PhD candidate in Cognitive Ergonomics of Prehospital Care

Publiceringsdatum: 2024-12-05

Vill du ta steget att arbeta som doktorand hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB? Nu har du möjligheten. Vill du arbeta heltid hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB? Just nu letar de efter någon som vill ha en tjänst 6 månader eller längre. Göteborg är platsen där denna position är ledig.

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Jobbannons

Do you want to perform research that aims to develop better ergonomics methods and contribute to supporting mental health in the emergency services? This project will be carried out in an interdisciplinary environment, applying human factors/cognitive ergonomics to the work domain of ambulance emergency services. If you are interested in human cognition and how the work environment challenges the brains of highly skilled ambulance personnel, this position may be for you.

The Preko-2 project

This PhD candidate position will be carried out within the research project called PreKo-2, which is carried out in collaboration with PICTA Arena for prehospital care, based in Göteborg, Sweden. The project aims to improve the conditions for understanding and assessing the level of cognitive load in ambulance emergency services. The starting point is a previously developed model (called PreKo) for assessing cognitive load, which was originally aimed at evaluating assembly work. This project aims to adapt and refine the model for the presumably more complex and dynamic work context that ambulance healthcare missions entail.

The goals are to establish a deeper understanding of the cognitive aspects of ambulance care, where staff are challenged by decision-making based on rapidly changing information, and to develop the PreKo assessment model into a usable instrument that is relevant for dynamic, unpredictable work in a combined physical/digital context. Ambulance work may entail dealing with crisis situations and with people in shock or difficult life circumstances; analogue and digital communication with remote parties (e.g. doctors); documentation of sensitive personal data; and vehicle handling in traffic, in all kinds of weather and lighting conditions.

The PreKo-2 project intends to fulfill the following societal benefits and research purposes:

• Map how cognitive load factors present themselves in ambulance emergency services (types of cognitive/mental load, critical abilities, time aspects, frequency, intensity, consequences in case of errors, etc.).
• Further develop the first assessment model PreKo 1.0 (which was tailored to the cognitive challenges of manual assembly industry) into a more general instrument for proactively assessing cognitive/mental load in dynamic work situations, like those of ambulance care.
• Develop a use process for how the further developed PreKo 2.0 instrument can be used for structured assessment of cognitive load in ambulance care and provide recommendations for appropriate measures when potentially harmful cognitive/mental load is detected.

Major responsibilities

The position will involve contact with ambulance personnel, their managers, patients and multiple centres for prehospital care in the region of Västra Götaland – therefore, social skills, patience and tenacity are valuable qualities. Your main interactions will be to observe or interview the ambulance personnel in their actual work environment and/or simulated ambulance care training situations, usually setting up means for documenting the interactions in an ethically safe and robust manner. The position will also require gaining in-depth knowledge about the existing research literature in the subject.

You will be chiefly responsible for carrying out Human Factors/Ergonomics research in real-life working environments, with the aim to 1) map out the system-specific challenges of working in Swedish ambulance emergency services and 2) to help develop and refine a method to evaluate and measure cognitive workload. The work will include data collection in the form of: in-person interviews, surveys and on-site observations; data analysis in qualitative and quantitative form; presentation and dissemination of research results; and scholarly coursework required to complete the academic requirements of a PhD degree. You will also be expected to:

• Be an active and contributing member of the research group
• Attend division and project meetings and conferences
• Take PhD courses as part of the Doctoral Programme "Human-Technology-Design"
• Teach (20% of total work time) at bachelor and/or master level and supervise thesis students, with support from your supervisor(s).

Qualifications

To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a Master’s degree in engineering, cognitive

science, design, industrial design, product development, architecture or equivalent, or a Bachelor degree in design combined with a Master in a topic relevant for the position. You should ideally have experience of working with design methodology and in particular user studies. A genuine interest in social sustainability, research, cognitive and mental health and systems design is meritorious. You must have obtained a relevant master’s degree (or equivalent), or expect to complete such a degree, by the time the employment starts.

You are expected to conduct empirical research as primary activity, foremost by applying a qualitative research approach in close interaction with ambulance emergency service personnel and other stakeholders. Research results are expected to be disseminated through interactions with professionals as well as through publications in highly ranked journals within the subject area, which will require good writing and communication skills. Other merits include working experience from industry, collaboration, and management of relationships with stakeholders and project management.

Contract terms

Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Use the link reach the application form. 

Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered.

Application deadline: 2025-01-16

For questions, please contact:

Associate Professor Cecilia Berlin- Design & Human Factors,

Cecilia.berlin@chalmers.se

Associate Professor Pontus Wallgren- Design & Human Factors,

Pontus.wallgren@chalmers.se