PhD on Responsible Development of Digital Innovation in Mental Healthcare

Are you passionate about understanding how digital innovations can be developed and scaled up in a responsible way? Do you want to contribute to better understanding how these innovations become applied in mental healthcare? Then this opportunity at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development is for you!

Your job

During the development of many new products and services, insufficient thought is given to how these innovations could scale in a socially responsible way. Who can use these products, who is left out, what characteristics are important? We assume that innovators, together with a broad group of stakeholders, must think about important conditions for successful scaling at an early stage of the innovation process. At the moment, there is a need for a better understanding how to approach responsible scaling.

In the project you will learn about how innovations can improve local day-to-day practice in mental healthcare, and about the systemic conditions to facilitate this local implementation, such as regulations, participation of prospective users in decision making, governance, funding, etc. For this, a new theory for responsible scaling needs to be developed, resulting in diffusion pathways allow for contextualisation and tailored implementation. These pathways should include various societal perspectives and values (ethics, public values, company’s interests) from the very start. They should also be able to align with – or recommend changes for – institutional boundaries in the (mental) healthcare system.

As a PhD candidate in this project, you will conduct in-depth empirical studies on the dynamics of responsible scaling in digital mental healthcare. Broadly, the following research activities are foreseen for this project:

• conceptualising diffusion and scaling theories of innovation;
• investigating scaling pathways in the context of existing cases in mental health, by looking at routines, values, assumptions of the different organizations and users involved in the development and upscaling of digital innovations;
• exploring possible future scaling pathways for responsible scaling and recommendations on how to build them and under which circumstances to use them;
• uncovering success and failure factors that facilitate or hinder scaling specifically in eHealth for mental health.

As a PhD candidate you will become embedded in a larger project on responsible scaling of digital innovation in mental healthcare, and collaborate with a wide range of interesting stakeholders, including technology developers, mental health organizations, patient groups, reimbursement agencies, etc. You will also be involved in exciting scientific communities on innovation and technology assessment.

Your qualities

You are a motivated and goal-oriented researcher who would like to work in an interdisciplinary research environment. Specifically, you bring the following:

• You have a successfully completed Master’s degree. Relevant disciplines include (but are not limited to) science and technology studies (STS), transition studies, innovation studies, information science, medical humanities, and sociology.
• You are interested in responsible development and upscaling of digital innovations.
• You have an affinity with in-depth social research and innovative methodologies with a mixed-methods or qualitative focus.
• You have an affinity and experience with public engagement and communication of scientific research.
• You enjoy working in an interdisciplinary team, and can showcase a critical attitude, intellectual independence, and good organizational skills.
• You are interested in collaborating with societal partners as part the research project. For this, Dutch language proficiency is a plus.
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Our offer

We offer:

• a temporary position, initially for one year with an extension to a total of four years upon a successful assessment in the first year, and with the specific intent that it results in a doctorate within this period;
• a working week of 36 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,901 and €3,707 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.