PhD Position in Inclusive Urban Mobility and Accessibility

Join an ambitious, multidisciplinary project at the intersection of urban design, inclusive mobility, health geographies, and human-computer interaction, to shape the future of equitable cities!

PhD Position in Inclusive Urban Mobility and Accessibility

Job description

This position is part of the NWO-funded research project BEAT – Building Equitable Accessibility Together, which launched in January 2026.

About BEAT

Operating from the standpoint that mobility is fundamentally a subjective human experience, BEAT aims to investigate urban mobility barriers as they unfold in the daily activities of people with physical and cognitive diversity (PaCD). Rather than examining a specific mode of mobility (e.g., public transportation, walking) or a single accessibility barrier, the project focuses on the comprehensive experience of urban mobility in the daily lives of people with PaCD. Our point of departure is people themselves, their routines and travel behaviors, their daily frustrations with various mobility obstacles, and the impact of these hindrances on their personal, social, and professional lives.

The specific objectives of BEAT are twofold: (1) to co-create a comprehensive understanding of informal urban mobility barriers and their impacts while co-identifying key priorities to address, and (2) to co-design and assess innovative solutions using three levers: human-centered artificial intelligence, urban design, and policy. These solutions include interactive technologies (e.g., personalized, real-time accessibility maps, lightweight wearable devices, binaural audio), tactical urbanism interventions, design and evaluation tools (e.g., inclusivity indices), as well as guidelines and strategies for policy change. Central to this approach is the establishment of a close, collaborative partnership with the target groups, facilitated through the creation and development of a Living Lab. The BEAT Living Lab will serve as a platform not only for co-identifying problems but also for co-designing and interactively testing solutions.

PhD position overview

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to join the BEAT project, focusing on inclusive mobility, accessibility, experiential and behavioral dimensions of everyday mobility, co-design, human-centered (spatial/physical/digital) interventions, human-centered AI, and interactive technologies. The ideal candidate is passionate about identifying priorities to address urban mobility barriers and co-designing platforms that raise awareness about the daily mobility barriers experienced by people with PaCD, while facilitating behavior change. The candidate should be eager to collaborate directly with people with PaCD and other relevant stakeholders in policy and planning through the BEAT Living Lab.

In this PhD position, you will contribute to a key work package within BEAT that aims to collect data on experienced, everyday mobility barriers, co-design user-centered interventions with Living Lab members, and develop information platforms that identify accessibility problems and enable target groups to mitigate them. Your research will focus on collecting data about identified accessibility barriers in the Living Lab cities, identifying design requirements for interventions, and co-designing awareness tools for behavior change, targeting people with PaCD, policymakers, and designers.

What you will do

• Contribute to the BEAT Living Lab by collecting actionable data on accessibility barriers through interviews, surveys, environmental sensing, and ethnographic fieldwork, complemented by a comprehensive literature review.
• Engage with people with PaCD and other relevant stakeholders to identify design requirements for spatial interventions and interactive technologies.
• Iteratively co-design, deploy, and test platforms that can raise awareness about how daily mobility barriers are experienced, while facilitating mobility behavior change.

The successful PhD candidate will be based at the Department of Sustainable Design Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands), and collaborate with all partners in the BEAT project.

Job requirements

The PhD candidate will work under the supervision of Dr. Achilleas Psyllidis and Dr. Himanshu Verma of the Knowledge and Intelligence Design group, and will become a member of the Urban Analytics Lab.

The successful applicant will have:

• A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in urban planning, design sciences, computational social science, urban analytics, citizen science, transport and mobility studies, (quantitative) human geography, geographic information science, human-computer interaction, or a related field.
• High motivation and aptitude for research, as well as a willingness to work in an international and cross-disciplinary environment.
• Fluent English communication skills.
• Ability to work productively and independently.
• Dutch communication skills are an asset, but not a mandatory requirement; willingness to learn Dutch during the PhD duration is desirable.
• Previous knowledge, experience, or publications in accessibility, mobility justice, citizen science, disability studies, human-computer interaction, or any of the other fields mentioned above are an advantage, but not a mandatory requirement.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society.

Faculty Industrial Design Engineering

This is the focus of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE). Delft designers act as a bridge between advances in technology and the needs of people, organisations and society to create products, services and systems with purpose.

IDE is a leader in design research across the application areas of mobility, sustainability and health, as well as its development of design tools and methods. A 350-strong research team and over 2,000 students work together in our inspiring hall, labs and studios.

In close cooperation with industry, the public sector and NGOs we rehearse possible futures in research and education to design for a complex future.

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.

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.