Junior or Postdoctoral Researcher: Digital Decision Support for Health-App Recommendations

University of Amsterdam; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 36,000 - 54,000; Part time

Job summary

The University of Amsterdam invites applications for a junior researcher/postdoctoral researcher to contribute to a European project on digital decision-support tools in health. You will work within the Amsterdam Center for Health Communication/ACHC, collaborating with partners to advance health literacy, equity, and evidence-based practice.

You will conduct both quantitative and qualitative studies, contribute to open-science dissemination, and work with an international, interdisciplinary

Qualifications

• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.
• Commitment to open science and transparent reporting.
• Experience with user-centered design is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Co-develop empirical research to evaluate the decision-support tool.
• Translate findings into practical recommendations for implementation and training.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary consortium partners and disseminate results through publications and deliverables.
• Present work at international conferences.

Skills

Quantitative research

Qualitative research

Open science

User-centered design

English communication

Education

Master's degree

PhD

Job description

Join us!

Health apps and other person-centered digital health technologies have the potential to improve healthcare and public health. Yet, their benefits are not distributed equally. People who use health apps tend to be younger, more highly educated, more affluent, and more digitally literate. At the same time, healthcare professionals may be more likely to recommend apps to people with a higher socioeconomic position. This is a concern because people with lower health literacy often depend strongly on professional guidance when making decisions about digital health technologies. Many healthcare professionals, however, report that they lack the knowledge, confidence, or practical tools to determine whether a health app is appropriate for a particular individual. This may reinforce existing inequalities in access to safe, effective, and suitable digital health support.

Your tasks

You willcontribute to the development and evaluation of a digital decision-support tool that enables healthcare professionals to assess, within the time constraints of a consultation, whether a labelled health app is suitable for an individual patient or user. The tool will be developed in close collaboration with European partners who contribute complementary expertise in health equity and public health, healthcare-professional competences, and patient perspectives.

Tasks:

• Co-develop and conduct empirical research to evaluate the decision-support tool (in terms of feasibility, usability, acceptability, and potential value in clinical practice) as described in the vacancy text in collaboration with the project supervisers and members of the broader consortium.
• Analyse and translate research findings into recommendations for implementation, healthcare-professional training, and the further development of the tool
• Collaborating and communicating with interdisciplinary consortium partners and disseminating findings through scientific publications, project deliverables, and practice-oriented outputs, in line with open-science principles.
• present your work at (inter)national conferences;

What you have to offer

The ideal candidate has strong quantitative and qualitative research skills and an interest in digital health, (digital) health literacy, and equity. Experience with user-centred design is an advantage. The candidate should be able to work independently while collaborating effectively in an international, interdisciplinary consortium, and should have excellent English communication skills and a strong commitment to open science. Candidates who hold either a (research) master’s or PhD degree may apply.

What do we offer you

The position concerns temporary assignment of 19 hours per week for a maximum term of one year starting January 1st 2027 as part of or in addition to your current employment contract. The assignment may be combined with another postdoctoral project or with teaching duties (current position as Researcher or Teacher). In consultation with the project team, it may also be possible to complete the project in a shorter timeframe by working more hours per week.

You will work in this team

The project will be supervised by Dr. Christin Scholz and Dr. Annemiek Linn. You will be part of the program group Persuasive Communication the Amsterdam Center for Health Communication/ACHC, and the greater Label2Scale consortium.

Be part of a major European initiative to make safe, trustworthy health apps accessible to everyone. As part of Label2Scale, the University of Amsterdam is seeking a junior researcher or postdoctoral researcher to help address one of digital health's central challenges: ensuring that health-app quality information supports informed choices rather than widening existing inequalities.

Join us!

Health apps and other person-centered digital health technologies have the potential to improve healthcare and public health. Yet, their benefits are not distributed equally. People who use health apps tend to be younger, more highly educated, more affluent, and more digitally literate. At the same time, healthcare professionals may be more likely to recommend apps to people with a higher socioeconomic position. This is a concern because people with lower health literacy often depend strongly on professional guidance when making decisions about digital health technologies. Many healthcare professionals, however, report that they lack the knowledge, confidence, or practical tools to determine whether a health app is appropriate for a particular individual. This may reinforce existing inequalities in access to safe, effective, and suitable digital health support.

Your tasks

You willcontribute to the development and evaluation of a digital decision-support tool that enables healthcare professionals to assess, within the time constraints of a consultation, whether a labelled health app is suitable for an individual patient or user. The tool will be developed in close collaboration with European partners who contribute complementary expertise in health equity and public health, healthcare-professional competences, and patient perspectives.

Tasks:

• Co-develop and conduct empirical research to evaluate the decision-support tool (in terms of feasibility, usability, acceptability, and potential value in clinical practice) as described in the vacancy text in collaboration with the project supervisers and members of the broader consortium.
• Analyse and translate research findings into recommendations for implementation, healthcare-professional training, and the further development of the tool
• Collaborating and communicating with interdisciplinary consortium partners and disseminating findings through scientific publications, project deliverables, and practice-oriented outputs, in line with open-science principles.
• present your work at (inter)national conferences;

What you have to offer

The ideal candidate has strong quantitative and qualitative research skills and an interest in digital health, (digital) health literacy, and equity. Experience with user-centred design is an advantage. The candidate should be able to work independently while collaborating effectively in an international, interdisciplinary consortium, and should have excellent English communication skills and a strong commitment to open science. Candidates who hold either a (research) master’s or PhD degree may apply.

What do we offer you

The position concerns temporary assignment of 19 hours per week for a maximum term of one year starting January 1st 2027 as part of or in addition to your current employment contract. The assignment may be combined with another postdoctoral project or with teaching duties (current position as Researcher or Teacher). In consultation with the project team, it may also be possible to complete the project in a shorter timeframe by working more hours per week.

You will work in this team

The project will be supervised by Dr. Christin Scholz and Dr. Annemiek Linn. You will be part of the program group Persuasive Communication the Amsterdam Center for Health Communication/ACHC, and the greater Label2Scale consortium.