PostDoc Research Position on Developing Technology for Subjective Sporting Experiences

Can technology learn to listen to how athletes feel, and not just to what the sensors measured?

In the ASPIRE project, we develop knowledge for the new generation of sports tracking technology that integrates athletes’ subjective experiences (such as perceived exertion, motivation, enjoyment and fatigue) with objective physiological and biomechanical data.

ASPIRE is a collaboration between the University of Twente and Saarland University, funded under the DFG-NWO WEAVE programme.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will lead the human-computer interaction side of the project. You will investigate how everyday athletes and coaches currently use tracking and feedback technologies, design and develop interactive systems and interfaces that capture subjective experiences and deliver timely, context-aware feedback before, during and after training, and evaluate these systems in real-world studies. The details of the work plan may be adjusted depending on the profile of the preferred candidate; there is budget for support in technology development.

You will work closely with a PhD researcher at the German partner who focuses on the underlying machine learning models, and you will help coordinate the joint work across the two teams.

The position offers a strong publication trajectory at leading HCI venues (e.g. CHI, DIS, TEI, SportsHCI), access to the Sports Tech Center Twente and the Dutch Sportinnovator network, and a stimulating international research environment. You will be embedded in the Human-Media Interaction (EEMCS) and Interaction Design (IxD) research groups and collaborate closely with the Sports Interaction Technology Lab at the University of Twente.

Postdoctoral Researcher Position in Data-Driven Design Evaluation of Urban Transformations

Job description

This position is part of the Horizon/New European Bauhaus EU-funded research and innovation project 'ROUTES – Reimagining Open Schoolyards and Urban Streets as Equitable Spaces,' which will launch in September 2026.

About ROUTES

ROUTES is a €3.5 million Horizon Europe project running for four years from September 2026 and coordinated by Delft University of Technology. It brings together 16 organizations across 8 European countries to investigate how integrated transformations of schoolyards and school streets can improve safety, social cohesion, active mobility uptake, inclusivity, and well-being across neighborhood communities. Through living laboratories in Bratislava, Espoo, Rotterdam, and Tirana, the project works with citizens, schools, and local authorities to co-design and test urban interventions, generating evidence-based tools and guidelines for wider European implementation, with Braga, Kocaeli, Lund, and Nantes participating as Observer Cities. What makes ROUTES distinctive is its focus on the combined impact of schoolyard and school street interventions. While these environments have often been studied separately, the project will investigate how integrated approaches can benefit not only school communities but entire neighborhoods. By combining expertise in urban analytics, environmental psychology, mobility, behavioral science, citizen science, and urban design, the project aims to generate new evidence for future urban policy and practice.

The role

We are looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to contribute to the development and implementation of the ROUTES' monitoring and design evaluation framework, its comparative data analysis, and the ROUTES Atlas co-development. You will help design standardized metrics, indicators, and data collection protocols to assess the short-, medium-, and long-term effects of joint schoolyard-street transformations on community well-being, accessibility, safety, and social cohesion, and translate multi-site data into comparative insights and practical tools for cities and practitioners.

What you will do

In this Postdoc position, you will:

• Contribute to defining metrics and indicators across spatial (schoolyard, street, neighborhood, city) and temporal (daily, weekly, seasonal) scales, combining sensor-based data with human-centered behavioral mapping and on-site observation.
• Help develop harmonized data collection, integration, and analysis protocols ensuring consistency and interoperability across pilot sites, in line with GDPR and FAIR data principles.
• Support the implementation of multi-phase measurements (pre-intervention, during tactical implementation, post-completion) across the pilot sites, including coordinating on-site observation campaigns.
• Conduct comparative analyses of intervention impacts across pilot sites and timeframes, covering walkability, accessibility, perceived safety and cohesion, and mobility transformations.
• Contribute to translating findings into accessible formats and support the co-development of the interactive ROUTES Atlas.
• Collaborate closely with project partners and pilot cities (Bratislava, Espoo, Rotterdam, Tirana).
• Contribute to project deliverables, reports, and scientific publications.

The successful postdoctoral researcher will be based at the Department of Sustainable Design Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands), and collaborate will all partners in the ROUTES project.

Job requirements
The postdoctoral researcher will work under the supervision of Dr. Achilleas Psyllidis and will become a member of the Urban Analytics Lab.

The successful candidate will have:

• PhD in urban design, urban planning, transportation/mobility studies, geography, environmental psychology, urban data science, or a related field.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative monitoring, evaluation, and data collection and analysis methods in urban or built-environment contexts.
• Experience with spatial data analysis, GIS, sensor-based mobility data, or behavioral mapping methods.
• Strong analytical and data-handling skills and experience with data integration across heterogeneous sources.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Experience with publishing in top-tier journals and conferences is an advnatage.
• Ability to work in an international, interdisciplinary consortium.
• Experience with disseminating research to a non-academic audience (e.g., practicing designers, planners, and policy makers) is an advnatage.
• Willingness to travel occasionally to European pilot sites for fieldwork coordination.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Working at TU Delft means contributing to solutions that really make a difference.

For over 180 years, we have been training engineers who make an impact worldwide in companies, government bodies, or as entrepreneurs. Our alumni turn knowledge into concrete solutions for the challenges of today and tomorrow. These challenges are changing rapidly. That is why we focus on themes such as energy, climate, digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), and smart mobility every day. Our education and research are directly aligned with what society needs now and in the future.

