PhD Position in Digitalization and Mental Health

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is consistently ranked among the world's top universities. It has around 47,000 students and more than 8,800 employees in Lund, Helsingborg, and Malmö. We are united in our effort to understand, explain, and improve our world and the conditions of people.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Gender equality, equal opportunities, and diversity are fundamental principles for all parts of our operations.

About the Department

The PhD position is linked to the Ergonomics Group at the Department of Ergonomics and Aerosol Technology, which focuses on the interaction between humans, technology, and organization and what this interaction means for the design of technology, technical systems, and organizations.

Subject and Project Description

Mental health issues among children and adolescents are increasing in Sweden, leading to a higher workload for psychologists and counselors. To meet these challenges, robots, bots, and online services (chat, e-services, and video meetings) are being introduced to facilitate early support for mental health issues. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how digitalization affects workload, responsibility distribution, and the experience of providing 'good care,' as well as how psychologists and counselors integrate digital tools into their daily work. This PhD position investigates how chat, video, e-services, and bots affect psychologists' and counselors' work environment, professional identity, and ethics.

Examples of questions that may be of interest to address in the project include:

• How do robots, bots, and online services affect the work environment, workload, and working methods of psychologists and school counselors within child and adolescent psychiatric care (BUP) and student health services?
• How do robots, bots, and online services impact care relationships and perceived quality?
• How and to what extent are robots, bots, and online services integrated into care practices?

The goal is to develop concrete recommendations for a safe and sustainable practice in first-line support. The work includes literature reviews, qualitative data collection (interviews/focus groups/observations/co-design workshops), and feedback in collaborative meetings. The results will culminate in scientific publications and a targeted knowledge base for practice.

Responsibilities

You will primarily focus on your doctoral education, which includes participation in research projects as well as doctoral courses, seminars, and conferences.

During your doctoral studies, you will have the unique opportunity to get close to practice and contribute to knowledge development in digitalization and mental health. As a PhD student, you will conduct literature studies on mental health issues for children and adolescents, changes in technology, and working methods. You will conduct semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with psychologists and school counselors in child and adolescent health care.

Your responsibilities include:

• Analysis of how digitalization affects workload, professional responsibility, and the experience of providing 'good care,' as well as how psychologists and counselors integrate digital tools into their daily work.
• Conducting interviews, observations, co-design workshops, and focus group discussions in Swedish within child and adolescent health care services.
• Analysis and compilation of data from interviews, observations, co-design workshops, and focus group discussions.
• Designing knowledge materials that document project and research results.
• Iterative testing of results against target groups in the industry through feedback meetings.
• Your tasks may also include participation in teaching and other departmental work (maximum 20% of working hours).

Qualifications

Eligibility Requirements

To be accepted and employed as a PhD student, you need to meet the following requirements.

Basic eligibility for doctoral education is met if you have:

• a completed master's degree or
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at the master's level or
• acquired equivalent knowledge in some other way.

Specific eligibility for the doctoral education subject is met if you have:

• at least 50 higher education credits relevant to the subject area, of which at least 25 higher education credits at the master's level

Other Requirements

To benefit from the current doctoral education, the following is also required:

• Very good knowledge of Swedish, both spoken and written.
• Very good knowledge of English, both spoken and written.
• Good ability to work independently and the ability to formulate and tackle scientific problems.
• Good collaborative skills

Meritorious

The following are meritorious for the current doctoral education:

• Experience in managing projects from, for example, non-profit activities, associations, sports, or previous jobs.
• Experience in using qualitative data collection methods.
• Willingness and ability to work in a group as the work is conducted in project form.
• Experience in pedagogical work, preferably relevant to the subject.
• Other desirable qualities include analytical ability, curiosity, initiative, perseverance, and creativity.
• Experience from courses in, e.g., psychology, cognitive science, behavioral science, science and technology studies (STS), sociology, interaction design, leadership, or organizational studies is an advantage.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive, and independence, as well as how the applicant is assessed to have the ability needed to succeed in the doctoral education based on their experience and competence.

Learn more about being a PhD student at LTH on lth.se.

Read more about the position here

Welcome with your application!

LTH – Lund University Faculty of Engineering – is the engineering faculty at Lund University. At LTH, we educate people, build knowledge for the future, and work hard to develop society. We create space for brilliant research and inspire creative development of technology, architecture, and design. Nearly 10,000 students study here. Each year, our researchers – many of whom work in world-leading profile areas – publish around 100 theses and 2,000 scientific findings. A number of research results and student projects are refined into innovations. Together, we explore and create – for the benefit of the world.

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