Biocueing in daily life – physiological triggers for stress assessment and intervention
Can we detect the moments when the body responds to stressors in daily life, and use them to ask the right question or offer the right support at the right time? In this PhD position within the national Stress in Action programme you will develop and test physiological triggers from consumer wearables that turn stress measurement into just-in-time support.
The experience of stress is an inherent part of daily life. As a PhD student in the Stress in Action project, your mission is to turn the Stress in Action toolkit from a passive measurement of the physiological stress response into a system that can act on it.
Consumer wearables such as smartwatches and rings now record heart rate and movement continuously in daily life. Using the biocue 'additional heart rate', which separates heart-rate increases caused by psychological stress from those caused by physical activity and posture, you will investigate, implement and test physiological triggers that send experience-sampling questions, or a brief intervention, at the moment a stress response is detected.
You will start by reviewing how physiological signals have been used to trigger experience-sampling questions and just-in-time interventions, and by contributing to the Stress in Action wearables database. You will then establish whether such triggers can run in (near) real time on the wearable and experience-sampling platforms that Stress in Action uses, and test their validity in an intensive two-week measurement study in which check-ins are triggered by participants' own physiology. Because triggering only works if people accept and understand the cues they receive, you will also study the user experience of being cued. Using the large daily-life datasets of the Stress in Action cohort, you will compare which signals and threshold settings make the best triggers, and in the final phase you will design and pilot a first context-sensitive stress intervention delivered at detected moments of stress.
Your thesis will deliver a practical, evidence-based triggering pipeline to the Stress in Action toolkit as the foundation for its just-in-time adaptive interventions.
Information and application
For more information regarding this position, you are welcome to contact Prof. Matthijs Noordzij, m.l.noordzij@utwente.nl. See this https://www.stress-in-action.nl for more information about the Stress in Action project.
Please send your application via the UT vacancies page before 25-10-2026 and include a motivation letter, a detailed CV, and the names of two people we can contact for additional information.
Screening is part of the selection procedure.
About the department
The department of Psychology, Health and Technology (PHT) focuses on the development and evaluation of engaging, personalised and adaptive health interventions, and on measuring behaviour, emotion and physiology in daily life with wearables and experience-sampling methods. We have a strong culture of interdisciplinary research within the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), contributing to faculty themes such as health and resilience, and we work closely with technological groups such as Industrial Design, Human-Media Interaction and Biomedical Signals and Systems in university-wide collaborations such as the TechMed Centre, the BMS Lab and the DesignLab.
This position is part of Stress in Action, in which over 100 multidisciplinary scientists from seven Dutch universities and university medical centers collaborate around the theme 'stress in daily life'. The consortium validates daily-life stress assessments, examines which contextual factors contribute to the experience of daily-life stress, and examines how daily-life stress leads to the development of mental and cardiometabolic diseases. Stress in Action is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under the Gravitation programme, and brings you into close contact with researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, Erasmus Medical Center, the University of Groningen, UMC Groningen and Utrecht University.
About the organisation
At the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS), we unite the worlds of people and technology to address today’s complex societal challenges. We are passionate about understanding human behaviour, fostering responsible innovation, and designing solutions that create societal value. Our educational programmes span disciplines such as Psychology, Business Administration, Public Administration, Communication Sciences, Philosophy, Educational Sciences, and Health Sciences. Through our bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Professional Learning & Development programmes, and interdisciplinary research themes – including Emerging Technologies & Societal Transformations, Resilience, Smart Industry, Learning, and Health – we empower students and researchers to make a positive societal impact.
At BMS, we combine critical thinking with practical action. From advancing sustainable mobility with innovations like the world’s most efficient hydrogen car to shaping policies that promote digital inclusion, our work contributes to a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable future. Whether it’s exploring how technology influences human behaviour or leveraging data and innovation to transform industries and communities, we ensure that technology serves people – and not the other way around.
As an employer, BMS offers a vibrant, inclusive, and entrepreneurial environment where you can thrive personally and professionally. Join us and become part of a forward-thinking community that equips you to shape the future – for yourself and society. With us, you will become part of a leading technical university with increasing, positive social impact.
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