Ph.D. Research in Immersive Technology: Enhancing Police Training with VR

Abstract

This PhD research is titled “Enhancing Police Training with VR: Impact on Learning, Resilience, and Performance”. It investigates the effectiveness, psychological impact, and design optimization of Virtual Reality (VR)-based training in law enforcement. The PhD research aims to understand how VR enhances skill acquisition, decision-making, and mental resilience in police officers while identifying the best instructional designs and implementation considerations for large-scale VR implementation. By integrating insights from psychology, behavior science, human-computer interaction (HCI), and information systems (IS), this research provides both theoretical advancements and practical recommendations for optimizing VR as a training tool in policing and to help the Dutch police organization with their digital transformation.

The study is structured around two broad, interrelated themes in the domain of learning and development, i.e., 1) evaluating the effectiveness of VR training, and 2) implementing and utilizing VR training at scale in the most effective way.

The results will help the police organization to gain insights into the quality of the different types of VR learning interventions, how to optimize VR-training formats, and the economic and operational implications of implementing VR-based police training at scale.

Achieving our target, requires a multidisciplinary setup, enabled by the collaboration of researchers from Information Systems and Marketing at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and our partner in the law enforcement (i.e., Dutch Police), who cover a large spectrum of expertise. The themes have been carefully chosen with the duality of impact and fundamental research in mind.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence, business analytics, information strategy, digital platforms, learning, virtual reality, psychology, AI and ethics, and economics of information systems

Topic

The Netherlands police would like to gain insights into the effectiveness of VR training as compared to traditional training methods. Moreover, they need insights into how to implement VR training at scale in the most effective way.

To gain these insights, the project aims to answer the following research questions:

1. How does VR-based training compare to traditional training in enhancing police officers’ skill retention, decision-making, resilience, and behavioral performance in real-world operations?
2. What instructional design elements (e.g., realism, interactivity, AI-driven adaptation) and methods (e.g., co-creation) optimize engagement, usability, and knowledge transfer in VR-based police training?
3. What are the economic and operational implications of implementing VR-based police training at scale, and how can training formats be optimized for cost-effectiveness and efficiency?

Through empirical studies, field experiments, and user-centered design methodologies, this research seeks to bridge the gap between VR training technology, cognitive-behavioral science, and law enforcement practice.

The Ph.D. student will develop the research topics in close collaboration with the advisors. The two promoters are Prof. Ting Li (Information Systems) and Prof. Yvonne van Everdingen (Marketing).

• Prof. Ting Li is a professor of digital business and the Head of Business Information Management (BIM) group at RSM. She is the director of the Immersive Tech & AI Lab. She focuses on studying the economic impacts of digitization on consumer behavior and firm strategy. She is an expert in digital platforms, social and mobile analytics, AI and decision making, and economic value of emerging technologies (AR/VR, Generative AI, Web3).
• Prof. Yvonne van Everdingen is a professor of marketing and innovation, and is Academic Director Expert Practice Immersive Tech. Her research interests include the international adoption and diffusion of new products, the use of new technologies, such as immersive technologies and AI, for the development and marketing of new products, and the use of digital technologies for effective (sales) training.
• The internal supervisor is Dr. Tim Theeboom He has a background in academia (work and organizational psychology) and is currently project lead on XR within learning and development for the Netherlands police.

During the Ph.D., you will work in close collaboration with the advisors to:

• Identify a consequential phenomenon that is relevant to managers or policymakers in law enforcement and which has not been fully addressed in prior research;
• Obtain data, primary or secondary, that are needed to better understand the phenomenon;
• Use the scientific literature to understand and examine the theoretical foundations of the phenomenon;
• Identify the fundamental variables and relationships that are most important to the phenomenon of interest, and formalize these mathematically while relating them to data;
• Identify the main assumptions that need to be made in order to solve or estimate the model, and understand their implications;
• Develop methods necessary to extract research results from data;
• Present research findings at national and international conferences;
• Document findings for publication in leading scientific journals, and ultimately, your dissertation.

To conduct research, you will be able to take advantage of our strong industry ties, institutional databases, and software development support to gain access to large-scale data sets and have the opportunity to conduct real-world field experiments.

Organization

This project is a collaboration between the Netherlands police, the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University), and the Erasmus Center of Data Analytics (ECDA).

Netherlands police

This research project is funded by the Netherlands police. This project is part of the digital transformation program and aims to enhance integration of XR Technology in the law enforcement domain. During the project you will work closely with employees of the Netherlands police and will partially spend your time working and collecting data on site. The police will also take part in the supervisory team. 

Erasmus Center for Data Analytics (ECDA)

The PhD student will also be embedded in the ecosystem of ECDA, which is a flagship center and community for cross-disciplinary insight on the societal impact of Data, Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization and Immersive Technologies.

See for more information on ECDA: https://ecda.eur.nl/; https://ecda.eur.nl/immersive-experience-lab/; Virtual and Augmented Reality - Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University

Both the BIM section of the Department of Technology & Operations Management as well as the Marketing Management department at RSM are recognized worldwide and is multi- and interdisciplinary, publishing its research in top information systems, management, and marketing journals. This makes the BIM section and the MM department a lively, creative, and intellectually stimulating place to conduct research.

See for more information on the BIM and MM departments of RSM:

https://www.rsm.nl/research/departments/technology-and-operations-management/business-information/; https://www.rsm.nl/faculty-research/departments/marketing-management/.

