The Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, in collaboration with the Carlsberg Foundation, invites applications for a fully funded PhD fellowship in Garment-Based Wearables for Shared Management of Anxiety of the Student in the University Context provided the necessary funding is available. This PhD fellowship is available as of 1 January 2025 for a period of up to three years (5+3). The candidate who is awarded the fellowship must commence his/her PhD degree programme on 1 January 2025.
The number of Danish university students experiencing anxiety in their studies is growing due to stressful factors of studies coupled with individual performance requirements, for example, the pursuit of good grades. The education reform suggested by the Danish government might worsen the situation by asking students to complete their studies faster and more efficiently. To help university students cope with their growing study-related anxiety and prevent it from developing into more severe mental health issues, this project investigates how smart garment-based wearables could be designed to allow shared management of student anxiety with their close ones (that is, a close friend, family member, or partner) in the university context. In this approach, the student with anxiety is not left alone to cope but gets meaningful tangible support in real-time in situ through a soft garment type of smart wearable that is wirelessly connected to the support person’s wearable.
The project will apply qualitative research and participatory design approaches to understand university students' experiences with study-related anxiety, design context, and stakeholder needs for wearable technology. The knowledge is also constructed through the design and implementation of wearable concepts by applying constructive design research or research through design methodology. The prototypes will be constructed with soft manufacturing machines (e.g., sewing, embroidery, and/ or knitting machines) which all can be found in the AU Wearables Lab and other machines found in several other labs. The long-term user experiences with the developed prototypes will be assessed by applying qualitative and mixed research methodologies in an in-the-wild setting.
As the PhD student is expected to conduct constructive design research or research through design, a suitable candidate should have knowledge in interaction or product design, conceptual design, technical implementation, and/or physical prototyping. It is a plus if the candidate has also some experience with soft manufacturing machinery (i.e., sewing, knitting, and/or embroidery machines) and soft electronics crafting. The candidate should have some experience or show interest in qualitative or mixed methods research.
The applicant is asked to enclose a design portfolio of previous works.
The successful applicant will work closely with the project manager associate professor Minna Pakanen and two postdocs hired for the project. The place of work will be the Department of Digital Design and Information Studies (DDINF), which includes researchers with long traditions of interaction and speculative design, constructive design research, qualitative health, human-computer interaction, and co-design research, for example. The successful applicant will be part of the Interaction Design research program at the school and the highly-ranked HCI research group spreading across the departments of the DDINF and Computer Science.
Enrolment and place of work
The PhD student must complete the studies in accordance with the valid regulations for the PhD degree programme, currently the Ministerial Order of 27 August 2013 on the PhD degree programme at the universities: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/phdstudystructure/
Rules and regulations for the PhD degree programme at the Graduate School at Arts: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
The PhD fellow will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Graduate School at Arts, Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, with the aim of completing a PhD degree at the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University.
The PhD student will be affiliated with the PhD programme ICT, Media, Communication and Journalism.
The PhD student’s place of work will be the School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. In general, the student is expected to be present at the school on an everyday basis.
The PhD degree programme is expected to include a lengthy research stay at a foreign institution, cf. Description of the graduate school’s PhD degree programme.
School of Communication and Culture’s research programme: http://cc.au.dk/en/research/research-programmes/
5+3 programme
When you apply for a 3-year PhD fellowship (5+3), you must have completed your two year Master’s degree (120 ECTS) no later than 31 December 2024.
The PhD fellow will be employed as a PhD student at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University. The terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (see section 6.1.4), as well as with the protocol to the agreement covering staff with university degrees in the state sector (see enclosure 5). The agreement and the protocol including amendments are available online: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/thephddegreeprogramme/
Salary: http://phd.arts.au.dk/financing/salary-and-employment/salary-5-3/
How to apply
The application must include:
Please see a detailed description of the requirements for the application in the guide for the application facility: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/how-to-apply/
Application
If you require professional guidance regarding your application for the PhD fellowship please contact the PhD programme director at ICT, Media, Communication and Journalism: http://phd.arts.au.dk/about-us/contact/
For further information, please contact Associate Professor Minna Pakanen, School of Communication and Culture, mpakanen@cc.au.dk, Phone + 45 22 96 74 30.
The application must be submitted in English.
All applicants must provide documentation of excellent communication skills in English which are considered essential, and you must therefore be able to read, write, and speak academic English fluently. English language requirement is comparable to a minimum of TOEFL 83 or IELTS 6.5. Please see this page for further information: http://phd.arts.au.dk/applicants/english-test/
Applications for the PhD fellowship and enrolment in the PhD degree programme can only be submitted via the application form in Aarhus University’s web-based facility.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2024 at 23.59 Danish time (CET/CEST).
Reference number: 2024-13
During the assessments, Aarhus University can conduct interviews with selected applicants.
