She has only just started her PhD, yet she is already deeply embedded in practice. Three days a week, Rania Bamhaoudi works within the Dutch police, where officers have to make decisions under intense pressure. From Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam (RSM), she studies how training with Extended Reality (XR) can contribute to greater mental resilience and more consistent decision making.
Learning in high pressure situations
An officer puts on a VR headset and steps into what seems like an everyday call. Noise complaints from neighbours. But as he assesses the situation, the scene begins to shift. Tension rises, the environment reacts, and within minutes the incident escalates into a serious crime. These are exactly the kinds of scenarios at the heart of Bamhaoudi's PhD research. She examines how police training using Extended Reality, including Virtual Reality (VR), can be designed more effectively. XR is already used within the police to practise stressful situations. 'It is very interactive,' she says. 'You go through all the steps and have to make decisions on the spot.'
What is still largely missing is solid scientific knowledge about what actually makes these trainings effective. 'We know relatively little about what exactly happens when officers learn in VR. How does behaviour change over time? Which forms of reflection work and which do not? That is what I want to understand better.' Her ambition goes beyond improving training modules alone. 'I hope this research can help make society a bit safer. Better trained officers ultimately mean safer situations across the Netherlands.'
'They said it would be a shame if you did not try again. And then I thought: you will never know if you do not try'
Rania Bamhaoudi
From the Zuidas to a sense of purpose
That Bamhaoudi began a PhD at the age of 23 is far from self evident. During her master's programme, she started questioning what her next step should be. 'I am really not the type who would be happy in a corporate job on the Zuidas,' she says, referring to Amsterdam’s financial district. 'I would miss creativity and social meaning.' Teaching and learning ran like a common thread through her studies. She gave private tutoring, taught Dutch language classes to international students, and discovered that research suited her. 'I never understood why people dislike writing their thesis so much. I actually really enjoyed it.'
That turned out to be an important signal. Through a professor, she moved into research assistant roles and the idea of an academic career began to take shape. When she narrowly missed out on another PhD position, that was a disappointment. Shortly afterwards, this opportunity emerged. 'They said it would be a shame if you did not try again. And then I thought: you will never know if you do not try.'
Between technology and human behaviour
The collaboration with the police makes this PhD project distinctive. It is one of the few doctoral studies that started with a concrete assignment from an external organisation. 'The police is an incredibly large and complex organisation. To do good research, you really need to understand how it works.' That is why Bamhaoudi travels across the country, from Amsterdam to Utrecht and Leusden. 'What attracted me is that this research can directly mean something for police work,' she says. 'I am not just working in theory. I collaborate with the people it is ultimately meant for.'
Her approach is deliberately broad. She works with behavioural data from XR simulations, sets up experiments comparing different training formats, and speaks directly with police officers. 'I am perhaps most looking forward to those conversations. That is the only way to truly understand how they learn and what they experience.'
What makes her profile distinctive is her position between two worlds. With a background in International Business Administration (IBA) and experience with technology, she sees herself as a translator. 'I understand the developers, but also the organisational side. Being that link between technology and practice is something I find very valuable.'
Direct Impact
Bamhaoudi is acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with police work. Her first encounter with a VR training session left a strong impression. 'You see how much is happening at once. It is not a simple step by step procedure. You have to constantly switch, stay alert, and still project calm. People turn to you in moments of crisis. Then you need to know what you are doing.'
That is why she believes in the power of XR, if it is used properly. 'Not everything needs to be done in VR. I want to understand when it really adds value and when it does not.' Her goal is clear. 'If after five years I can improve and speed up the learning process for this group, I will be very satisfied.'
- PhD student
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