Arbetsbeskrivning

Do you want to conduct research focused on occupational traffic safety? If you are curious how everyday driving at work can be made safer, this PhD position at Chalmers University of Technology might be the one for you.  In this PhD position, you will explore occupational traffic safety with a focus on employees with driving duties outside professional driving roles. The research examines how behavioural, organizational, and ergonomic factors—such as discomfort—may contribute to traffic-related risks. Through close collaboration with stakeholders in the healthcare, construction, and technology sectors, the research aims to enhance traffic safety and integrate it into occupational health and safety frameworks using a co-design methodology. About us  The research of the Division of Design & Human Factors aims to enable users to live and work in a safe, meaningful, and sustainable way. This is done by adding knowledge about how people interact with technical artefacts, and by developing methods and tools to study these interactions, as well as to design and evaluate safe, comfortable, and sustainable products, services, and workplaces. About the research project   The Ph.D. project will deal with occupational traffic safety, with a focus on the car driving behavior of employees who drive as part of their job but are not professional drivers. Lack of knowledge, training, stress, fatigue, and poorly designed work schedules can contribute to traffic accidents leading to injuries or fatalities. Everyday driving in suboptimal static postures may also lead to musculoskeletal problems. Discomfort can contribute to physical, psychological, and functional issues, as well as improper use of safety systems. Target groups include personnel in healthcare and social services, tradespeople in the service and construction industries, and sales representatives in technology development companies. The outcome is to develop strategies that enhance employees' traffic safety knowledge and behavior, and practical tools to help integrate traffic safety into occupational health and safety practices, ultimately reducing the risk of work-related driving injuries. The research project involves collaboration with senior researchers from Chalmers and Lund University, and the empirical studies will be conducted in both the Gothenburg and Lund regions. Who we are looking for • To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a Master's degree (masterexamen) of 120 credits or a Master’s degree (magisterexamen) of 60 credits in industrial design engineering, human factors/ergonomics, cognitive or behavioral science, product development, work and health/occupational safety, or traffic/road safety (or an equivalent field).*  • Ideally, you should have experience working with human factors or ergonomics methods, especially user studies and co-design. • A strong interest in research, behavioral science, occupational health and safety, and traffic safety is considered a merit. • You need good Swedish language skills to carry out observations, interviews, and workshops, as Swedish is the main language used in the studied organizations and the native language of most employees. • Strong writing and verbal communication skills in English, as research findings are expected to be published in high-ranking journals in the field. *for students with an education earned outside of Sweden, a 4-year Bachelor’s degree is accepted. What you will do • Perform research activities in the project, in collaboration with supervisors and other researchers. • Take PhD courses as part of the Doctoral Programme "Human-Technology-Design" • Develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing • The position also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level as well as supervising master thesis students corresponding to 20 percent of working hours You will be expected to: • Be a motivated, active and contributing member of the research group • Fulfil the goals in the PhD training, including presenting a licentate thesis (after approx 2,5 years) and a PhD (after 5 years) • Participate at international conferences and communicate research results • Attend division and department meetings, and take part in other departmental tasks Contract terms • The PhD positions are fully funded from start.  • The position is limited to four years, with the possibility to teach up to 20%, which extends the position to five years.  • A starting salary of 34,550 SEK per month (valid from May 25, 2025).  • Doctoral studies require physical presence throughout the entire study period. A valid residence permit must be presented by the study start date, otherwise the admission may be withdrawn.  What we offer • As a PhD student at Chalmers, you are an employee and enjoy all employee benefits. Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.  • A dynamic and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg.  • Read more about Sweden’s generous parental leave, subsidized day care, free schools, healthcare etc at Move To Gothenburg.  Chalmers is dedicated to improving gender balance and actively works with equality projects, such as the GENIE Initiative for gender equality and excellence. We celebrate diversity and consider equality and inclusion as fundamental aspects of all our activities.  If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses to help you settle in.  Discover more  Find more general information about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.   Application procedure  For information about the application procedure, please refer to the advert on Chalmers' webpage.   We welcome your application no later than August 18th, 2025.