Are you looking for an interesting job to combine complexity research with creativity and gaming expertise in order to solve a huge societal problem?

In that case you can become the PhD candidate or postdoc in our ambitious 4 years interdisciplinary project that aims to get a grip on this huge societal problem of loneliness among older persons.

You challenge is to create synergy between scientists, creative experts in digitized social health games, older persons, and a big private partner (Dela) with social interest. The focus of the complexity research is around social networks and psychological resilience.

Using an interdisciplinary approach the project aims to get grip on this complex societal challenge by developing appealing new intergenerational digital games that promote interaction between different age-groups, optimize feasibility and conduct studies to test the effects of social health games on senior’s loneliness and social networks.

For this 4 years NOW funded project we have room for two full time innovative PhDs and a part time post doc position (2 yrs 0.5 or 4 yrs 0.25 fte).

The ‘complexity’ PhD will be focusing on complexity science methods (e.g., network analysis, stability and tipping point analyses, computational modeling such as ABM), and thus has a sufficient background in one of the relevant exact sciences.

The other PhD will have a focus and background in game development, preferably also with social science application and interested in effect evaluation via science of crowds sub-projects through data acquisitions via the games.

The Post doc preferably has experience in social network analyses and digitalized data acquisition. It goes without saying that all three team members will have an interdisciplinary mindset, are team players, and eager to bridge the gap between methods and application.

We offer an interesting PhD training and project guidance through a highly qualified team collaboration of the University Utrecht (Social Sciences), University of Amsterdam (Computational Sciences) and Radboud University (Medical Sciences). The studies will take place in a network with a creative industry partner (Games Solutions Lab), a market party (Dela), and a network of older persons (Network “100”). The project will start October or November 2019.

If this seems to be the ultimate challenge for you and you are keen on contributing and developing your innovation and scientific talents, you can get more information from prof dr Marcel Olde Rikkert, and co-leaders Dr Rense Corten or dr Rick Quax. You may apply through any of these project members.

  • Ph.D. candidate
  • Location: shared between Nijmegen and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 4 years full-time
  • Deadline applications: September 13, 2019
  • Start date: not before November 2019

For the detailed, generic vacancy description please see this document.