcher includes 50% research and 50% teaching. The duties relate to two research groups: ENCORE led by Virpi Roto and INUSE led by Sampsa Hyysalo. The groups are part of a wider human-centered design research area, one of the three core research areas of the department.

The research profile of the presently open post-doctoral position is to help the Department of Design to re-think codesign in the digitalizing collaboration and participation landscape. Human-centered design and codesign are presently undergoing a shift towards increasingly digitalized ways of participation. This shift has been accelerated by Covid social distancing rules that have forced researchers and practitioners to experiment with digital forms of collaboration and participation, and which has pushed the development of various online collaboration tools. Digital tools for human-centered design and codesign hold potential for opening up participation for wider citizen, user and stakeholder groups. The work includes research and design of human-centered digital tools for organizing and carrying out codesign in conjunction to different real-life projects that are running at the department of design. Department of Design is a globally leading unit in the research and practice of human-centered and codesign with its research groups ENCORE and INUSE specializing on this topic.

The teaching topics include human-centered digital design, user interface design and prototyping in Bachelor and Master programmes. The job includes advising and evaluating Bachelor’s and Master’s theses in related topics. There is also an opportunity to participate in the development of a new national, cross-university education plan, where digital codesign is used as a method of curriculum development.

Your Experience and Responsibilities

We are looking to hire an ambitious colleague who has the capacity to contribute to continuous renewal of education and research. We expect you to have:  

• Demonstrable competence in human-centered design and/or codesign of digital tools in digital collaboration environments
• Experience in university education, having undertaken training in university pedagogy is an additional merit
• A doctoral degree in design, information systems, human-computer interaction, or in a related relevant field.
• Excellent verbal and written language skills in English, Finnish language skills are considered a plus. 

Successful applicant is expected to take on the following responsibilities:

• Conducting individual and group-based research meeting high international standards, including publishing ­
• Contributing to research funding applications,
• Offering student-oriented, high-quality teaching, and supervising undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students’ work.­­ Teaching comprises 50% of the workload. Participating in regular research activities, such as research seminars, workshops and conferences
• Interacting in various ways with society, Aalto University’s stakeholders in particular

What we offer

We offer the opportunity of working in a dynamic world-class community of creative professionals and researchers, with a remit to continuously explore the frontiers of design research and practice.

The salary is determined according to the applicant's experience and qualifications. Activities are mainly located in the Otaniemi campus of Aalto University in Espoo, part of the capital region of Finland.

Aalto University provides its employees with occupational health care services and excellent learning and development opportunities. Finland is a healthy and safe living environment, offering many excellent state-subsidized services including affordable day care and free schools and universities, which are consistently ranked among the best in the world. 

More information about living and working in Finland:

Get to know Finland and Aalto | Aalto University

Aalto University follows EU rules and regulations on HR policies. Based on the regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, full-time employment at Aalto University is inconsistent with residence abroad. Employment duties need to be performed in Finland. The specific responsibilities and salary are determined based on the applicant’s qualifications and level of position. In addition, Aalto University provides its employees with occupational health care services.

Ready to apply?

To apply, please submit the following application materials through our recruitment system Workday no later than March 28th 2022, at 23:59 EET (UTC+2). Aalto University’s employees and visitors should apply for the position by using their existing Workday user account!

The application material must be in English and must include the following documents in PDF format (‘lastname_firstname.pdf’): 

• Cover letter with a statement of interest in the post that you are applying for 
• Curriculum Vitae — please use the template recommended by The Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity 
• List of publications, with the maximum three most significant publications highlighted including at least one solo or first authored article. 
• Research portfolio —a concise (max 3 pages) self-reflection on the merits, long-term vision, and research plan.
• Teaching portfolio according to Aalto’s guidelines— Teaching competence assessment_Guidelines_for_candidate_2020_Aalto University[1].pdf

We reserve the right, for justified reasons, to leave the position open, to extend the application period, and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.

For more Information

Please contact Professor Sampsa Hyysalo [email protected] and/or Professor Virpi Roto [email protected]

In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR
Coordinator Katju Helminen, [email protected]  

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