PhD student: Exploring Moral Emotions through Conversational Interaction

We invite applications for a fully-funded 4-year doctoral position on exploring moral emotions through conversational interaction. This transdisciplinary project will take place at the department of Industrial Design and aims to advance our understanding of how humans develop moral emotions over time and how technology can facilitate this developmental process.

The project aims to expand our understanding of how conversations with and through technology can influence our moral emotions by examining the interplay between different emotional states over time. Examining intra-personal, conversational, and temporal dimensions of people's emotional experience has implications for well-being and how technology should (and should not) be designed. First, the focus is on designing and validating a conversational user interface to engage people in personal reflections on moral emotions, e.g., compassion, gratitude, and awe. Second, the designed interface is utilized to explore everyday experiences of moral emotions to capture the nuances of human emotional dynamics. Third, the project looks the longitudinal development of moral emotions through interactions with a conversational agent. This is done via collecting conversational data in real-life contexts to gain insights into how these emotions manifest in people's daily lives.

Requirements:

This work is at the intersection of between moral philosophy, human-computer interaction and industrial design. Candidates should have a master's degree in a related area and demonstrable expertise. Ideally, you have the following qualifications: 

• Completed (or about to complete) a Master's degree in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Linguistics, Psychology, Philosophy, or Software Engineering. Mixed educational degrees are welcome.
• Experience or keen interest in applied ethics and morality.
• Experience in executing empirical research; quantitative and qualitative methods are both welcome.
•  Experience in designing and building systems or agents (broadly considered) as evidenced in a portfolio and/or Github profile.
•  Experience working in diverse teams, with the ability to think across various disciplines.
• The potential to publish academically or a track record of publications in related research areas.
• Good communication skills: Fluency in English (written and verbal) is mandatory. 

Salary Benefits:

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,770 max. €3,539).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

38 hours per week

De Rondom 70