"Postdoctoral researcher on experimental and educational psychology and VR"

Job Description

DAF Technology Lab and the Department of Criminal Law are looking for a postdoctoral fellow with a strong academic interest in experimental psychology, educational psychology, virtual reality and an interest in law to work on a project in which presentational skills in moot courts are trained using VR and automated psychological measurement techniques.

The successful candidate will be working at the DAF Technology Lab, a cutting-edge virtual reality laboratory at the Tilburg University campus, including two Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) systems.

The project aims to develop and test a training environment in which students can practice moot courts while their performance – verbal and non-verbal skills – are assessed and presented after their presentation.

Your Position

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will work in the DAF Technology Lab, in collaboration with the Department of Criminal Law. Your tasks and responsibilities will center around experimental and educational psychology and VR.

In your role, you will first and foremost conduct experiments to evaluate the verbal and non-verbal skills of participants in the VR environment. In addition, you will participate in meetings with researchers and professionals in law, researchers and programmers in virtual reality, as well as corporate partners in law and virtual reality to collect and issue advice on how to best build a training interface that allows for optimal feedback on presentational skills. You will design and conduct experiments, analyze data, and publish in international journals.

Requirements

We are looking for an ambitious and talented researcher in experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive science or a related discipline. The ideal candidate should have the following qualities:

• (nearly) Completed PhD and an excellent (early career) track record in publishing research findings in recognized scientific journals in the field of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, human-computer interaction, or related field.
• Strong enthusiasm for these fields, specifically with enthusiasm for law and moot courts.
• Excellent research and analytical skills, including experience with conducting experiments, analyzing and reporting data.
• Experience with, or a willingness to learn statistical software packages such as R.
• Written and spoken command of Dutch and English. In order to connect to stakeholders, understanding and speaking Dutch is crucial.
• Proactive, independent, curious, self-motivated, and result-driven.
• Excellent communication, presentation and organizational skills.

Conditions of Employment

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

• Employment of 0.8-1.0 FTE (32-40 hours per week).
• Salary between €4,728 and €6,433 gross per month for full-time employment (UFO-profile Researcher 3, salary scale 11).
• If the candidate does not yet have a completed PhD, he/she will be classified in UFO profile Researcher 4, salary scale 10 until then.
• This is a vacancy for a temporary position in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 5 sub b CLA DU. You will be given a temporary contract for the duration of 12 months.
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• Hybrid working with home working allowance (€2 p/day) and internet allowance (€25 p/month).
• Reimbursement sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
• Options model for additional leave, pension, a bicycle or personal training.
• 30% rule for international employees (if applicable).
• Pension through ABP.
• Ample training offer: personal development, leadership, education, research or language courses.
• Inclusive work culture: everyone welcome, equal opportunities.
• A green, inviting campus that’s easily accessible by public transport.

About DAF Technology Lab

The DAF Technology Lab is a university facility consisting of office space, three research cabins and two CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) systems. The two CAVE systems offer a 5x5 meter immersive environment with VR projections on the four CAVE walls combined with advanced audio facilities. The CAVEs have been used for education and research purposes, the research cabins have been used for (VR) research purposes. In addition, sensing technologies (eye trackers, EEG and fNIR scanners, heart rate and skin response monitors, etc.), are available to researchers to monitor participant behavior in experiments.

About Tilburg Law School

Tilburg Law School was founded in 1963 and has since grown into a leading faculty for law and public administration. Our education and research are distinctly innovative and interdisciplinary. We are driven by our mission to actively engage with pressing societal challenges such as new technologies, sustainability, and the position of vulnerable groups in the rule of law, from the perspective of legal and administrative sciences. We operate in response to local, regional, national, and international developments, and collaborate closely with other disciplines such as economics, behavioral and social sciences, philosophy, history, and digital sciences. The faculty is organized into five departments: Public Law & Governance, Private, Business and Labour Law, Criminal Law, the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology & Society, and Tax Law.