Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Computer Science programme. The position is available from February 2022 or later.

Title:
Human Interface Technology (2 PhD scholarships)

Research area and project description:
What will future user interfaces look and feel like, and how will they foster more powerful and natural interaction between humans and computers in all their different forms? Our team works at the cutting edge of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), exploring interactions such as enabled by eye-tracking, multimodal UI, XR, and sketching technology. Our research combines design and experimentation and makes heavy use of prototyping of radically new ideas that we study and evaluate with users. Currently, we are for example interested in:

• Eye-gaze and Multimodal UI. Eye movement is fascinating as computer input as we can move our gaze quickly to any point and as it implicates human attention, intention, and cognition. We are interested in methods that leverage eye information to adapt the UI in intelligent ways, and in new concepts and principles for multimodal interaction with gaze and hands in unity.

• Metaverse & XR. Virtual (VR), augmented (AR) and extended realities (XR) provide entirely new “Metaverse” experiences and with it present many open challenges for interaction design. This includes an “everyday” use of lightweight AR glasses – how does interaction look like in a post-smartphone world? It also includes “Holodeck” systems that combine digital/real content for multiple users across local/remote place. We study interaction techniques and novel applications that exploit the multimodal sensing capabilities (e.g., hand, body, and eye tracking) of such systems.

• Sketching and (UI) Design. We are interested in the support of the creativity and productivity of users, designers, and makers through computer-aided design. We aim to explore new tools and techniques – in context of rapid prototyping, physical/digital sketching, and pen (+ touch) computing – on touchscreen devices as well as XR environments.

The listed topics are indicative and any of them could be developed into one or more PhD projects, but we are also open to other ideas for technical HCI research.

Qualifications and specific competences:
You must have a relevant Master’s Degree in Computer Science, HCI or related field, where you showed excellent results. We expect you to have a genuine interest, and ideally experience, in creative work and user-centred design, and you should have relevant technical and software engineering skills. Any experience with VR/AR, Gaze/Gestures, experimental design, or AI techniques applicable to HCI is a plus. 

The PhD positions are available with Dr. Ken Pfeuffer and Prof. Hans Gellersen. More information can be found on www.kenpfeuffer.com and www.hansgellersen.com. If you consider applying, we encourage you to contact us informally, for discussion of your interest.

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is the Department of Computer Science, Åbogade 34, DK‐8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information for this project are invited to contact:

• Professor, Dr. Ken Pfeuffer, ken@cs.au.dk
• Professor, Dr. Hans Gellersen, hwg@cs.au.dk

Application procedures

Before you apply, please read the application guide thoroughly. You can find the guide here.

How to apply:

1)      Find the application form:
Go to https://phd.nat.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/ – Note, the online application system opens on 1 September 2021.
Choose November 2021 Call with deadline 1 November 2021 at noon (11.59 AM CET).
You will be directed to the call, and must choose the programme “Computer Science”.

2)      Fill in the following information:

• Personal information
• Academic background
• Admission
• Financing (if any)
• Study: In the dropdown menu you must choose the project: “Human Interface Technology (2 PhD scholarships) (HIT(Ps)”
• Source (how you found out about the call)

Next to some of the information fields you will find a number. Click on the number to get further directions on how to fill in the information field/what information is needed.

3)      Application attachments:
Please be aware that you cannot submit the application if one or several of these documents have not been uploaded.

If you wish to upload more than one document under each section, you must scan/merge all documents into one large PDF file and upload this. Please note that we reserve the right to remove scientific papers, large reports, theses and the like. Instead you can indicate a URL where the information is available.

All information in the application must be in English or Danish, preferably English. A certified English translation is required for documents written in languages other than English or one of the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Norwegian, Swedish or Danish) languages.

As a minimum, all applications must include (pdf-files only, max. 20 MB, and no zip):
One reference (template for references)

• Curriculum vitae,
• Motivation (max. 1 page)
• Transcripts, grade point averages (weighted and unweighted), and diploma(s) for both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. If the original documents are not in English or one of the Scandinavian languages (i.e. Norwegian, Swedish or Danish) then copies of the original documents as well as a certified English translation must be attached.
• Project description (½-4 pages). This document should describe your ideas and research plans for this specific project. If you wish to, you can indicate an URL where further information can be found. Please note that we reserve the right to remove scientific papers, large reports, theses and the like.
• Documentation of language skills if required.

After submission of the application, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with an application ID, you should use for reference if needed.

The graduate school reserves the right to verify the authenticity of your educational diploma and transcripts:

• Request additional information to verify an application.
• Reject the application if it is proven, or if the University has reasonable belief, that the information provided is false or if the applicant refuses to provide the requested information, whether or not an offer has already been made. 
• For further information on applying, assessment procedures, etc. please see the GSNS Application Guide.

Please note:

• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.