Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Computer Science programme. The position is available from August 2025 or later.
Title:
PhD positions in Interdisciplinary National Knowledge Center in Digital Technology Comprehension
Research area and project description:
Research Context: National Knowledge Center in Digital Technology Comprehension
The Knowledge Centre for Digital Technology Comprehension is an interdisciplinary collaboration between Aarhus University, Copenhagen University and six Danish University Colleges. The center was initiated in August 2023 and set to run over an initial period of five years. The aim of the centre is to create a unified, Danish approach to digital technology comprehension as a subject in K-12 education through integrating natural science and humanities perspectives. The vision is for all children and young people to gain an understanding of and ability to create digital technology so that they can participate constructively and critically as democratic citizens in a digitized society. The centre will bring together professional environments across institutions and provide the necessary knowledge base and example tools and educational materials for the further development of digital technology comprehension in the Danish educational system. The knowledge centre is organised in three overarching groups of work packages covering topics within technology comprehension as a subject, didactics and pedagogical approaches and technological resources. The work in the centre employs an intervention-based and participatory approach to project activities working in close collaboration with pupils, teachers and stakeholders in K-12, policy makers at all levels, and professional providers of toolkits and educational materials for K-12.
Within the research center, we are about to start the COTEK project. In this project, we explore how to support pre-service teachers in developing deep knowledge about cybersecurity, enabling them to teach this subject to K–9 students. We approach cybersecurity broadly encompassing both safety and privacy in relation to digital data.
The project's methodology focuses on fundamental concepts and techniques derived from the fields of cryptography research in combination with educational research. It explores how pre-service teachers can teach cybersecurity in ways that make it accessible and explorable for children, thereby enabling future educators to support their students’ computational empowerment. By introducing foundational knowledge about cybersecurity and cryptography, we aim to enhance both pre-service teachers’ and children's understanding of security and privacy in their daily lives and in society at large. At the same time, the project aims to contribute to the qualification of democratic discourse about how we should shape the digitized society of the future.
PhD1 Designing Constructionist Toolkits for teachers to support teaching Cybersecurity in general education. PhD1 will be enrolled at the Department of Computer Science.
Complex digital technologies increasingly influence the lives of children, however most often giving them very little chance to understand and shape how these digital technology areas influence their lives and society. This project is concerned with computational empowerment in terms of how children and youth, can engage with cybersecurity both conceptually, technically as well as reasoning about how it relates to their lives and society. This PhD fellowship will investigate how we can design tools and activities supporting teachers in developing teaching activities for C which supports computational empowerment with emerging complex digital technologies. Special emphasis will be on supporting progression, diversity, and creativity around digital technology areas of generative machine learning and mixed reality.
The project is expected to collaborate with the parallel PhD2 project focusing on developing evaluation strategies and didactic knowledge and concepts for the subject of digital technology comprehension in the Danish educational system. In addition, the candidate is expected to take part in the activities in the knowledge center more broadly.
For further information regarding this PhD project please contact main supervisor Marianne Graves Petersen, mgraves@cs.au.dk, department of computer science.
PhD2 Computational Empowerment: Supporting transformative agency in cyber security education of pre-service teachers.
This PhD fellowship centers around the research area of computational empowerment, understood as the concern for how children and youth, as individuals and groups, develop the skills, insights and reflexivity needed to understand digital technology and its effect on their lives and society at large, and their capacity to engage critically and curiously with the construction and deconstruction of technology. The proposed PhD project could center around topics such as:
How do we design teaching units about cybersecurity education that fosters transformative agency among pre-service teachers and ultimately among K-9 students?
How can design-based research methods be used to develop and refine pedagogical models that support pre-service teachers in promoting computational empowerment and transformative agency within cybersecurity education?
How do pre-service teachers conceptualize and integrate transformative agency in their approaches to teaching cybersecurity, and what role does computational empowerment play in shaping these pedagogical choices?
The PhD project is expected to address one or several of these research questions. Additionally, the project is expected to collaborate with participants in the COTEK project and to take part in the activities in the research center more broadly.
For further information regarding this PhD project please contact main supervisor Ole Sejer Iversen oiversen@cc.au.dk, School of Communication and Culture - Department of Digital Design and Information Studies.
Please upload a project description (½-4 pages). This document should describe your ideas and research plans for this specific project. If you wish to, you can indicate an URL where further information can be found.
Qualifications and specific competences:
PhD1 qualifications:
The ideal candidate has a background in computer science, human computer interaction or child computer interaction and can construct IT-based prototype toolkits. In addition, the candidate has knowledge about or interest in cybersecurity and cryptography and experience with empirical, participatory and/or research through design research methods. Preferably, the candidate will have experience from working with teachers and K-12 students.
PhD2 qualifications:
The ideal candidate has a background in educational science, child-computer interaction or similar area of research and has experience in conducting empirical and intervention-based research involving diverse participants and stakeholders. Preferably, the candidate will have experience from working with teachers and K-12 students.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Aabogade 34, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information for this project are invited to contact:
Professor Marianne Graves Petersen, mgraves@cs.au.dk
How to apply:
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see the Application guide. Please read the Application guide thoroughly before applying.
When ready to apply, go to https://phd.nat.au.dk/for-applicants/apply-here/ (Note, the online application system opens 1 March 2025)
Please note:
At the Faculty of Natural Science at Aarhus University, we strive to support our scientific staff in their career development. We focus on competency development and career clarification and want to make your opportunities transparent. On our website, you can find information on all types of scientific positions, as well as the entry criteria we use when assessing candidates. You can also read more about how we can assist you in your career planning and development.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.
