2 PhD positions in Creative Design at the User Centered Engineering group Department of Industrial Design
http://w3.tue. nl/nl/diensten/ dpo/werken_ bij_de_tue/ vacatures/ vacatures_ industrial_ design/
The position is open to candidates of any nationality, regardless of gender, race, disability, etc., with the exception that the student may not have resided in the country of the host institution for more than one year in the 3 years before appointment. For additional information on eligibility, please check Rules of mobility and conditions of nationality applicable to eligible researchers, pages
13-14. Interested researchers that do not meet this condition are encouraged to apply to other DESIRE projects that are hosted by institutes in other countries, see
http://www.comp. lancs.ac. uk/~corina/ DESIRE/index. html.
1) PhD position in Creative Design - I (V51.063)
Project: Develop an interactive system to support communicating implicit design representations.
Description: Creative thinking revolves around two complementary means of communicating ideas, opinions and intentions: descriptions, that can be spoken or written, and depictions, such as gestures, drawings or pictures. Descriptions are especially useful for expressing the explicit results of our internal reasoning. Descriptions are often called extrinsic, because their meaning is determined by externally defined rules of interpretation that we have acquired in the course of
our lives. In a creative process, where meaning is often not yet known explicitly, some highly relevant aspects may be impossible to describe adequately. Unlike descriptions, depictions, such as gestures, images and sketches, are called intrinsic. Their meaning is not determined by externally agreed interpretation rules, but instead extracted through largely the same mechanisms of visual perception and cognitive inspection that we rely on to function in the physical world.
Depictions tend to contain details that are not explicitly intended, and that should hence be considered implicit. This project aims to design and develop a mixed reality platform for supporting industrial designers in recruiting, constructing and
manipulating depictions during creative design, avoiding premature commitment to descriptions. Current research into design practice in industry has proposed a number of concepts for interactive tools in support of different aspects of design e.g., material collection, browsing, organizing, creating and communicating designs. This project will build on this research by developing these concepts into applications and seeking to deploy them in actual design settings, improving them iteratively based on feedback obtained from designers.
Outcomes: Working prototype of augmented reality environment to support ideation by teams; experimental validation of the efficacy of the tool to support creative design processes.
Requirements: The ideal candidate will have expertise in several of the following areas: virtual or augmented reality software and hardware, (industrial) design, (qualitative) research methods. Important aspects to the work, next to idea generation and publishing, is implementing ideas in software that involves, due to the nature of the project, ample visuals (such as computer generated graphics, images, etc.). Establishing the user experiences with developed prototypes is another key aspect of the project (this aspect is supported by much expertise in the team).
For more information on this project, candidates should contact
Jean-Bernard Martens: j.b.o.s.martens@ tue.nl.
You can apply for this job before 31-10-2008
2) PhD position in Creative Design - II(V51.064)
Project: Investigate creative problem solving process: cross-disciplinary method diffusion.
Description: The proposed research will examine the diffusion of methods for creative problem solving in multi-disciplinary fields, such as interaction design. This subfield is the meeting point for diverse fields of knowledge where engineering, scientific and design approaches overlap, complement each other, cross-fertilize and compete. While the transfer of techniques and methods between
disciplines can potentially increase creativity in support of innovation is can also be fraught with challenges. Methods applied may have diverse origins, may be shared between disciplines, or may be applied differently by individuals subscribing to different intellectual traditions. This whole phenomenon is described below as method diffusion.
A systematic investigation of the diffusion of methods aiming to support innovation can unravel how and why different methods are applied successfully or misapplied, transformed or improved when they are adopted by a different discipline and what push-back exists: adoption from a different discipline can lead to revisiting original ideas, improving them or rejecting them. Current practice regarding
method diffusion will be documented, flagging areas of opportunity and pitfalls for practitioners. A (multiple) case study approach will examine creative processes that were demonstrably successful contrasting them to cases where a large degree of interdisciplinarity and methodological innovation did not meet corresponding success.
Interventions to support specific design projects will be organised. Through an action research approach, the effects of these interventions will be evaluated.
Outcomes: An analysis of current design practices characterizing pitfalls and best practice. A roadmap for method diffusion to support creativity and innovation will be proposed, and experiences from its application will be reported.
Requirements: Candidates should have an interest and background in the areas of human computer interaction and interaction design. Special interest and expertise in qualitative research methods, ethnography/ anthropology are a bonus.
For extra information on this project please contact Panos Markopoulos
at P.Markopoulos@ tue.nl.
You can apply for this job before 01-11-2008
Appointment and Salary
The appointment is for four years. As an employee of the university you will receive a competitive salary as well as excellent employment conditions (including excellent sport facilities and child care). The research in this project must be concluded with writing a PhD thesis. A salary is offered starting at EUR 2000,- per month (gross) in the first year and increasing up to EUR 2558,- per month (gross) in the
last year. Moreover 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) is provided annually. Assistance for finding accommodation can be given.
About the university:
TU/e is one of Europe's leading research universities. The Eindhoven area, in the southern part of the Netherlands, is one of Europe's top 'innovation ecosystems', with many high-tech companies and institutes, such as Philips, ASML, NXP, DAF, OCE, and TNO. TU/e is closely intertwined with many of these companies and institutes, and research at TU/e is characterized by a combination of academic excellence and
industrial relevance. Culturally, the Netherlands is a very interesting part of Europe. Historic cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague, Maastricht, Brussels, and Antwerp are all within easy reach from Eindhoven. Ph.D. students at TU/e are appointed as temporary staff members. They receive a full salary and are exempted from payment of tuition fees.
Further information on the application procedure can be obtained from
Ms. Julma Braat, HR employee, phone +31 (0)40 247 5883, e-mail:
j.a.c.l.braat@ tue.nl .
Application
Interested candidates should send their application either as a printed version or as a PDF version by e-mail to the mailing address below. Applications must include a letter explaining the candidate's specific interest in the project, extensive curriculum vitae, a list of three references, and the vacancy code V51.063 or V51.064.
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
Department of Industrial Design
Attn. Ms. J. Braat, room HG 3.92
P.O. Box 513
5600 MB Eindhoven
The Netherlands
E-mail: j.a.c.l.braat@ tue.nl
Please quote 10 Academic Resources Daily in your application to this opportunity!
If you want to receive academic resources in your e-mail on daily basis, please subscribe to 10resources-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
