EngD in Designing Human-System Interaction

The Department of Industrial Design conducts research on and education in the design of systems with emerging technologies in a social context. We excel at integrating various academic disciplines, including engineering, design, business, and social sciences.

Introduction

Within the MEDAL project (Motivating mEaningful Daily Data collection through Design, AI, and SociaL engagement, https://www.clicknl.nl/en/ontwerpkrachtentransities/medal/), TU/e leads a consortium — including Catharina Hospital, Fashion Tech Farm, and other creative and knowledge partners like Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences — investigating how personal life data, alongside clinical measurements, can find a place in cardiovascular care pathways. The recurring tension here: patients at home need data that is both clinically usable and effortless to fit into daily life. This EngD track works out that tension specifically for the heart failure care pathway.

Job Description

Assignment

You research and design how contextual data - living patterns, activity, emotional and social signals - can be used alongside physiological measurements to support heart failure patients in self-management at home.

• Co-design workshops with heart failure patients and healthcare professionals at Catharina Hospital to identify data needs and interaction preferences. You can work with the team in the hospital who already redesigned and develop the care pathway.
• Translate these insights into design requirements for data collection, visualization, and feedback.
• Collaborate with Fashion Tech Farm on a tangible, textile-based exploration of what this health data can feel like — a more explorative, conceptual counterpart to the functional prototype, probing wearable and material forms of data experience beyond screens and numbers.
• Develop and iterate a data-driven prototype for home monitoring, working with technology partners like Cardiron.
• Run real-world pilot tests on subjects like usability, clinical relevance, user engagement, and impact on home-based self-management.

Outcome

A validated prototype, embedded in the existing systems in the hospital for participatory home care for heart failure patients, alongside a textile/tangible design exploration developed with Fashion Tech Farm that opens up alternative, more embodied forms of engaging with health data. Together these feed the design principles contributed to the broader MEDAL framework for data interaction in participatory healthcare.

Job Requirements

• A relevant Master's degree, in an area related to the fields of industrial design, human-computer interaction, or comparable.
• Affinity with healthcare contexts and working with patients and clinicians.
• Experience with co-design and prototyping; interest in material/tangible design or wearables is a plus.
• To be successful in Dutch Healthcare context, to engage with healthcare professionals and patients, speaking Dutch is a preference.

Conditions of Employment

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station.

In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for 2 years.
• Salary in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale TOIO (€ 3.173 gross per month (full-time)).
• In addition to your base salary, you will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus, both calculated based on your annual gross base salary.
• Generous leave options: a standard 29 days (based on a 38 hour working week) per year that you can increase to 41 days by working two hours more per week (flexible working hours). This is prorated if you work part-time.
• As a TU/e employee, you participate in the ABP pension scheme, providing retirement pension and pension benefits for surviving dependents and occupational disability. TU/e pays 70% of the pension premium, while employees contribute the remaining 30%.
• High-quality training programs on general skills, didactics and topics related to research and valorization.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, and on-campus children's day care.
• Unlimited access to the modern on‑campus TU/e Student Sports Center at an exceptionally affordable rate.
• We support your wellbeing with free 24/7 access to OpenUp, providing you and your family with mental health support, expert guidance, and online training.
• Partially paid parental leave and an allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A TU/e Postdoc Association that helps you to build a stronger and broader academic and personal network, and offers tailored support, training and workshops.
• A Staff Immigration Team is available for international candidates, as are a tax compensation scheme (the Expat Scheme) and a compensation for moving expenses.

On our website you can discover even more information about our conditions of employment. Build on your career at TU/e!

About us

We are a leading international university where scientific curiosity meets a hands-on mindset. We work in an open and collaborative way with high-tech industries to tackle complex societal challenges. Our responsible and respectful approach ensures impact — today and in the future. TU/e is home to over 13,000 students and more than 7,000 staff, forming a diverse and vibrant academic community.

Our university is located in Brainport Eindhoven — a world‑leading tech region with more than 7,000 high‑tech companies and strong R&D activity. Known for breakthroughs in AI, photonics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing, Brainport is a place where technology serves people and society. Learn more about the Brainport region here.

Engineering Doctorate Program

The EngD program in Human-System Interaction trains professionals who already have a Master’s degree in design or engineering to develop competencies in designing and evaluating interactive, intelligent, and innovative systems, services, and products. The HSI program is based on design thinking and system thinking, as well as scientifically founded and methodologically sound user-centered and data-driven approaches, paying special attention to the frontier of the complex systems enabled by artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies and their impact on individuals, organizations, and society. Candidates will spend about one-fourth of their time in courses and the rest on the research project and related activities. Program participants have backgrounds in the engineering, behavioral and physical sciences and work in small interdisciplinary teams, together with other EngD, PhD, and Master students with different national and cultural backgrounds.

Information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Jun Hu (J.Hu@tue.nl) , or the consortium colleagues Eva Deckers (eva.deckers@catharinaziekenhuis.nl), Marine Toeters (m.toeters@gmail.com), and Bin Yu (b.yu@hva.nl).

Visit our website for more information about the application process, and about the HSI EngD program.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application using the apply-button. The application should include a:

• A cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
• A curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references. Kindly note that we may reach out to references at any stage of the recruitment process. We recommend notifying your references upon submitting your application.
• Copies of relevant BSc and MSc diplomas and grade transcripts.
• Examples of your work, such as research papers and design portfolios.
• The result of an English proficiency test such as IELTS or TOEFL.

Ensure that you submit all the requested application documents. Please note that incomplete applications may not be considered and could be rejected.

We look forward to receiving your application and will screen it as soon as possible. The vacancy will remain open until the position is filled.

Please note

• You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.
• A pre-employment screening (e.g. knowledge security check) can be part of the selection procedure. For more information on the knowledge security check, please consult the National Knowledge Security Guidelines.
• Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.

Type of employment: temporary position | Contract type: full time | Number of positions: 1 | Full-time equivalent: 1.0 FTE | City: Eindhoven | County: Noord-Brabant | Country: Netherlands | Reference number: 2026/578 | Published: 2026-09-15 | Last application date: 2026-10-18