PhD position on Critical approaches to Designing for Belonging

Job description

We are looking for a PhD student who wants to design inclusive futures for neurodiverse youth. In this project, you will use speculative and critical design, feminist HCI, and participatory methods to create technological and spatial interventions that address loneliness in high schools. You will work across design, technology, and the social sciences, co-creating with students, teachers, and autistic professionals to foster belonging and equity in education.

The Building 4 Belonging (B4B) project addresses the significant challenges posed by loneliness among students with special needs, which is often invisible and unnoticed. Existing approaches tend to overlook the role of the built environment and systemic social barriers as contributors to this problem. B4B integrates such perspectives and explores them through a mixture of qualitative, quantitative, and sensor based approaches to assess student experiences.

Rather than seeking to “fix” individual students, our project challenges stigma by addressing systemic conditions. We adopt a unique co-design approach, bringing together autistic youth and professionals, teachers, policymakers, parents, and researchers to collaboratively envision meaningful interventions.

As a PhD candidate, you will play a central role in shaping this project. We are looking for a candidate who employs critical, speculative approaches and participatory design to create design interventions with real-world impact.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Designing, prototyping, and evaluating speculative and critical design interventions for school environments.
• Conducting participatory workshops and co-design activities with neurodiverse youth, teachers, and other stakeholders.
• Applying feminist HCI methods, speculative design, and embodied interaction in the context of loneliness in school environments.
• Collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, health care professionals, and educators.
• Publishing research findings in leading conferences and journals in HCI, design research, and related fields.

Your profile

• You have a Master's degree in Industrial Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a closely related discipline.
• You have strong design and prototyping skills, demonstrated through a portfolio of projects in a format of your choice.
• You are familiar with (or have a strong interest in) speculative design, critical design, feminist HCI, participatory design, and/or tangible and embodied interaction.
• You have an interdisciplinary mindset and are willing to collaborate across fields (e.g., design, computer science, social sciences, education).
• You are willing and able to regularly visit schools for contextual research.
• You have excellent written and spoken communication skills in English. Spoken Dutch communication skills (or a willingness to quickly acquire these) are beneficial for the frequent fieldwork associated with this position.
• You are able to work independently as well as in a team.
• (Preferred) You have experience conducting user studies or co-design workshops.
• (Preferred) You have experience working with neurodiverse communities or in inclusive design contexts.

Our offer

• You will be jointly appointed at the University of Twente (Human-Media Interaction Group and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Computer Science Department). This unique position offers you the opportunity to engage with two leading research environments.
• Your daily office space will be at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; yet you will regularly spend time on site at the University of Twente as well.
• Both universities are committed to fostering inclusive academic communities and will provide you with excellent supervision, training opportunities, and resources to support your development as a researcher.
• As a PhD student, you will be appointed to a full-time position for four years, with a qualifier in the first year, within a very stimulating and exciting scientific environment;
• The University offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues;
• Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU);
• You will receive a gross monthly salary ranging from € 3.059,- (first year) to € 3.881,- (fourth year);
• There are excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
• A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid);
• You will have a training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision;
• We encourage a high degree of responsibility and independence, while collaborating with close colleagues, researchers and other staff.

Information and application

Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before August 24, 2026 (please do not apply via email), and include:

• A CV including English and Dutch proficiency level, nationality, visa requirements, date of birth, experience overview, and (if available) publication list
• A cover letter (2-page max) specifying how your experience and skills match the position as well as summarising any research projects you carried out before.
• A design portfolio (including the work done for your MSc thesis)
• A transcript of all courses attended and grades obtained
• Contact information for at least two academic references. A support letter will be requested by us only if your application is considered.

Interviews will take place in the week of August 24, 2026. Expected starting date is October 2026.

Screening is part of the slection process.

About the department

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Within the Computer Science department, you will work in a vibrant, interdisciplinary community that investigates how computing technologies shape the way we interact with the world and each other.

University of Twente (UT): As part of the Human-Media Interaction group, you will join a dynamic research group working at the intersection of people and technology, specialising in the development of new interaction technologies for various user groups.

Building4Belonging: The Building4Belonging project is a large consortium including researchers from VU and UT as well as from the University of Leiden and the University of Delft, and many stakeholders in secondary education, autism advocacy, and other important partners.

About the organisation

The faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) uses mathematics, electronics and computer technology to contribute to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With ICT present in almost every device and product we use nowadays, we embrace our role as contributors to a broad range of societal activities and as pioneers of tomorrow's digital society. As part of a tech university that aims to shape society, individuals and connections, our faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad, and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders. Our research has a high profile both in the Netherlands and internationally. It has been accommodated in three multidisciplinary UT research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centre and Digital Society Institute.