Approach

As a Ph.D. student, you will gain the training and experience necessary to conduct independent research through coursework in information systems, economics, econometrics, machine learning, and large-scale data analytics. You will conduct applied and theoretical research under the supervision of our research faculty. The Ph.D. dissertation will be defined by the student with inputs from the advisors, and thus requires creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific inquiry.

Coursework. Core coursework is designed to build methodological skills, modelling competence, and substantive depth. The Ph.D. students will develop their knowledge and research skills by taking courses during the first and second years. The courses are offered by the Tinbergen Institute (http://www.tinbergen.nl), ERIM (https://www.erim.eur.nl/), and/or other research institutes. It is relevant to the economics of information systems and business analytics in information systems, including, but not limited to microeconomics (individual choice, aggregate supply, and demand, equilibrium), econometrics (endogenous variables, choice modeling), statistics and probability, Bayesian modelling, machine learning, and deep learning.

Research seminars. Both BIM and MM organize weekly research seminars (Events | Erasmus Research Institute of Management | Erasmus University Rotterdam) that bring leading scholars to share their knowledge and insights on cutting-edge research that is emerging in other top schools around the world.

Research environment. Our interdisciplinary Ph.D. program provides an unparalleled source of training for doing cutting-edge research in Information Systems and Marketing. In addition to strong technical training in quantitative methods, students will also be equipped with a deep appreciation and understanding of the behavioral mechanisms and processes that influence decision-making via interactions with faculty studying topics related to individual decision-making in experimental paradigms. Although you are likely to work primarily with field data, you will have access to the Erasmus Behavioral Lab, which provides all the necessary facilities to conduct world-class research on consumer behavior (cubicles, group labs, video labs, eye tracking, EEG, VR).

Required profile

We are seeking highly motivated students with demonstrated academic ability, those who possess a commitment to interdisciplinary research on significant information technology and management issues, and those who desire to pursue an academic research career in this field. You will be part of the Business Information Management (BIM) section within the Department of Technology & Operations Management as well as part of the Department of Marketing Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University.

Applicants must have strong quantitative training, with preference given to candidates who have earned a MSc, MPhil, or Research Master in economics, computer science, econometrics, statistics, or a related field. Successful candidates have proficiency with R, SQL, Python, or other programming languages. Experience with programming and/or using Virtual Reality environments is a plus, but not required.

As a Ph.D. student, you will gain the training and experience necessary to conduct independent research through coursework in information systems, behavioral decision-making, economics, econometrics, machine learning, and large-scale data analytics. You will work closely with the advisors to define, develop, and execute your own research. The Ph.D. dissertation will be defined by the student with inputs from the advisors, and thus requires creativity, self-direction, and a passion for scientific inquiry.

In sum, the specific requirements are:

• Strong interest in law enforcement and willingness to navigate the complexities of law enforcement and the police organisation
• Passionate about understanding the impact of digital technologies on individuals, organizations, markets, system design, public policy, and society;
• Enthusiasm for quantitative analysis, data, programming, and science;
• Experience in conducting and completing a research project;
• MSc or MPhil in Econometrics, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics or a related discipline;
• Experience developing and estimating econometric or statistical models in R, SAS, Stata, and Python;
• Programming skills, and in particular, prior exposure to or experience with scraping structured content structured web content (HTML, XPATH, CSS, etc.) from web sites;
• Openness, intellectual curiosity, eagerness to learn, and a willingness to be proved wrong;
• Ambition to work towards an academic career as a world-class researcher and instructor;
• Willingness and motivation to formulate your own research projects and carry those through to the end (i.e., publication in a top journal);
• Eagerness to ask and answer novel questions;
• Experience in writing scientific papers;
• Dutch national (can also be second nationality) and native speaker.

Required by ERIM

All application documents required by ERIM can be found here.

Application process

Interested candidates are invited to visit the ERIM PhD in Management website (Full-time PhD in Management) for information about application procedures and criteria. The application deadline is June 22, 2025.

If you have any questions about the formal admission requirements, please contact the ERIM doctoral office: phdadmissions@erim.eur.nl.

Note: A screening procedure by the Dutch police organization and signing an NDA are required for this position.

Expected output

Scholar publications. You will develop research papers that can be published in top-tier information systems, marketing, and management journals, such as Management Science, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Journal of Marketing (Research). Both BIM and MM faculty at RSM have strong publication records in these journals. The final results of the Ph.D. are also published in a Ph.D. dissertation. You will also be expected to deliver and contribute to practically relevant byproducts in Dutch, such as white papers, internal presentations, quality frameworks, etc.

Placement record. In the past five years, our graduates have accepted faculty positions at top business schools all around the world, including MIT, Northwestern University, George Washington University, Copenhagen Business School, IE Business School, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam, and VU Amsterdam.

Cooperation

To strengthen your international profile, we strongly encourage our Ph.D. students to go abroad for a research visit during their third or fourth year at one of the top universities for 3 to 6 months. Past destinations include MIT, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of California, Berkeley.

Scientific relevance

This research contributes to several research streams by offering new insights on the effectiveness of VR training as compared to traditional training methods.

Employment conditions

ERIM offers fully-funded and salaried PhD positions, which means that accepted PhD candidates become employees (promovendi) of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO).

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfil their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

Contact information

For questions regarding the PhD application and selection procedure, please check the Admissions or send us an e-mail via phdadmissions@erim.eur.nl.