tue.jpg Department of Industrial Design of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) enables excellent Chinese PhD students to join us with a 2-year scholarship from the CSC, as part of their Ph.D. studies at their home universities. With the 2-year CSC scholarship (instead of the scholarship from TU/e) the students will be enrolled in the User-System Interaction program, which will lead to a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng degree).

Students from all Chinese universities are eligible for this program. The program aims to foster long-term research cooperation between TU/e and Chinese universities. Students who receive a scholarship are provided with a living allowance as prescribed by the Chinese Government for the term of the scholarship, return airfare to the Netherlands by the most economical route, student visa fees and the cost of health insurance for international students.

Introduction

The department of Industrial Design (ID) of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is located in a highly industrialized region, known as ‘Brainport’. This region is internationally recognized as a top technology area with a special focus on the integration of design and technology. The department was established in close collaboration with the technological industry, and, because of this, focuses its research on the Design of Intelligent Systems, Products and related Services in a societal context. With these intelligent systems it aims at offering new, breakthrough possibilities leading to societal transformations.

The User-System Interaction program is to improve the interaction between people and systems and to make technology truly accessible and beneficial for all people. They are at the forefront of the enabling technologies for the digital society equipped to function at the interfaces between people and technology. They are prepared to work on challenging problems, in multidisciplinary projects and in international environments. Being trained to provide solutions and services for people in their home, work, and social environments by employing user-centered design methodologies, accounting for the benefits for stakeholders and users, and balancing between system functionality and user experience. People are at the heart of the USI program. The key components of the program are related to information and communication technology, user interaction technology, perception and cognition, behavioral sciences, as well as the various design methodologies.

The program will provide the candidates with training in user experience, software engineering basics, interaction technologies, user research methodologies, and user centered design processes, and engage the candidates in focused research projects which will enable the candidates to complete their Ph.D. studies at their home universities.

Expected Background

Applicants shall have already started their Ph.D. studies in Chinese Universities.

Applicants to this program shall have a background in industrial design, digital arts and interactive media, human-computer interaction, computer science, information technology, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering and physics.

Research Topics

We are aiming at recruiting up to 5 Chinese PhD candidates into the 2-year User-System Interaction program. The applicants can apply for one of the following topics in

  1. Future Everyday. Research in Future Everyday is concerned with understanding, exploring, and giving shape to an everyday life of networked socio-technical worlds. Connected Everyday encompasses the new reality of working and living in spaces that are responsive, growing and highly experiential.
    1. Topic 1.
    2. Topic 2.
    3. Topic 3.
  2. Systemic Change. Systemic Change creates socio-technical systems operating in semi-open and near real-life ecosystems or field labs with the aim to address clearly defined societal challenges, and study the nature, drivers and opportunities for sustainable change, induced by these systems, on an ecosystem level.
    1. Topic 1.
    2. Topic 2.
    3. Topic 3.

Application Procedure

If you are interested in applying, please first address your interest to dr. Jun Hu: j.hu@tue.nl as early as possible for questions and guidance, and later prepare the following documents:

  1. Curriculum Vitae
  2. Research plan according to one of the aforementioned topics (no more than 4-pages of A4 in English, Including Background, Objectives and Research questions, Methodology, Planning, Expected results, Feasibility, Future Plan after your PhD, and References).
  3. Motivation letter (no more than 1-page A4).
  4. Copy of Master Degree (if available, or a letter from your university to prove that you are expected to graduate in due time).
  5. Letter of recommendation from your supervisor at the home university.
  6. Any indication of your English level (IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 95, or equivalent) according to the requirements from CSC (http://www.csc.edu.cn/) and TU/e.

  7. If you have a design or art background, portfolio of your design or art work.

Deadlines

Please notice the deadlines: February 1, 2017 at TU/e; Deadline for applying at CSC is April 5, 2017 (http://www.csc.edu.cn/article/709). For a better support for your application, we would encourage you to apply as early as possible.

For more information

For more information, please contact dr. Jun Hu: j.hu@tue.nl

More about research at ID, TU/e: http://wiki.id.tue.nl/CSC/ResearchAtID

More about PhD programs at ID, TU/e: http://wiki.id.tue.nl/CSC/PhDProgramsAtID

More about the requirements in applying the Scholarship from China Scholarship Council (CSC) for Chinese PhD candidates: http://www.csc.edu.cn