PhD position on Human-AI symbiosis in work environments

PhD position on Human-AI symbiosis in work environments

Job description

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative center of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Belonging to the best research universities of Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

The Faculty of Economics and Business offers an inspiring study and working environment for students and employees. International accreditation enables the Faculty to assess performance against the highest international standards. It also creates an exciting environment of continuous improvement. FEB's programmes, academic staff and research do well on various excellence ranking lists.

FEBRI, the graduate school and research institute of the Faculty of Economics and Business has a PhD position on Human-AI symbiosis in work environments.

Artificial Intelligence is transforming jobs in profound ways. In contrast with earlier technology-driven transformations, where physical automation was among the key drivers, AI increasingly impacts cognitively rich tasks. The risk of job losses and human roles being replaced by AI are a subject of intense interest, including fear. At the same time, the significant opportunities for the creation of new roles for humans to operate in synergy with AI, and especially in manufacturing, are not sufficiently appreciated by organisations and individuals. What could a roadmap for positive adoption of human-AI synergies look like? How to design human-centred AI-enabled processes in manufacturing environments that capitalise on the best of both human and AI skills? What does this mean for the future human skills in manufacturing and what are the requirements for human-AI interaction and overall work design? These are key questions that you are expected to address in this exciting new PhD position, undertaken as part of the SkillAIbility project (Co-designing human centric pathways for future skills in manufacturing through augmented, empowered, inclusive, and symbiotic complementarities between AI, automation and humans). The project aims to create human-centric pathways to future Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) skills and jobs in the digital transition of the manufacturing industry. It also aims to mitigate risks for social disparities and inequalities by targeting societal, industrial, academic, and regulatory dimensions. Co-designing education and training programs as well as relevant AI tools with workers, especially vulnerable groups, using empowering, inclusive, and symbiotic complementarities between AI, automation, and humans is key to this approach. The PhD research may benefit from other research projects on Human-Centric AI at the University of Groningen, carried out in synergy with a range of research, industrial, and societal partners.

Your role

You will work within the Department of Operations. The SkillAIbility project involves collaboration with a consortium which includes manufacturing and technology experts, academic & research institutions, and organisations promoting inclusive work design practices, offering the right partnership mix of stakeholders to integrate a multi-stakeholder viewpoint on the research. The project will offer you opportunities to develop and apply your skills in impactful research. You will be expected to contribute to project deliverables towards novel approaches for human-AI synergies in future manufacturing work environments, leading to high-quality research outcomes. These outcomes include technical reporting and scientific publications, informed by and serving the needs of multiple project use cases for human augmentation, empowerment, and symbiosis between humans and AI/automation technologies. You will also participate and represent the University of Groningen team in regular project meetings, you will contribute to project activities, and you will engage with project partners and external stakeholders, demonstrating your own initiative.

You will be supervised by Dr Christos Emmanouilidis (Promotor) and co-supervised by Dr Jos Bokhorst (co-promotor) and Dr Sabine Waschull (co-promotor) from the Operations Department, Faculty of Economics and Business.

Qualifications

Requirements and Qualifications

• A Master’s degree in Management / Industrial Engineering (completed or near completion) or any related engineering or other discipline from social, natural sciences, interdisciplinary, or applied sciences with content relevant to one or more of the following topics: Industrial Organisation, Organisational Behaviour, Work Design, Human Factors, Change Management, Digital Transformation (Industry 4.0/5.0), Manufacturing, Digital Humanities, Human-Technology Interaction and Socio-Technical Systems, with a strong awareness of Artificial Intelligence.
• Competences in on or more of the topics mentioned above demonstrable beyond the Master’s degree will be a plus.
• You should be a proactive, self-driven individual, with critical thinking, who can excel in an environment that offers collaboration options, within the supervising and organisation teams, but also within the extensive project partnership, able to perform within project timescales.
• Excellent technical and research report writing skills, including excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Readiness and willingness to engage/collaborate with consortium partners and other researchers as a team player working in an interdisciplinary environment.

Conditions of employment

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities

• A gross monthly salary from a minimum of € 2,901, which increases yearly to a maximum of € 3,707.
• An additional 8% holiday allowance each year in May, and an additional 8.3 % end of year bonus in December.
• A temporary full-time appointment for a period of four years, under the condition of a positive assessment at the end of the first year. PhD candidates usually contribute 20% of their time to teaching in years 2-4.

Starting date: as soon as possible, but no later than September 1, 2025.

Information

For information you can contact:

• Dr. Christos Emmanouilidis, c.emmanouilidis rug.nl