PhD in De-escalating Aggressive Interactions between Frontline Workers and Citizens (Psychophysiological Stress Responses / Subjective Experiences, Emotion & Decision-Making) Tilburg University in Netherlands

Tilburg University is recruiting two PhD candidates for the project “De-escalating Aggressive Encounters between Frontline Workers and Citizens (DE-ESCALATING)” within the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Developmental Psychology.

The project examines how aggressive interactions between frontline workers and citizens escalate, and how they can be safely de-escalated in real-life settings. It is embedded in a large NWA-funded national research consortium and involves collaboration across criminology, psychology, sociology, behavioral science, and data science, as well as close work with frontline organizations.

PhD position 1: Psychophysiological Stress Responses focuses on stress responses in the body during conflict situations. The work includes multimodal data integration, linking heart rate, arousal, physiological signals, video, and behavioral data to stress and de-escalation behavior. This track is especially relevant for candidates interested in psychophysiology, stress dynamics, wearable measurements, and advanced data analysis.

PhD position 2: Subjective Experiences, Stress, and Decision-Making focuses on how frontline workers experience aggressive interactions, including perceived threat, emotions, and cognitive processes. Methods include interviews, surveys, and experience sampling, with opportunities to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches and connect subjective experience to physiological and behavioral data.

Applicants should have or be finishing a relevant Master’s degree, preferably in Psychology, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Developmental Psychology, or a related field. The post highlights strong interest in stress, emotion, and behavior; experience or interest in R/SPSS; motivation for field research; teamwork and communication skills; and English proficiency. Dutch is required for PhD1.

The position is full-time (1.0 FTE) with a gross monthly salary of €3,059–€3,881. The contract is described as 12 months plus 36 months. Benefits include 8+ weeks vacation, training and career development, hybrid working options, sustainable travel reimbursement, access to advanced research labs, and publication opportunities.

Deadline: 8 June 2026. Interviews are planned for the week of 22 June 2026, and the expected start date is 1 September 2026.

Required documents include a CV, motivation letter, academic transcripts, optional thesis or writing sample, and references.