Postdoctoral Scholar Learning Analytics and Measurement in Behavioral Sciences (LAMBS) Lab and Center for Educational Research and Action (Era), University of Notre Dame

Postdoctoral Scholar Learning Analytics and Measurement in Behavioral Sciences (LAMBS) Lab and Center for Educational Research and Action (Era), University of Notre Dame

Location: University of Notre Dame

Open Date: 2026-05-06

Deadline: Jun 12, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

The Learning Analytics and Measurement in Behavioral Sciences (LAMBS) Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame invites applications for a full-time postdoctoral researcher position in Adaptive Learning, Assessment, and Analytics. The initial appointment is for one year, with the possibility of renewal for an additional year based on satisfactory performance. This position is jointly funded by an NSF grant awarded to the director of the LAMBS Lab, Dr. Ying ('Alison') Cheng, and the Center for Educational Research and Action (Era) within the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives (IEI). The postdoctoral researcher will be supervised by Dr. Cheng, Sweeney Family Collegiate Professor of Quantitative Psychology and Education and Fellow of IEI.

The successful candidate would join a team of researchers in LAMBS who are highly experienced in psychometrics, educational data mining, measurement and evaluation, and AI in education. He/She will also be part of a cohort of Era postdoctoral researchers conducting interdisciplinary research that advances fundamental knowledge of learning and the systems that shape it while designing and improving learning environments in partnership with communities.

The postdoctoral researcher is expected to play a central role in connecting measurement theory and practice, data mining methods, and AI to solve real-world problems in K-16 instruction and learning.

The start date of the position is flexible, but the preferred start is no later than September 1, 2026.

Duties:

• Work on an NSF-funded project involving adaptive testing and adaptive learning, in collaboration with researchers in computer science and chemical engineering;
• Contribute to projects exploring applications of AI in education, including automated scoring, synthetic data generation, and the application of psychometric methods to large language model evaluation;
• Analyze existing corpora of student engagement and learning data using educational data mining and visualization methods;
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate students;
• Contribute to report writing, manuscript preparation, and other dissemination efforts;
• Contribute to grant writing and support grant-funded research projects.

Unique Training Opportunity:
This position offers advanced training in quantitative and psychometric methods, along with opportunities to collaborate broadly with computer scientists, learning scientists, instructional designers, and engineers as part of a coordinated postdoctoral cohort.

Salary Range:
Salary is competitive with those at similarly situated institutions. The position is contingent upon funding.

Applications received on or before June 12, 2026 will be given full consideration. Questions about the position should be addressed to Dr. Alison Cheng at ycheng4@nd.edu.

About Era:
The Center for Educational Research and Action (Era) at Notre Dame advances knowledge of learning and learning environments through the integration of research, practice, and public service. Era supports the development of students and early-career researchers, conducts interdisciplinary research with educators and community partners, and hosts conversations about big questions in education.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:
This position requires a doctoral degree (or ABD) in psychometrics, educational measurement and statistics, educational data mining, learning analytics, or a related field by the time of hire, and experience conducting educational research in school settings. Familiarity with R or Python is required.

Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in adaptive testing, AI in education, and/or deep learning. Experience working in multidisciplinary teams is preferred.

To apply, visit https://apply.interfolio.com/185997