"PhD candidate for improving digital representations of patients in the hospital"

The Department of Communication and Cognition at Tilburg University and the Elisabeth-TweeSteden hospital (ETZ) are looking for an enthusiastic PhD researcher to join a joint project on “Improving digital representations of patients in the hospital.” The project offers a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of communication science, healthcare, and AI—collaborating closely with both academic researchers and medical practitioners.

Digitalization in healthcare has transformed the way patient information is collected and managed. Electronic health records (EHRs) now contain vast amounts of medical and personal data, offering opportunities for better care, personalization, and prevention. At the same time, current systems face important challenges: much of the data is still entered manually, patient portals are not always reliable or user-friendly, and information is often stored rather than dynamically presented in ways that truly support decision-making for both patients and professionals.

This fully funded, four-year PhD project will explore how health information can be collected, processed, and presented in ways that strengthen patient autonomy and improve clinical decision-making. Patients’ expectations of “what is known about them” often differ from the reality of what is stored. Bridging this gap requires innovation across three areas:

• Data entry – enabling patient-driven, accurate, and accessible input.
• Data processing – structuring, summarizing, and storing information in meaningful ways.
• Data presentation – developing usable and accessible visualizations tailored to the needs of both care providers and patients, while accounting for varying literacy levels.

Artificial intelligence may play a role across these areas, for instance in enhancing the quality of patient-reported data or tailoring information presentation. At the same time, careful attention will be paid to ethical issues such as privacy, security, and bias in digital health systems.

You will adopt a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and participatory methods to map the needs of healthcare professionals and patients, with evaluation studies to assess the effectiveness and user experience of innovative solutions.

Your PhD will culminate in a thesis that delivers both theoretical insights and practical recommendations for improving digital patient representations. By making health information more usable, accessible, and ethically sound, you will contribute directly to more personalized and effective healthcare.

Requirements:

• Ability to work and think at an academic level, with a master’s degree in a field such as human-computer interaction, design, communication science, artificial intelligence, health informatics, or comparable.
• Work experience is not required.
• Minimum CEFR level C2 English required, and C2/C1 Dutch preferred.
• Strong methodological skills (qualitative and/or quantitative).
• Ability to cooperate in multidisciplinary teams, work independently and proactively.
• Experience in design, prototyping, basic programming, AI and/or machine learning are a plus.

International PhD candidates with scholarships below the applicable IND income standard (currently €2,191.80 per month excluding vacation pay) are unfortunately not eligible for this vacancy.

Conditions of employment:

Employment of 0.8–1.0 FTE (32–40 hours per week). Salary between €3,059.00 (year one) and €3,881.00 (year four) gross per month for full-time employment. This is a vacancy for a PhD in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 8 sub b CLA DU. You will initially be given a temporary contract for the duration of 18 months. Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. Over 8 weeks of vacation leave. Hybrid working with home working allowance (€2 p/day) and internet allowance (€25 p/month). Reimbursement sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport. Options model for additional leave, pension, a bicycle or personal training. Moving allowance (subject to conditions). 30% rule for international employees (if applicable). Pension through ABP. Ample training offer: personal development, leadership, education, research or language courses. Inclusive work culture: everyone welcome, equal opportunities. A green, inviting campus that’s easily accessible by public transport.