Full Funded Phd Scholarship from Ghent University in Belgium

Ghent University in Belgium offers excellent international students the opportunity to apply as doctoral researchers for a 4-year fully-funded PhD scholarship in Engineering Design starting in October 2019. The scholarship is available in the field of Engineering Design and Industrial/Product Design at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.

About the Program:

The PhD student will be working on the research “Enhancing engineering design education through peer-assisted learning and technology-enhanced environments”. This multi-disciplinary research aims to examine how peer-to-peer interaction in-class and out-of-class setting with the help of digital technology can foster learning in different phases of design thinking. Specifically, the research concerns the examination of methods in peer collaboration (e.g., peer feedback) in blended learning contexts (face-to-face and online). The PhD researcher will develop and analyze systems/models of interaction between students in the different stages of design thinking with the help of technology under different learning scenarios (case studies) in order to reveal effective patterns of peer collaboration. The goal of this ‘design for education’ research is to determine how certain factors and specific modes of student interaction impact learning throughout the design process. This examination shall provide with a better understanding of what learning is and what learning is or should be in design education for the 21st century.

Eligibility Criteria:

1. An MSc degree in Engineering Design, Industrial/Product Design, Engineering Technology, or equivalent (and have obtained their degree before 1 October 2019)
2. Very good knowledge of design thinking; design research
3. Good research skills in both quantitative and qualitative research methods and good knowledge of statistical software
4. Interest in design education and problem-based learning, and open to deepen knowledge in technology-enhanced learning
5. Experience in education, or degree in educational sciences is an asset
6. Excellent level of English, both oral and written (e.g., TOEFL / IELTS grades)
7. Self-motivating, creative, critical and analytical mindset; capable of working in groups and participate in learning projects; capacity for autonomous, structured and in-depth research.
8. Candidates from outside Belgium are welcome and are expected to move to Belgium (Kortrijk/Ghent) for 4 years. Willingness to learn Dutch is desired

Benefits:

Full tuition fees and study/research costs will be covered for 4 years.

Required Documents:

1. Cover letter outlining your background, experience and motivation for this position (max. 1 page)
2. CV (max 2 pages) including short bio and contact information of two academic supervisors that may be requested to send a reference, if shortlisted for an interview
3. Transcript of records of the BSc, MSc, or equivalent
4. One design work that showcases design thinking (with written explanations) (link to personal website if applicable)
5. One written piece of work (e.g. BA-thesis, MA-thesis, a paper/manuscript submitted for a publication) preferably most relevant to the research proposal

Please note: Include as a subject line: PhD 2019-20 – BOF Grant, send all files as one PDF file (max 10MB) with this filename: EA18_PhD 2019-20_BOF_Your surname.pdf.

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