Postdoctoral Researcher in Experimental Psychology and Psychophysiology

(R2) Application Deadline: 30 Nov 2026 - 22:59 (UTC) Country: Netherlands Type of Contract: Temporary Job Status: Not Applicable Hours Per Week: 40.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by an EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No Offer Description Are you excited about studying how people respond to challenging situations in healthcare? Do you have a strong interest in experimental psychology, psychophysiology, sensing technologies, and advanced quantitative methods? Are you fascinated by fundamental questions about stress, cognitive load, attention, and emotion, but equally motivated to translate these questions into applied settings such as healthcare training? Then this postdoctoral position may be the one for you. The Department of Computational Cognitive Science at Tilburg University is looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the three-year VR-STRESS project. VR-STRESS is a cross-border research and innovation project aimed at developing an adaptive virtual reality system for medical training. The project investigates how (neuro)physiological, behavioral, and interaction data can be used to infer a user's cognitive and emotional state during training, and how these insights can be used to adapt the training environment in real time. A central component of the project is the development of an integrated system for measuring and interpreting user state during virtual-reality training. The system will combine multiple non-invasive sensing modalities and connect physiological and behavioral responses to relevant aspects of user state, such as stress, mental workload, attention, fatigue, emotion, and performance. The postdoctoral researcher will take a leading role in the experimental and psychophysiological part of this work. You will investigate how these signals can be measured reliably across individuals and experimental conditions, and how they relate to subjective experience and task performance. You will work closely with a project team of researchers, engineers, VR specialists, data scientists, and project partners from academia and industry. Your position As a postdoctoral researcher, you will design and conduct controlled experiments aimed at understanding and measuring cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses in immersive training environments. You will contribute to the selection, calibration, validation, and integration of non-invasive sensing technologies and develop experimental protocols for reliable physiological measurement during VR use. An important part of the work will involve examining how physiological and behavioral responses change under different levels of stress, task difficulty, and cognitive demand. You will analyze multimodal datasets that combine physiological signals, behavioral measures, self-reports, and performance data, using advanced statistical and quantitative methods. In close collaboration with data scientists, you will also contribute to the development and validation of machine-learning approaches for estimating user state and to the integration of these estimates into adaptive VR environments. Your work will focus on: designing and conducting rigorous experimental studies on stress, cognitive load, and human performance in VR; developing and evaluating methods for multimodal physiological and behavioral measurement; analyzing complex datasets and relating physiological responses to subjective and objective measures of user state and performance; collaborating across disciplines on machine-learning, adaptive VR, and the scientific dissemination of project results. The position offers considerable scope for developing fundamental research questions alongside the applied objectives of the project. Requirements Your profile We are looking for an ambitious and talented researcher in experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive (neuro)science, psychophysiology, or a closely related discipline. You have, or are close to completing, a PhD in a relevant field and have experience designing and conducting controlled behavioral or psychophysiological studies. You are comfortable working with physiological or neurophysiological measurements, sensing equipment, or multimodal behavioral data, and have strong quantitative and statistical skills for analyzing complex experimental datasets. You are interested in questions related to human cognition, emotion, stress, mental workload, attention, and performance, and are excited about applying this knowledge in areas such as virtual reality, adaptive systems, healthcare, data science, artificial intelligence, or brain-computer interfaces. Experience with R, Python, or comparable analysis environments is an advantage, as is a strong publication record appropriate to your career stage. We are particularly interested in candidates who: combine strong experimental and quantitative skills with scientific curiosity; enjoy working independently while contributing actively to interdisciplinary collaboration; communicate effectively with researchers and partners from different disciplinary backgrounds; have excellent written and spoken English. Knowledge of Dutch is very welcome but not required. We are particularly interested in researchers who are fascinated by fundamental scientific questions, but who also enjoy translating those questions into innovative applied technologies and real-world settings. Additional Information Our offer Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment: Employment of 1.0 fte (40 hours per week). Salary between €4.925 and €6.682 gross per month for full-time employment (UFO-profile Researcher 3, salary scale 11). Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system based on relevant work experience. 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. Moving allowance (subject to conditions). 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. For more information, please see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities . Selection process Want to apply? To apply for this position please submit a motivation letter outlining why you are the right candidate for this position, a CV outlining publications and research activities) and two referees who might be contacted for letters of recommendation. The only way to apply is online. The vacancy is open until filled. Online interviews are expected to take place mid November 2026, with follow-up interviews several weeks later. Want to know more? For more information on this position or the project, please contact the principal investigator, prof. dr. M.M. Louwerse M.M.Louwerse@tilburguniversity.edu or Ilse Souhail e.p.p.v.d.pol@tilburguniversity.edu . Website for additional job details: https://www.academictransfer.com/364831/ Work Location(s) Number of offers available: 1 Company/Institute: Tilburg University Country: Netherlands City: Tilburg Postal Code: 5037 AB Street: Warandelaan 2