PhD researcher 'Human factors and service design for operational readiness'

Let’s shape the future
- University of Antwerp

The University of Antwerp is a dynamic, forward-thinking, European university.

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an innovative academic education to more than 20 students, conduct pioneering scientific research and play an important service-providing role in society. We are one of the largest, most international and most innovative employers in the region. With more than employees from different countries, we are helping to build tomorrow's world every day. Through top scientific research, we push back boundaries and set a course for the future
- a future that you can help to shape.

Research at Antwerp Maritime Academy (AMA) is based on interdisciplinary questions and an integrated approach. The academy capitalises on its unique position within national and international maritime networks and actively seeks collaborations across disciplinary boundaries.

Both the Department of Product Development in the Faculty of Design Sciences and Antwerp Maritime Academy are looking for a full-time (%) doctoral scholarship holder. Your time will be evenly distributed (50-50) at both institutes.

About the project

WELL-OPS (WELLbeing for OPerational Superiority) is a four-year research project focused on human factors, occupational wellbeing and operational readiness in sustained maritime operations, including naval deployments.

The project aims to develop and validate a deployment readiness framework that connects human wellbeing and functioning to operational performance. To achieve this, WELL-OPS combines longitudinal research in operational maritime settings with research conducted in the Dar Młodzieży living lab and controlled experiments in AMA’s MISSIM full-mission simulator.

A central ambition of WELL-OPS is to move beyond monitoring and understanding human factors towards translating research findings into solutions that can be embedded in operational practice. The project therefore develops a Product-Service System (PSS) that integrates monitoring tools with services, workflows and decision support. This approach will support personnel and organisations in identifying, interpreting and acting upon factors that influence wellbeing, readiness and operational performance over time.

The PhD researcher will contribute to the development and evaluation of this approach by investigating how human factors and wellbeing can be monitored longitudinally, how these insights relate to operational performance, and how they can be translated into evidence-based interventions and operational support. The research will combine human factors and psychological research with longitudinal data collection, experimental research and Product-Service System and service design methodologies.

WELL-OPS brings together the University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen), Antwerp Maritime Academy (AMA) and research and technology partners. This multidisciplinary environment provides the PhD researcher with the opportunity to conduct research across academic, experimental and operational settings, and to contribute to solutions intended for implementation in real-world maritime operations.

Position

Your doctorate will focus on translating human-factors evidence into usable monitoring, feedback and support for maritime personnel and organisations. Field research and user evaluation will ground this system-level work in operational reality. You will contribute across the project, with a particular focus on PSS translation and validation in WP3–WP5. Your responsibilities will include:

Investigate the needs of seafarers, home-front participants and operational organisations through interviews, observations, surveys and participatory research.
Prepare and personally conduct agreed field studies aboard vessels and in other project settings, including repeated measurements and user evaluations. Coordinate participants, schedules, data quality and practical follow-up with AMA.
Contribute to selecting, adapting and testing psychological and behavioural measures under supervision, considering validity, reliability, participant burden and operational feasibility.
Analyse data relevant to your doctoral questions with support from the postdoc, and use the project’s readiness indicators and modelling results to inform system design.
Develop user profiles, deployment journey maps, system requirements and PSS concepts with UA design specialists, linking indicators to user needs, workflows and intervention logic.
Develop and evaluate user-centred services, monitoring and support processes that translate research findings into practical solutions, in collaboration with project partners.
Evaluate usability, acceptability, measurement burden and organisational fit across the testbeds, and contribute to deployment protocols, training and implementation guidance.
Develop a coherent doc