PhD Student (f/m/d)

Transformative learning through educational design?

IT:U Doctoral School PhD Program Digital Transformation in Learning

1 PhD position | 30h/week | Up to 4 years | On-site in Linz (AT) | Start Date: October 2026 | Principal Investigator: Maaike Endedijk

Field of Research & Scope

• Educational design research
• Develop learning environments
• Support transformative learning – individually & collaboratively

Are you passionate about the intersection of educational design, technology, and coaching? We are looking for a driven PhD candidate to research and design innovative educational interventions aimed at supporting and scaling the coaching activities in our programs.

At our university, students tackle highly diverse and complex challenges, ranging from how machines can collaborate with humans to how AI can be used to understand geospatial processes. To navigate these interdisciplinary projects successfully, students rely on dedicated coaches. These coaches do not steer the academic content, but focus entirely on guiding group dynamics, teamwork, and the project process.

Your Role

As a PhD candidate, your mission is to investigate, support, and scale the coaching process. You will research their current practices and bottlenecks, and use those insights to design, implement, and evaluate targeted educational interventions. A key part of your research may also involve conceptualizing and building supportive online environments or digital toolkits that help streamline the coaches' daily tasks.

Key Responsibilities

• Research: Investigate the needs, challenges, and current workflows of process-oriented project coaches.
• Design: Create evidence-based training programs and educational interventions to improve and scale the coaching activities.
• Develop: Explore and prototype online environments or tools designed to optimize the coaching workflow.
• Evaluate: Assess the impact of your interventions on coach effectiveness and, ultimately, student collaboration across vastly different disciplines.

Join us in shaping the future of academic coaching and enabling students to excel in complex teamwork!

We offer

• Collaborations: The lab enjoys close collaborations with related research labs, specifically with the Professional Learning & Technology research group from the University of Twente. The lab also collaborates with researchers within IT:U and supports co-supervision with other IT:U founding professors.
• International mobility and exchange: Selected candidates will benefit from interactions with the PI’s collaborators and colleagues in Europe and will be invited to stay.
• Professional and personal development: Your development is central in this position. Your supervisors will help you navigate the academic landscape. Doctoral students will receive comprehensive guidance throughout their academic journey at IT:U and beyond.
• Research-based intervention design: This position allows you to design and test educational interventions in the real educational contexts.

Responsibilities & Tasks

• Conducting research
• Designing and evaluating research-based interventions
• Writing academic publications
• Attending national and international conferences
• Collaborating with other research groups on an interdisciplinary basis
• Performing auxiliary activities in academic teaching for up to 2 weekly credit hours
• Helping to file applications for third-party funding
• Complying with the institution’s academic standards and ethical guidelines

Skills & Qualifications needed

• A master’s degree in Educational or Learning Sciences, Psychology, Communication Sciences or a related field
• Motivated, with a strong interest in the intersection of learning processes, educational design and transformations
• Strong methodological knowledge (specifically longitudinal designs and analyses)
• Experience with in-depth field research, while being immersed in the field, is an advantage
• Experience with educational design is an advantage
• Proven ability to work independently, but also to collaborate with a team and relevant stakeholders
• Good social and communication skills in academic and non-academic contexts
• Fluent in English (CEFR C1)

What you can expect

• Innovative and stimulating working conditions in an interdisciplinary, international research environment
• Office kitchen with complimentary basic supplies
• Climate Ticket Upper Austria (optimal public transportation connections)
• We offer a gross salary in line with the FWF salary rate of EUR 2.832,10 (30h). Optional supplementary contracts (teaching or research) to an extent of up to 10 hours may be discussed during the hiring process.

Program Structure

IT:U offers a 4-year, structured PhD program.

In the first year, emphasis is placed on focused group work, research lab modules, and Project Integrated Courses (PICS). The first year concludes with a PhD Proposal Presentation. Over the next three years, students will develop and write their PhD theses. This is accompanied by interdisciplinary research seminars and work as a project assistant. The PhD program concludes after the 4th year with the submission and defense of the PhD thesis.

How to apply

Please fill in the online application form and upload your files at: 

• Curriculum Vitae
• Bachelor’s and Master’s diploma (or equivalent)
• Bachelor’s and Master’s Transcript of Records
• Motivational letter (up to 2 pages)
• Up to 3 contacts of professors/collaborators for recommendations

We look forward to receiving your online application.

The positions will remain open until filled. Candidates are encouraged to apply early, as review of applications will begin on a rolling basis. The call will close on 31.05.2026.

*Come as you are – we value and promote diversity in our team. Everyone is encouraged to reach their full potential, realize ideas and seize opportunities. Regardless of age, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or origin, we welcome applications from all people equally.