Doctoral Researcher in Health Sciences University of Oulu in Finland

The University of Oulu is recruiting a Doctoral Researcher in Health Sciences to join the HealthEduCom Lab in the Research Unit of Health Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Medicine. This four-year, full-time doctoral position is part of the Playful Entrepreneurial Minds (Playful Minds) project, funded by the Research Council of Finland, and brings together expertise from the University of Oulu, the University of Lapland, and the University of Turku, alongside national and international partners.

The project focuses on hybrid intelligence, playful learning, and extended reality (XR) in higher education and working life, with a particular emphasis on healthcare education and medical education. The aim is to develop, implement, and validate a multidimensional Hybrid Intelligence-Playful Learning (HI-PL) framework that integrates playfulness, an entrepreneurial mindset, and hybrid intelligence into XR-based healthcare learning. The research uses a design-based research approach and combines qualitative, quantitative, behavioural, and physiological data.

As a doctoral researcher, you will conduct research on hybrid intelligence-enabled playful learning in healthcare and medical education, contribute to co-design and validation of the HI-PL framework, and participate in workshops, pilot sessions, XR-based simulations, interviews, focus groups, and analysis of reflective learning logs. The work includes data collection and analysis on playfulness, psychological safety, wellbeing, metacognition, engagement, behavioural performance, and physiological indicators such as heart rate variability. You will also contribute to ethical review, responsible data management, open science, GDPR-compliant research, publications, and conferences.

The position offers an international and multidisciplinary research environment with access to the University of Oulu's Hybrid Intelligence research profile, LEAF research infrastructure, and OuluHealth Labs. The successful candidate will receive supervision and support from the research group and consortium while building an independent research profile.

Eligibility highlights include a completed relevant master's degree, eligibility for doctoral study rights at the University of Oulu Graduate School, a strong motivation to work at the intersection of healthcare education, human-AI collaboration, playful learning, and XR-based simulation, and fluent English. Experience with healthcare education, nursing or medical education, simulation-based education, design-based research, mixed methods, or physiological/behavioural data is considered an advantage. Finnish language skills are also beneficial for collaboration and data collection.

The salary is approximately €2500–3200 per month before taxes, with additional performance-based pay. The application deadline is 2026-09-13. Applicants should apply through the University of Oulu recruitment system with a cover letter, CV, research plan, and publication list if applicable.