Job description
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to investigate how forgotten protein crops can become part of everyday consumer choices. This PhD will explore how product properties, multisensory experiences, recipe context, presentation strategies, and societal associations shape consumer acceptance and decision-making.
Your work will combine sensory perception, eye-tracking, and immersive virtual reality simulations to understand how people respond to meals and products in realistic purchase and dining environments. The project centers on how people look, intend, and choose, and how immersive technologies can help us understand real-life judgment and decision processes
You will work with VR-based supermarket and dining simulations, eye-tracking tools, and behavioral experiments to explore how visual presentation, context, and multisensory cues shape people’s choices.
This research directly contributes to the REAP2SOW mission to accelerate the transition to a sustainable, plant-forward protein system.
Your role
Examine consumer acceptance and purchase intentions for aardaker, white lupin, and quinoa across a variety of dishes, contexts, and product presentation strategies.
Evaluate different presentation styles of aardaker-based dishes, including visual cues, contexts, and formats, to understand how they influence attention, perceived liking, and consumer acceptance.
Build virtual choice environments (e.g., supermarket and social dining simulations) using VR with real-time tracking to analyse consumer decision-making.
Work together with the second PhD in the work package to design and evaluate interventions that promote quinoa, lupin, and aardaker recipes among consumers.
Interact with historians, agronomists, plant breeders, gastronomists, and industry partners to ensure practical relevance and robust implementation of the findings.
Write and submit your findings to scientific journals and as PhD dissertation.
Your profile
- You are a highly motivated candidate who enjoys applying insights from consumer psychology and behavioral science to real-world food innovations. You possess:
- A completed MSc degree in cognitive psychology, computer science, consumer behavior, human-media interaction, or a related field;
- Experience or interest in experimental design, mixed-methods research, and ideally eye-tracking or VR-based behavioral studies;
- Ability to combine abstract theoretical thought to a real-life case;
- Ability to communicate scientifically as well as with non-scientific project stakeholders;
- Strong interest in understanding and influencing sustainable consumption behavior;
- Strong analytical and statistical skills;
- Affinity to work within a larger multi-disciplinary project;
- Proficiency in English (Dutch proficiency is an advantage but not required; willingness to learn is appreciated).
Our offer
We encourage high responsibility and independence, while collaborating with colleagues, researchers, other university staff and partners. We follow the terms of employment by the Dutch Collective Labour Agreement for Universities (CAO). Our offer includes: a full-time, 4-year PhD position with a qualifying evaluation in the first year; excellent mentorship in a stimulating research environment with excellent facilities; and a personal development program within the Twente Graduate School. It also includes:
- Gross monthly salary of €3,059 in the first year, increasing each year up to €3,881 in the fourth year;
- Excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%, and a solid pension scheme;
- 29 holidays per year in case of full-time employment;
- A training programme as part of the Twente Graduate School where you and your supervisors will determine a plan for a suitable education and supervision;
- A green campus with free access to sports facilities and an international scientific community;
- A family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid);
- A full employee status at the University of Twente (UT), including pension, healthcare benefits, and favourable secondary conditions as outlined in the CAO-NU collective labour agreement for Dutch universities.
Information and application
Please apply by 28 February 2026. The application should include:
- A Curriculum Vitae;
- A cover letter
For more information regarding the topic of position, you are welcome to contact Funda Yildirim (f.yildirim@utwente.nl).
Dr. Funda Yildirim (University of Twente), expert in cognitive and neuropsychological perspectives on sustainable behaviour change.
Dr. Arnout Fischer (Wageningen University), expert in consumer responses to novel foods and the protein transition.
Dr. Simone Borsci (University of Twente), expert in human factors and health technologies.
About the department
You will be embedded in the Cognition, Data and Education (CoDE) group at the University of Twente, an interdisciplinary group that studies cognition, perception, behaviour, and technology-supported behavioural change.
You will also collaborate closely with the Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group at Wageningen University, one of the leading centres worldwide in consumer behaviour and food choice.
This NWA-funded PhD is part of the REAP2SOW programme, a national consortium involving Wageningen University & Research, Utrecht University, Leiden University, the University of Twente, and the University of Groningen, alongside partners in the agri-food sector. REAP2SOW aims to support the transition toward a sustainable plant-based protein system by 2050.
Your work will be part of the REAP2SOW consumer work package, consisting of two PhD positions collaborating on recipes, narratives, and interventions that encourage consumer adoption of sustainable protein crops. Your role will focus on societal embedding and perceptual/behavioural evaluation, while the paired PhD focuses on consumer motives and narratives. Together, you will develop shared interventions and recommendations.
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.
