a PhD Research Assistant

Your Profile

You have recently obtained a master’s degree in health or a related discipline, with experience in qualitative methods and/or clinical research. You are particularly interested in neonatology, digital health, patient support and applied research. You are passionate about research, curious, creative, independent and proactive. You have a good command of French and English and are motivated to join a multidisciplinary team made up of members from universities, higher education establishments and teaching hospitals.

The Project

“Dionysus - A mobile application to support parents of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from admission to home” aims to develop a digital intervention to support parents of premature newborns hospitalized in intensive care units. It follows an iterative, user-centered approach, involving parents and healthcare professionals from the earliest design stages through to clinical testing. It is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Your future role

You will undertake to complete a doctoral thesis in the field of Health. The PhD will be co-supervised by Laura Rio, Professor of Digital Health at HE Arc Santé, and Riccardo Pfister, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of Geneva and Director of the Neonatology Department at Geneva University Hospitals. Your main activities will involve validating the content of the application with end-users, contributing to the drafting of a research protocol and collaborating in the supervision of a randomized controlled trial. You will analyze the impact of the application's use on key outcomes, such as health system reuse, newborn length of stay and parental efficacy. You will also write scientific articles, posters and reports.

Your Benefits

You will be part of a multidisciplinary research team, working closely with a PhD student in information systems, the HUG neonatal intensive care team, developers and specialists in human-computer interaction. You will develop expertise in the design, development and evaluation of a digital health solution. You will gain experience in setting up and running a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in a real-life neonatal intensive care environment. You will also contribute to multiple scientific publications.

Starting Date : From September 2025.

For further information, please contact Laura Rio (Write an email).

Offers of service, together with the usual documents in a single PDF file (i.e. covering letter, CV, copies of diplomas, certificates of employment), should be sent by e-mail to José Pinhal Moreira (Write an email), Human Resources Delegate, until 15 May 2025, quoting “PhD assistant 100%”.

See also: Emploi - Haute-Ecole Arc