At TU Delft, our people make the difference. With their knowledge and curiosity, our staff provide a high-quality education and conduct pioneering research that extends beyond the campus. You will have the opportunity to take the initiative, work with others, and grow as a professional. Working at TU Delft means join an international community of professionals and students. Together, we create knowledge, innovations, and solutions that help move the world forward.

Faculty Industrial Design Engineering
Matching the evolution of people with the speed of the revolution of technology. This is the focus of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). Delft designers act as a bridge between advances in technology and the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.

IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as its development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in our inspiring hall, labs and studios.

In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs we rehearse possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

PhD Candidate: Modulating plant-based nutrition to enhance the sensory aspects and nutritional value

PhD Candidate: Modulating plant-based nutrition to enhance the sensory aspects and nutritional value

• Our goal: to enhance the quality of plant-based protein products by stimulating the binding between proteins and polyphenols, in order to reduce bitterness, deactivate anti-nutrients, and improve polyphenol absorption.
• Your colleagues: This multi-disciplinary and challenging project called SENSSUPPLANTPRO will be performed at multiple locations (primarily in Venlo and in partly in Maastricht, both at Maastricht University, the Netherlands) within the research group Food and nutrient bioavailability for satiety and health. The Food and nutrient bioavailability for satiety and health group is part of the department of Human Biology in Maastricht and Sustainable Nutrition in Venlo. The research facilities of Maastricht University - campus Venlo are located in Brighthouse/Villa Flora, in the Venlo region. The Food and nutrient bioavailability for satiety and health group, where the research will be carried out, has a close collaboration with the Maastricht University Medical Centre+ and the VieCuri Medical Centre in Venlo. The research facilities include dietary intervention facilities, clinical intervention laboratories, an exercise physiology lab, analytical facilities, a molecular biology lab and cell culture lab.

What you do
The PhD candidate will:

• Modulate the binding between proteins derived from lupin and polyphenols in isolated form or within existing food products;
• Use different in vitro digestion models such as the INFOGEST model and/or the TIM-1 dynamic model, to determine the effect of the food matrix on nutrient bioaccessibility and protein-polyphenol interactions; perform in vitro research using gastric, intestinal and colonic epithelial cell lines (e.g. NCI-N87, Caco-2) and organoid models combined with microbiota models to investigate intestinal absorption;
• Execute sensory profiling of food products through descriptive analysis and Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) in trained and untrained panels and hedonic evaluation in panels of general consumers considering taste, smell and mouthfeel acceptance;
• Write a project proposal and obtain medical ethical approval for a randomized controlled trial; plan, coordinate and perform a human dietary intervention study;
• Write high-quality papers for publication in international peer-reviewed journals (under supervision); stay up to date with the relevant scientific literature within the field; Complete a PhD thesis within 4 years;
• Analyze data and present research outcomes at group meetings, national and international conferences, and consortium meetings; collaborate with a multidisciplinary, cross-border team of researchers and stakeholders from the food supply chain, including consumers, companies focused on flavour perception, producers of protein-rich foods and suppliers of alternative protein ingredients; set up and maintain collaborations with academic and industrial partners;
• Perform biochemical laboratory analyses, microscopy analyses and accompanying data analyses; design and carefully execute experimental work, including handling and maintenance of cell lines;
• Supervise research assistants and students where appropriate.

Are you ready to set the course for the years ahead? Then we’d love to meet you.

What you bring
We’re not looking for checkboxes; we’re interested in who you are and what you bring. Do you recognize yourself in this?

Next to a strong team-oriented mindset and excellent planning and organizational skills you bring:

• Master Degree (MSc) in a relevant field, such as Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Health Sciences, Nutrition or Sensory Sciences;
• Experience with in vitro research including cell culture and molecular biology techniques such as qPCR, biochemical analyses are required, while an SMT certificate and experience with organoid culture is an advantage);
• Advanced skills in biostatistics, including the ability to independently perform statistical analyses on datasets using statistical software;
• Experience or demonstrated affinity with sensory studies/analyses is preferred;
• Experience with performing and/or designing clinical studies is considered an advantage;
• Excellent communication skills, with proficiency in spoken and written English; proficiency in Dutch and/or German is an advantage due to interaction with regional study participants in a clinical setting.

Junior Lecturer in AI, Comp. Science and/or Computational Sciences (5 positions)

We are looking for five colleagues who are passionate about education in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, and/or Computational Sciences. Our department wants to attract junior lecturers who can strengthen our teaching staff by delivering high-quality education. You will support the Bachelor's and Master's programmes in AI, the Bachelor's and Master's programmes in Computer Science, and/or the Master's programme in Computational Sciences.

As a junior lecturer, you will be involved in various teaching-related and organizational activities across (some of) these programmes, with a special focus on course innovation. You will contribute to the further implementation of the principle of "active blended learning" in our programmes.

As a junior lecturer, you will be encouraged to work on educational innovation and build a teaching portfolio as preparation for various career paths. To support this, you will have the opportunity to obtain the Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) for university teaching. The junior lecturer position is ideally suited for early-career teachers. You will work closely with, and be supported by, many enthusiastic and experienced colleagues.

Expected tasks

• Support teachers in individual courses in AI, CS, and/or Comp. Science education programmes;
• Revise and improve course materials, e.g. setup of practical sessions;
• Coordinate and coach student assistants;
• Supervise/coordinate bachelor's and/or master's thesis projects;
• Provide technical and organisational assistance for project-oriented courses;
• Advise on and help with the further development of innovative teaching concepts;
• Provide organisational assistance in education-related events.