Netherlands : PhD position in Human Robot Interaction with Elderly in an Intelligent Home

The PhD position concerns a European project (Accompany) on innovative technology for elderly care. Because of the current ageing population it is expected to have shortages in care personnel, and assistive technology is considered as a possible solution for independent living. In the project we will specifically focus on a robotic companion as part of an intelligent home, providing services to elderly users in a motivating and socially acceptable manner to facilitate independent living at home. The PhD student will work on developing an effective and engaging robot personality as well as evaluate robot behaviors that will be experienced as socially normative (‘normal ’) by its users. Because a robot will need to operate in a home environment and will need to assist and motivate the user to adopt a lifestyle pattern that will lead to increased health and happiness, it is important that people can trust the robot and enjoy its presence. Also, the robot will need to operate in an environment that is originally designed for humans. It is unclear what roles and behaviors are most effective in a home-care setting. In order to ensure that the robot makes a contribution to the wellbeing of the user, we will investigate those behaviors, roles and robot personalities that are engaging, motivating, and instill trust and feelings of comfort in the user. The work will contribute to scientific work in human-robot interaction. It will involve running socio-psychological experimentations in controlled and real-world conditions as well as user studies over prolonged time periods in home settings. Ons aanbod / Our offer We offer a full-time PhD position in a dynamic and international environment. The duration of the contracts is four years. The gross salary will range from € 2.042,00 in the first year to € 2.612,00 per month in the fourth year. Additionally, the University of Twente provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development. In addition, we offer a holiday allowance (amounts to 8%) and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and a number of additional benefits. The labor agreements are in accordance with the CAO-NU for Dutch universities. Uw profiel / Your profile The candidate should have fluent command of English as a written and spoken language, a MSc degree in Computer Science, Information Science or Social Science with a focus on Human Computer Interaction. Knowledge of, and preferably practical experience with qualitative research methods as well as controlled and "in the wild" social psychological experimentation and statistical analysis of quantitative data. In the EU project we expect the candidate to communicate effortless in English with the different partners in the project. Please send your application with your cv, motivation letter and letters of recommendation, through the application link, before October 17, 2011. Further information about the PhD position can be given by Prof. Dr. Vanessa Evers (v.evers@utwente.nl) De organisatie / The organisation The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which drives change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university in the Netherlands; divided over six faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. The University of Twente has a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out pioneering research. In the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EWI) is the place where these three disciplines shape Information and Communication Technology at the University of Twente. ICT is more than communication. In almost every product we use mathematics, electronics and computer technology are present, and ICT now contributes to all of societies' activities. It is no longer about gadgets that we do or do not want to use. The real integration of ICT is just beginning. What we need is more intelligence in our systems and improvement of their natural interaction with humans. Further Information Application Deadline : 17 October 2011