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Do you want to understand and predict how people engage with digital health interventions using AI? Join us to turn real-world sensor and app data into smarter, personalized digital solutions that support behavior change.

PHD CANDIDATE PREDICTING ADHERENCE TO DIGITAL HEALTH-PROMOTING INTERVENTIONS

• Our goal: To make digital health interventions more effective by predicting and improving adherence through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
• Your colleagues: An interdisciplinary team of scientists working across Maastricht University and FH Joanneum in Austria.
  We are seeking a PhD candidate on predicting adherence to digital health-promoting interventions with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques. You will develop AI-based predictive models to anticipate user engagement, primarily using data collected through unobtrusive measurements (e.g., websites, smartphones, smartwatches). The goal is to construct a AI-driven framework that predicts both intervention use (e.g., content exposure, study protocol completion) and behavior. Better adherence prediction is crucial to support the development, tailoring and delivery of health promoting interventions, and ultimately their effectiveness and success.

The PhD research involves a variety of use cases focussed on predicting adherence to various elements of digital interventions to promote health behavior. These use cases are based on already collected datasets. For example:

• Data from a 2-year smartphone-app and Fitbit-supported lifestyle intervention to reduce dementia risk.
• Data from a web-based intervention focused on the prevention of sexually transmitted disease and condom use.
• Additional use cases will be explored during the project, also based on your preferences and interests.

You are primarily based at Maastricht University (MU), Maastricht, the Netherlands. There are opportunities for short research visits to FH Joanneum – University of Applied Sciences (FHJ), Graz, Austria. Supervision is organised by dr. Jeroen Bruinsma (MU), dr. Markus Bödenler (FHJ), dr. Rik Crutzen (MU).

MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY

Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.
In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.
With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.
Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.

• Strong interest in digital interventions, health promotion and behavior.
• A (almost) completed University Master’s degree in a relevant field concerning health (e.g., health science, health psychology) or data analysis (e.g., data science, statistics)
• Affinity with data science (e.g., complex statistics, machine learning or computational modelling) or willingness to develop relevant skills (in case of a degree focused on health)
• Affinity with health promotion or willingness to develop in that field (in case of a degree focused on data science)
• Knowledge in programming (e.g. Pyhton, R, SQL) and data science frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn) is a plus
• Excellent English language skill