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The Department of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, has a vacancy for a research fellow (PhD position) in Multiuser Virtual Environments with focus on Serious Games for a period of 3 years.
The PhD research fellow will be part of the PhD program in Computer Science: Software Engineering, Sensor Networks and Engineering Computing (https://ict.hvl.no). The research program in Computer Science currently includes 20 professors and associate professors, more than 30 PhD and post-doctoral fellows, and more than 80 master’s students.
About the PhD project:
This PhD fellowship is associated with the B-Prepared (Building PREPAREDness with Collaborative Knowledge Platform, Gamification and Serious Game in Virtual Reality) project, which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research, Security: Enhanced citizen preparedness in the event of a disaster or crisis-related emergency program, under grant agreement No 101121134.
Serious games and multiuser graphical environments promise better support for education and training in emergency preparedness. Recent disaster events showed clearly that even the best alert systems and top first responder organizations can not prevent fatalities and serious damage on properties without having prepared the citizens to act and react during disaster situations and crises, understand alerts, and follow instructions. B-Prepared works towards developing a cost-effective solution for building a culture of disaster preparedness with a multi-actor approach in realistic historical scenarios. B-prepared builds on a freely accessible massive collaborative knowledge base and data hub, demonstrating its usefulness via three demonstrator applications: a cooperative multiplayer VR serious game, simulating real disaster scenarios for the safest near-real experience; an interactive gamified mobile app with age- appropriate content and a Learning Management System to effectively and comparably measure preparedness levels.
The PhD student needs to understand developing and using multiuser games for XR (Virtual, Augmented, or Mixed Reality) or mobiles and methods to evaluate these. These games have to contribute to improved learning and training to manage emergency situations. The candidate for this position must hold at least three of the following background knowledge:
Visualization and XR (Virtual, Augmented, or Mixed Reality).
Serious Games
Human-Computer Interaction (focus design and evaluation methodologies, universal design)
Multiuser environments
Software development and/or integration (focus mobile applications and XR).
The PhD research fellow is expected to be able to integrate new technical solutions and based on user feedback, further develop existing applications and develop valid evaluation methods. Documented experiences in software design, development, integration, evaluations, and deployment are appreciated. A good and relevant publication record is also of value for this position. Experience in handling technologies for emergency work or management is also welcomed. She or he will collaborate with several universities and organizations to further develop and demonstrate the usefulness of the B- Prepared solution. Therefore, a particular focus is on the participants’ social skills and interest in communicating and taking part in and organizing workshops for students.
Research environment
The Computer Science research environment at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has a strong focus on use-inspired and applied research and on ICT as an enabling technology. The research environment cooperates with many national and international research groups and national and regional industry partners. The research program includes the research themes of software engineering, engineering computing, sensor networks and measurement technologies, grid computing and physics
data analysis, machine learning, and interactive and collaborative systems. The PhD student will work in close cooperation with postdocs and current PhD students in Software Engineering. She or he will be part of the Research group “Collaboration Interaction and Graphics”, belonging to the Software Engineering research group.
The place of employment is Campus Bergen.
Qualifications
The candidate must hold a master’s degree in computer science or a closely related field. Candidates who have submitted a master’s thesis (but who have not yet been awarded a master’s degree) may also qualify for the position provided that the master’s degree is awarded within 4 weeks after the application deadline. A solid background in Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Extended Realities, multiuser applications, information and/or data fusion and analysis will be considered an advantage when candidates are ranked. Candidates already holding a PhD within this field are not eligible for this position. Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English.
In addition to the required educational and scientific background, the following criteria will be evaluated: competence and grades on completed course work, quality of the master’s thesis (excellent grade, equivalent of grade B or better on the ECTS grading system), publications (if any), research and teaching experience, practical software engineering skills and experience. Experience with working on EU project(s) is also appreciated.
Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions, and potential will also count when evaluating the candidates. The PhD fellow must be diligent and display the ability to work independently and collaboratively, supplemented with regular guidance, and is expected to carry out high-quality research and publish the results in international workshops, conferences, and journals. She or he needs to be interested in preparing events, such as workshops or hackathons for students.
The candidate must enroll in the PhD program in Computer Science: Software Engineering, Sensor Networks, and Engineering Computing at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and must meet the formal admission requirements for admission into the PhD program. An application for enrolment should first be submitted after an appointment is made and accepted within three months from the start of the employment.
The PhD candidate will be assigned at least two academic supervisor(s).
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation might be applied in the processing of the applications.
Application procedure
Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).
The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:
Applicants should indicate which publications or parts of publications should be given special consideration in the evaluation in the application. If the documents submitted are not in a Scandinavian language or in English, the applicants must submit certified translations of these. The transcripts must specify the topics, the course works, and the grades at the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels.
Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members. The evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline.
The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment to the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel. Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at HVL.
Salary
Initial salaries will be offered at grade 54 (code 1017) in the Civil Service pay grade table scale. There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no/en for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.
General information
The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State Employees Law in Norway (“Lov om statens ansatte)”. Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.
State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Bergen has therefore adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.
Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected.
Applicants may be called in for an interview.
Homepage:
http://www.hvl.no/
http://ict.hvl.no/
Contacts:
Professor Ilona Heldal,
Phone: +47 55 58 75 24, email: Ilona.Heldal@hvl.no
Professor Håvard Helstrup, Coordinator of Ph.D. Programme on Computer Science, phone: (+47) 55 58 75 61, e-mail: Havard.Helstrup@hvl.no
