PhD Position Human-Robot Interaction Design

Create interactions with service robots that are appropriate for hospitality settings by developing innovative design tools and methods for human-robot interaction informed by Theatre and Dance.

A 4-year full-time Ph.D. student position is available at TUDelft (jointly supervised with the VU and UU) on developing interactions with service robots in hospitality settings. The position is embedded in the 5-year NWA-ORC project “Dramaturgy for Devices”, a collaboration between four universities and many other partners mainly from the creative and robotics sectors in the Netherlands.

The Dramaturgy for Devices project aims at designing sustained relationships with robots and other smart technologies. It will explore the value of the performing arts as a motor for innovation and reflection in a high-tech society and demonstrate how collaboration with the performing arts can be a game changer regarding the development of the behaviour of and interaction with robots and other technological agents. Robots are increasingly part of our daily lives, yet they still lack many skills needed for social interaction and communication. Addressing this gap requires innovative approaches, tools and methods for developing interactions with robots in a diversity of social contexts.

This PhD-project focuses on exploring how the appearance and behaviour of service robots can foster their embedding in hospitality settings. Drawing inspiration from practices in Theatre and Dance, the goal is to explore how nonanthropomorphic service robots can be framed as social actors, identify relevant interaction qualities, and leveraging a robot's expressiveness to let these qualities emerge during interaction. Augmented Reality systems (AR) will be explored as a promising technique for this purpose. Situated within research project "Dramaturgy for Devices: Designing Sustained Relationships with Robots and other Smart Objects," this PhD project involves close collaboration with experts in the Performing Arts, Robotics, and the Hospitality sector. By engaging in a research-through-design process the skills and knowledge integrated from these fields are expected to produce both concrete design proposals and academic knowledge. 

The candidate will be supervised jointly by Dr. Marco Rozendaal (TUDelft), Prof.dr. Koen Hindriks (Social AI group, VU Amsterdam), and prof. Dr. Maaike Bleeker (Theatre and Performance Studies, UU). The position is embedded in the NWA Dramaturgy for Devices project, hence adaptivity to work in a heterogeneous team and consortium, creativity and interest in multi-disciplinary research are fundamental. The candidate will be mainly based at TUDelft, but will be expected to actively collaborate with the other PhD projects that are part of Dramaturgy for Devices.

You're a Design Research enthusiast eager to blend skills and knowledge from the Performing Arts with expertise on Human-Robot Interaction. You get excited to explore interactions with service robots that are both intuitive and appropriate for complex social settings. You are an innovative thinker with an academic curiosity, and you have an aesthetic sensitivity to the form and movement of smart objects.

You also have:

• A Master’s degree in Industrial Design, Interaction design, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Robot interaction, or a related area.
• You preferably have an active command of Dutch, or are willing to learn, as this will be necessary to work with our societal partners and partners from the field of theatre and dance.
• You are able to work as part of a transdisciplinary research project, collaborate with researchers from other disciplines and with other sub-projects within the larger project, participate in and contribute to training programmes and project events, and have good interpersonal and communication skills.
• You are able to work as an independent design researcher, showing initiative, creativity and originality.

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 .

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.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. 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.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service . This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

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!

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.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

Would you like more information about the application procedure? Please contact Marco Rozendaal, Associate Professor of Interaction Design, via [email protected] .

In case you would like to have more information about the vacancy procedure you can send an email to Amanda Nieuwpoort, [email protected] . 

Are you our new PhD? Then please apply before January 21st, 2024 via the application button and upload your application package detailed below. You can address your application to Marco Rozendaal. We invite you to apply immediately and will already engage with applicants during the publication term of the vacancy. 

The application package should include:

• A letter of motivation (1-2 pages) explaining why you are a good fit for the position;
• A full CV;
• A 1000-word initial idea describing how you might approach the PhD project described above;
• A design portfolio;
• One or more writing samples in English (max. 40 pages in total), such as a thesis chapter, conference paper, or published writings;
• Names and contact details of two referees, who may be approached by the selection committee;
• A copy of your Master diploma and a copy of your full transcript listing subjects studied and grades received.  

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-Employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.

Note that this job opening is one of four PhD positions in the Dramaturgy for Devices project (https://performingrobots.sites.uu.nl/ , “News”). In case you apply to more than one, please inform the project leader via email ([email protected] ) of the projects you are applying to.