PhD Position: Real-Time Stress Triggering via Wearable Biocues

This PhD position at the University of Twente focuses on advancing the Stress in Action project by transforming passive physiological stress monitoring into an active intervention system. The candidate will design, implement, and test real-time triggers using heart-rate biocues to deliver experience-sampling questions or brief interventions via wearable devices. The work spans physiological signal analysis, user experience research, and the development of context-sensitive stress interventions, leveraging large-scale daily-life datasets. The project bridges biomedical engineering, psychology, and human-computer interaction to create evidence-based tools for stress assessment and adaptive health interventions. The successful applicant will collaborate in a multidisciplinary consortium of seven Dutch universities and university medical centers, contributing to a broader effort to understand and mitigate daily-life stress.

• Design and implement real-time physiological stress triggers using heart-rate biocues to deliver experience-sampling questions or brief interventions via wearable devices.
• Conduct a two-week intensive measurement study to validate the effectiveness of physiological triggers in triggering user check-ins based on real-time physiological data.
• Analyze large-scale daily-life datasets to determine optimal physiological signals and threshold settings for stress detection and intervention triggering.
• Conduct user experience research to assess participant acceptance and understanding of physiological cues, incorporating interviews and co-design methods.
• Develop and pilot a context-sensitive stress intervention system that delivers adaptive interventions at detected moments of stress.
• Contribute to the Stress in Action wearables database and review existing literature on physiological signal-triggered interventions.
• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team across seven Dutch universities and university medical centers to integrate findings into broader stress research efforts.