PhD scholarship: Gender Perspectives on Safety of Vulnerable Road Users – DTU Management

The Transport Division at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) invites applications for a 3-year PhD position in the field of road safety in low- and middle-income countries. The successful candidate will join the Human Behaviour section and will work under the supervision of Assistant Professor Felix Siebert, Associate Professor Carlos Lima Azevedo from DTU and Prof. Winnie Mitullah, from the University of Kenya.

You will investigate gender-related safety differences between female and male motorcycle riders (drivers and passengers) using a combined observational and questionnaire survey methodology. Observational surveys will be used to register behavioural data, with the goal to identify safety-related behavioural patterns (similar to doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.01.011, doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.04.005). There is a dedicated focus on gender perspectives, i.e., we are interested in how female and male motorcycle riders might behave differently, and might have different levels of safety due to external factors (doi.org/10.1136/ip-2023-044995). Existing psychological theories, e.g., the Theory of Planned Behaviour will be used and extended to explain differences in safety related behaviours of motorcycle riders. Factors from the subjective questionnaires will be related to the impact of policy and enforcement decisions. 

The project is a strategic collaboration between DTU and its Alliance Network partner University of Nairobi (UON). At DTU you will be a member of the Human Behaviour section at the Department for Technology, Management and Economics (DTU Management). You will be based at DTU and will receive your PhD from there. You will visit UON for a fully funded one semester research stay in Nairobi, Kenya, and closely collaborate with Winnie V. Mitullah, Research Professor of Development Studies at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) and UNESCO UNITWIN Chair, and Dr. Anne Kamau from IDS, UON.

You have an MSc background in Psychology, Human Factors, Civil Engineering, Behavior Economics or a related discipline, with preferably experience in Transport Psychology, Behavioral Modelling, Behavioral Surveys, Statistics, and Field Experiments.

Responsibilities and qualifications
Gender equality and road safety are topics which cut across multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Both issues are highly relevant for female road users in low- and middle-income countries like Kenya. Research shows that female road users have different mobility patterns from their male counterparts in LMIC, where e.g., female motorcycle users (who are more often passengers than drivers) behave safer than their male counterparts but are more at risk of injury due to their position on motorcycles. To achieve safe mobility for women in LMIC, a special consideration of their role as road users is needed, considering their specific mobility patterns and needs, but also factors relating to road related policies and enforcement.

In this project, you will collect empirical data and investigate the relation between psychological factors, legislation, enforcement, environment, and road safety related behaviour. 

Your primary tasks will be to:

• Familiarize yourself with psychological theories that help to explain individual behaviour.
• Familiarize yourself with current literature on patterns of safety-related behaviour of motorcycle riders, with an added focus on differences between female and male riders.
• Advance the state of knowledge on the relation between road safety related behaviour and psychological variables, as well as legislative settings. 
• Plan, conduct, and analyse psychological surveys among motorcycle riders in Kenya (with support from UON).
• Plan, conduct, and analyse camera-based observation surveys in Kenya, potentially using computer vision for behaviour detection (doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.105319).
• Write academic papers aimed at high-impact journals.
• Participate in international conferences and workshops.
• Disseminate research results and support teaching as part of the overall PhD education.

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree in Psychology, Human Factors, Civil Engineering, Economics or a similar degree. Ideally, you will have experience in some of the following areas: 

• Knowledge in psychological theories relating to behaviour
• Experience with questionnaire survey d