PhD: "Learning about Safe Sports through AI and Serious Gaming Education"

We are looking for a PhD candidate who wants to design, develop, and test educational tools to foster safe sports environments.

We are looking for a PhD candidate who wants to design, develop, and test educational tools to foster safe sports environments. Interested? Feel welcome to apply

The disclosure of several high-profile cases of child sexual abuse in sports around the world has drawn renewed public attention to the sports setting as a conducive context for interpersonal violence against children. Interpersonal violence against and between children has a major impact on children’s well-being. However, it does not happen in a vacuum; it often includes many bystanders (besides the perpetrators and victims) who could potentially intervene. Effective bystander interventions can turn individuals at sports clubs into “moral exemplars”. Moral exemplars are potential future bystanders who are equipped to demonstrate moral behaviour in the face of difficulty, as such they are more likely to intervene in harmful situations and show perpetrators how their intended or unintended behaviours cause harm.

Current research indicates that for securing safe sports environments and fostering bystander behaviour at grassroots sports clubs two aspects are crucial to develop:

1. teaching and educating young athletes, trainers, coaches and board members about interpersonal violence, bystander behaviour and the measures they can take to create safe sports environments in their club;
2. investing in and educate safeguarding officers at the club level to deal with cases of interpersonal violence in a transparent, neutral, and trauma-sensitive manner.

This PhD proposal aims to be of direct value to the sports sector by developing and testing the impact of interventions, e.g.:

• a serious game based on lived experiences of victims of interpersonal violence in sports to discuss topics of interpersonal violence, bystanders, and creating safe sports environments and/or;
• an AI-operated Dialogue Trainer which allows safeguarding officers to train, through experiential and reflective learning, their skills in engaging with both victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence in sports in a trauma-sensitive manner.

The initial work plan for the PhD is stated below. You will collaborate with an enthusiastic research team of internationally recognised scientific experts and a consortium of relevant societal partners. You will have the opportunity to be trained and equipped to become a modern scholar under Utrecht University’s TRIPLE system.

Your work will address the following preliminary research objectives. You will have the opportunity to refine these objectives, together with the research team, based on your interests and expertise:

1. By taking a human-centric perspective and diving into lived experiences, you will explore how to ensure safe sports environments for children and what is demanded from athletes, trainers, coaches, and board members in securing this.
2. You will delve into the experiences of safeguarding officers to understand the dynamics they face when dealing with cases of interpersonal violence at grassroots sports clubs.
3. You will design, develop, and test with experts and practitioners interventions such as, a serious game to foster learning and awareness about interpersonal violence and pro-social bystander behaviour in sports environments, and/or an AI-operated Dialogue Trainer to teach safeguarding officers how they can engage with both victims and (alleged) perpetrators of interpersonal violence at grassroots sports clubs in a trauma- and violence-informed manner.

Based on your research, you will (co-)author papers to be presented at (inter)national scientific conferences and submitted to international refereed journals, resulting in a PhD dissertation. Additionally, you will contribute to organising symposia, webinars, and workshops to disseminate research results to the wider public.

You will participate in the Graduate School of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance (LEG) and the PhD programme of the Netherlands Institute of Governance (NIG). Strengths of the USG PhD programme are a good support and coaching structure, as well as a diverse offer in terms of training and education opportunities to develop yourself into the scholar that you want to be. You will be involved in USG’s research communities and benefit from its interdisciplinary environment.

The envisioned start date for the PhD candidate is the end of 2024 or early 2025.

We are looking for a colleague with a strong interest in bridging the gap between social science and technology or design science. You have a (research) Master’s degree (or equivalent) in:

1. sports studies, sports management, sports sociology, (forensic) psychology, public administration, organisation sciences or a related social science discipline, or;
2. human-computer interaction, design for interaction, creative technology, game design, (applied) data science, or a related technical discipline.

We encourage you to apply if you are:

• interested in developing educational tools for sports organisations, such as a serious game and/or AI Dialogue Trainer, that can foster learning and awareness about interpersonal violence and bystander behaviour in sports environments;
• fascinated by the opportunity to research safe sports environments from a creative and interdisciplinary perspective;
• willing to, and enthusiastic about, obtaining, expanding and applying (methodological) skills from technical sciences and social sciences;
• excited to share your knowledge with both academic and non-academic audiences;
• a team player with a substantial degree of independence.

Besides that, you have:

• an interest in, or experience with, both quantitative and qualitative research methods;
• an interest in, or experience with, programming and machine learning, for example, natural language processing, conversational agents, large language models, or retrieval augmented generation;
• excellent English language skills, both in speaking and writing. Dutch language skills are a plus, as you are expected to engage with representatives of Dutch grassroots sports organisations.

We offer a position with a large degree of freedom and high engagement with societal relevant partners to create impact with your research. You will get the opportunity to develop yourself as a scholar. A small amount of teaching (10% of your time as part of your PhD) will contribute to this. Besides that, we offer:

• a position for 18 months - in case of good performance, this will be extended to a total of four years;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,872 and €3,670 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU)); 
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus; 
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University has a number of schemes and facilities of its own for employees. This includes schemes facilitating professional development, leave schemes and schemes for sports and cultural activities, as well as discounts on software and other IT products. We also offer access to additional employee benefits through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage our employees to continue to invest in their growth. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance is a faculty at the heart of society, with a strong focus on social issues. Our subjects of Law, Economics and Governance give us a strong mix of academic disciplines that complement and enhance each other. This is a unique combination and a mark of our faculty's strength.

For more information, please contact Vidar Stevens at v.stevens@uu.nl or Merijn Bruijnes at m.bruijnes@uu.nl.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.

As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.

To apply, please send the following documentation via the ‘apply now’ button.

• a letter in which you describe your abilities and motivation;
• a curriculum vitae;
• a writing sample (preferably a publication, but this may also be your [research] master thesis or a paper you have written for a course);
• the names and contact details of two references

The first round of interviews is scheduled to take place on 5 and 8 November 2024. Depending on your location, the interview will either be in person (preferred) or online.