PhD student in Sustainability of Online Service Consumption

The Department of Information Technology holds a leading position in both research and education at all levels. We are currently Uppsala University's third largest department, with 350 employees, including 120 teachers and 120 PhD students. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate students take one or more courses at the department each year. You can find more information about us on the Department of Information Technology website.

The Division of Visual Information and Interaction (Vi3) is a unique combination of expertise in computing education research, computerized image analysis, and human-machine interaction (HMI).  Within the HMI unit, the Digital Ecologies Lab is led by Prof Mike Hazas and has five active, externally-funded research projects.

Project description  
The student will join the Digital Ecologies Lab, and be a key staff member in two projects, both led by Mike Hazas. The first project is “Game On? Identifying Environmentally Sustainable Trajectories for Video Games”, funded by the Swedish Energy Agency.  Researchers are Ossian Nordgren (Dept. of Information Technology) and Per Fors (Dept. of Civil and Industrial Engineering); collaborators are Daniel Schien (University of Bristol) and Dataspelsbranschen. The objectives of the overall project are: (1) Map out how gaming is composed in Sweden (demographics, devices, services, delivery, genre and modes of play); (2) Use this composition to model the energy and environmental footprint for different forms of gaming; (3) Uncover the meanings and practicalities of both older and newer forms of playing games, charting the next decade’s possible trajectories. (4) Evaluate the footprint of these trajectories.

The second project is “The Internet Microscope: Assessing the energy and environmental impact of online services, and their role in everyday life”, funded by Formas, the Swedish research council for sustainable development.  The project has international collaboration with Phil Grünewald (University of Oxford) and Daniel Schien (University of Bristol).  This ambitious, interdisciplinary project will gather a large, new primary data set on online service use and related household activity in Sweden. This will be accomplished by mailing a small network monitoring device to thousands of Swedish households, and asking them to complete a time use survey (joymeter.uk). We will use the dataset to (1) estimate the energy and carbon impact of online devices and services; (2) link these impacts to how the devices and services are used in households; and (3) interrogate possible alternative policies and designs for services which are sustainable and better support daily life and well-being. In an evidence-based way, society will thus be able to debate the extent to which different online services are justifiable, given their energy and environmental impacts, and the utility and meaning that they achieve for people in everyday life; and compare these to alternative trajectories for digitalisation in Sweden.

There are many synergies across the two projects, and it is envisioned that the student will work closely with Ossian Nordgren (PhD student, Game On), and another PhD student (currently in recruitment) focusing on the Internet Microscope.  In the first two years of the PhD, the student will primarily focus on work with Game On, but it is anticipated that the Internet Microscope method and analysis will be utilised for the participating households.  The doctoral thesis is anticipated to address the use of online services broadly in households, with some emphasis on practices related to gaming.

More information about the projects can be found here. 

Duties
The doctoral student will primarily devote their time to graduate education. Other departmental duties of at most 20%, including teaching and administration, may also be included in the employment.

The actual PhD plan and work will be co-developed with the student.  However, the two funded proposals suggest that the student would lead the data collection (recruitment of participating households, sending devices to households, conducting interviews), analyse the network logs which will likely involve grouping and classification of flows (based on IP address) for attribution to services (e.g. video gaming, voice chat, or social networking), and associating these services with activities from the time use data.  Interviews with household participants will be used gain additional context and engage them in making meaning from the data.

Requirements
Entry requirements for doctoral education are regulated in the Higher Education Ordinance. To meet the general entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must:

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in human-computer interaction, human geography, science and technology studies, sociology, environmental psychology, data science, computer networking or related areas relevant to the PhD topics, or
• have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

The University may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds (Chapter 7, § 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance). For special entry requirements, please see the subject’s general study plan.

You must have some experience in quantitative research methodology. Good communication skills in English, both spoken and written, are required.

You must be able to conduct yourself professionally in different contexts: as a collaborative member of a project team, and with participants and stakeholders such as household inhabitants, policymakers and organisations such as the Swedish Internet Foundation (Internetstiftelsen).

Additional qualifications
Experience with qualitative data analysis, particularly as might be applied to social practices, and energy and environmental sustainability.

Ability to conduct the research with participants in Swedish, is meriting.

For this multidisciplinary PhD position, any of the following are meriting: experience with time-use survey data; educational or work experience with computer networking; experience with algorithms for categorisation within large data sets.

Some familiarity with concepts and methods from life cycle assessment, and propensity to contribute to simple modelling based on data gathered in the project.

Application procedure
The application should include:

• A statement of the applicant’s motivation for applying for this particular position, including the candidate’s research interests, and evidence of the applicant’s ability to work in a group (maximum 2 pages)
• A curriculum vitae (CV)
• A copy of relevant diplomas and transcripts (translated into English or Swedish)
• A copy of the MSc thesis (or a draft thereof).
• The earliest possible starting date.
• Contact information for at least one reference (but no reference letter).

Promising applicants will be invited for an interview on-site (anticipated April 7) before hiring. There may also be an initial round of Zoom interviews on April 2. 

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 1 of May 2025 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

For further information about the position, please contact: Mike Hazas, mike.hazas@it.uu.se

Please submit your application by March 24, 2025, UFV-PA 2025/590.

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