PhD in digital emotion regulation interventions for Youth and Police (1fte)

Introduction

Are you interested in digital mental health? Do you want to develop and test innovative tools that help people manage stress and emotions in real time? Are you eager to work with methods such as ecological momentary assessments (EMA), physiological assessment (EPA), and just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI) to create practical solutions for youth and police officers? Do you want to be part of an interdisciplinary consortium, bringing together expertise from psychology, neuroscience, digital health, and implementation science? Do you hold—or will you soon complete—a Master’s degree that prepares you for a PhD trajectory in this area? Then we are looking for you.

Job description

We invite applications for a PhD position within a large, interdisciplinary consortium funded by a national NWA-ORC grant CONTEXT. The project brings together leading experts in psychology, neuroscience, physiology, ethics, and digital health to develop digital interventions for stress and emotion regulation.

As a PhD candidate, you will play a central role in this effort. You will develop ecological momentary assessments (EMA), ecological physiological assessments (EPA), ecological momentary interventions (EMI), and just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI), and test them in real-world settings with both youth and police populations.

Your tasks will include designing study protocols, collaborating with technical partners, analyzing behavioral, self-report, and physiological data, publishing research findings, and presenting your work at scientific conferences, with a support from your supervisor.

You will be part of a vibrant, supportive research environment, with funding available for conferences, international and national collaborations, and advanced training

This position offers you the opportunity to conduct innovative, high-impact research at the intersection of psychology, physiology, and digital health—while gaining experience in a multidisciplinary consortium that values collaboration, creativity, and real-world impact.

You will work under the supervision of Dr. Marta Marciniak.

Job requirements

-  Education: A completed Master’s degree (or one to be completed by 31 December 2025) in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral sciences, biomedical sciences, or a related field.

-  Research skills: Knowledge of quantitative research methods and statistics, with interest in developing these skills further. Any experience with experimental or intervention studies is a plus.

-  Digital health & technology: Interest in digital interventions, especially delivered via mobile apps, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), wearable sensors. Some experience with programming or data analysis (e.g., R, Python) is advantageous.

-  Scientific writing: Good academic writing and communication skills in English.

-  Teamwork: Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team of psychologists, neuroscientists, ethicists, and computer scientists.

-  Motivation: Strong interest in stress, emotion regulation, and mental health; enthusiasm for contributing to innovative digital solutions with real-world societal impact.

-  Other: Organizational skills, curiosity, and a proactive attitude toward learning new methods. Knowledge of Dutch is an asset but not required.

Employment conditions and benefits

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 January 2026. You will be based in Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB). This position is for 1 fte. As a PhD you start with a salary of  € 3.059 per month on a fulltime basis (38 hours). The maximum salary in the PhD scale is € 3.881 gross per month on a fulltime basis, in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of one year, and may be extended by three years based on good performance.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

-        Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

-        Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.

-        Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

-        Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

-        Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

-        Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)
Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) combines various disciplines such as public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology. In addition, the Erasmus University College is affiliated with the faculty. Within ESSB, we work in teams on education and research, emphasising interdisciplinarity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability. Together, we strive for societal and scientific impact.

ESSB distinguishes itself through inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary research, in which academics and students work together on complex social issues. Thanks to this approach, ESSB successfully attracts national and international research subsidies and funds, with which we continuously strengthen and renew our education and research.

ESSB serves almost 6,000 students annually with a wide range of bachelor's and master's programmes and has more than 600 employees. These programmes are highly rated by students and alumni. Within ESSB, developing new insights and realising positive societal impact are central, always with a focus on people and society.

Visit our website for more information about the faculty, and click here for more information about our academic teams.

Group

Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies (DPECS)

Our department consists of 6 teams covering the disciplines of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Pedagogical Sciences; three closely related disciplines with each their own profile. The different psychological specialization areas of DPECS focus on understanding cognitive, physical, and social functioning and well-being in the context of mental health, education, and work. The educational sciences focus on issues regarding effectiveness and inclusion in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The pedagogical sciences focus on issues related to everyday as well as problematic development and upbringing within families, at school and in youth care. The disciplinary perspectives of DPECS complement each other and share the mission to generate societal impact with high-quality scientifical research on timely societal issues, and with the use of innovative methods and techniques and open science. The bachelor and master programs of DPECS build on this mission and educate students to become scientifically trained professionals for the society of the future.

More information about the research at DPECS can be found here: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/information/researchers/lab-society

More information about the education programs offered at DPECS can be found here: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/education

Our department also has access to an excellent laboratory for research and education purposes. The Erasmus Behavioural Lab offers state-of-the art facilities, including video observation, EEG, eye-tracking, virtual reality, experience sampling, and biofeedback: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/information/researchers/erasmus-behavioural-lab

Department

Team BRAVE
We apply behavioural science expertise to facilitate societal transitions to create resilient and inclusive communities. We aim to be a leader in behavioural change and resilience through inter- and transdisciplinary research and collaboration with societal stakeholders. We apply core values ​​such as compassion, purpose, transparency and teamwork to realize a tangible impact on the health and well-being of individuals and systems.

For more information, please visit our website.

Additional information

You can find more information about the EUR on our website www.eur.nl.

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr. Marta Marciniak (marciniak@essb.eur.nl).

Applying

Please submit your application, consisting of a motivation letter and CV, before the vacancy closing date.

The selection procedure consists of two interviews. First interviews are expected to be held in the week of the 10th to 14th November.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Persons of all gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community.