Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 20 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campus is located in Espoo, Finland.

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is an institution of higher education for design, media, architecture, motion picture, art education and art. The current key areas of research are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, welfare architecture and emerging technologies as well as urban planning and design. The school produces specialists and innovators of art, design and architecture with strong artistic and technical skills.

Department of Design is an academic community of approximately 850 students, 70 doctoral students and 70 faculty members. The department conducts research and provides education in bachelor, master and doctoral programmes across a broad range of subjects and themes. Additional information about the department can be found online: http://design.aalto.fi/en/, http://designresearch.aalto.fi

The position is located at Department of Design research groups ENCORE and INUSE

We are looking for a:

Postdoctoral Researcher on Co-Design in Healthcare and Wellness

Department of Design is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to join the Accessible Magnetic Resonance Imaging – AMRI project in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. The applicant will join the team at Aalto to conduct research and support the coordination of the project. The selected candidate will be working with associate professor Severi Uusitalo (PI), associate professor Tuuli Mattelmäki and senior university lecturer Antti Salovaara and other colleagues at department research teams.

AMRI project is a three-year project funded by Technology Industries’ Future Makers instrument. The project is led by assistant professor Ilkka Laakso in Aalto ELEC, and the project focuses on studying and developing a novel MRI concept and technology. The post-doctoral position and focus will be in human-centered design research within the context of health and well-being.

Work duties:
The main duties involved in this post-doctoral position are related to the conduct of Department of Design research activities within AMRI project. AMRI project’s research addresses some main contemporary wellbeing challenges - namely ageing of population and obesity, but also that of accessible diagnostics. The project focuses on innovative, flexible and accessible solutions of medical imaging in professional healthcare context and as a consumer service. The main focus of Department of Design work package is to ensure that the concept is a human-friendly technology-service solution. The work-package focuses on identifying and specifying requirements, restrictions and objectives of use cases, as well as contextual matters guiding the development of technology and service system. Design exploration and iterative prototyping are applied as a process to experiment, evaluate and communicate, and to guide the development of technologies and services. The interaction between this and other work-packages will be continuous and co-creative throughout the project.

Other tasks expected from the person in the position:

• Teaching and supervising students when relevant for the project
• Contribution to general Department’s duties (e.g. meetings and research seminars)

Requirements:

• A suitable candidate has a doctoral degree in a relevant area (e.g. design, HCD, co-design, experience design).
• We expect you to have an excellent academic record and demonstrated capacities for inter- and transdisciplinary design research as well as for product or service design.
• Good command of contemporary ITC tools for group work and project dissemination, interest in using social media for research communication is a plus.
• Experience with HCD and co-design methods is a must, and experience of health and wellbeing context is an asset.
• Very good oral and written proficiency in English is required. Finnish language competence is considered a merit due to the involvement of users in the research.

Key selection criteria:

1. Research experience or demonstrable interest in HCD, prototyping, experience design, product service systems
2. Demonstrated ability to work effectively both as a member of a research team and independently when required, to meet project outcomes and milestones
3. Good networking and communication skills and ability to interact with the research team and stakeholders
4. Availability for incorporation to the work in Spring 2020

Salary:
The salary is determined based on the experience and qualifications according to the salary system of Aalto University.

Duration:
36 months, full-time

Applications:
The applications should be submitted via the Apply now button below by 21.2.2020.

 The application consists of

• Motivation letter (max. two pages)
• CV
• List of publications
• Additionally, a design portfolio

Please send all your application materials in English and in PDF form.

If you wish to hear more about the position, you can contact Severi Uusitalo; severi.uusitalo(at)aalto.fi. In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Coordinator Elisa Utriainen; elisa.utriainen(at)aalto.fi.

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