"PhD Position Image Description via Language Models for Blind and Visually Impaired Readers"

Job Description

TACIT Project
This position is based within the NWO's Perspectief project, TACIT (Inclusive Technologies for Access and Social Participation). The goal is to co-design AI-enabled adaptive image and schema descriptions for digitized books and collections of the National Library of the Netherlands (KB) for blind and visually impaired readers.

Background
Around 25% of the Dutch population lives with long-term visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities and diversities, often facing barriers to participation, equity and inclusion. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), which mandates that EU service providers ensure digital accessibility by 2025, marks a critical step toward reducing these inequalities. However, technology that is not co-designed with affected communities often lacks social acceptance and fails to meet real needs. As part of the TACIT (Inclusive Technologies for Access and Social Participation) project, this PhD position will contribute to the co-design and co-creation of AI and immersive media technologies through inclusive Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and participatory design methods. TACIT aims to enhance the accessibility of public services, accelerate the adoption of the EAA, drive innovation in assistive technologies, and promote broader societal inclusion through equitable, inclusive, and human-centered design. The TACIT project is funded by the NWO Perspectief program.

Position Overview
As part of a larger research initiative, TACIT (Inclusive Technologies for Access and Social Participation), focused on the co-design of inclusive and accessible AI and XR technologies for people with disabilities. The TU Delft Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science (EEMCS) invites applications for a PhD position aimed at developing advanced AI-driven image description systems tailored for blind and visually impaired (BVI) readers, addressing the diverse and evolving needs of users with different types and levels of visual and cognitive diversities. Leveraging large language and multimodal models, the research will focus on developing AI technologies to generate informative, concise, and personalized descriptions that enhance accessibility across various contexts. The candidate will engage in identifying user requirements, fine-tuning models for accessibility tasks, and designing mechanisms that automatically adapt image content to individual user profiles. The project also involves close collaboration with BVI individuals and other stakeholders through participatory design and evaluation, ensuring that the solutions are robust not only technically but also grounded in real-world accessibility needs.

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate with a strong interest in artificial intelligence, accessibility, and human-centered design to join the TACIT project. The candidate will work on developing adaptive, AI-driven technologies for people living with blindness and vision impairments. This research will combine technical innovation with inclusive design practices to ensure that the resulting solutions are not only effective but also trusted and adopted by the communities they aim to serve. The ideal candidate is passionate about creating socially impactful technology and eager to engage directly with people with disabilities, caretakers and relevant stakeholders, through co-design and participatory research.

The successful PhD candidate will be based at the intersection of the Web Information Systems Group (EEMCS Faculty, TU Delft, https://www.wis.ewi.tudelft.nl) and the Knowledge and Intelligence Design Group (IDE Faculty, TU Delft, https://kind.fyi). The candidate will also be co-hosted by the KB, the National Library of the Netherlands (https://www.kb.nl/).

Job Requirements
The successful PhD candidate will have:
- Master's degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, AI or Data Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- Excellent programming and research skills.
- Fluency in Dutch is recommended but not mandatory.
- Strong interest in accessibility, assistive technology, human-computer interaction, and co-design research.
- Ability and willingness to work in a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder team, including working with people and communities living with disabilities.
- Prior publications and experience in AI, human-computer interaction research are assets but not a requirement.

Conditions of Employment
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from €3059 - €3881 gross per month, from the first year to the fourth year based on a fulltime contract (38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

Additional Information
If you would like more information about this vacancy or the selection procedure, please contact Dr. Jie Yang or Dr. Himanshu Verma, via j.yang-3@tudelft.nl or h.verma@tudelft.nl.

Application Procedure
Are you interested in this position? Please apply no later than January 4, 2026, via the application button below.

Applicants should send their CV, and a cover letter outlining your qualifications, including a sample of scientific writing (e.g., published paper, thesis excerpt, or project report). Please note that if you lean too heavily on ChatGPT or a similar Generative AI application, your application letter will be very generic and difficult for us to judge.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.