Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Motivation and Affective Sciences University of Tubingen Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Postdoctoral Research Fellow on Motivation and Affective Sciences (m/f/d; 100%, E 13 TV-L )

Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology

Bewerbungsfrist : 26.05.2021

The Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology is currently inviting applications for the following position:

Postdoctoral Research Fellow on Motivation and Affective Sciences for 3 years (+ possible 2 year extension) (m/f/d; 100%, E 13 TV-L )

We are seeking an excellent researcher who has strong passion to use an experimental approach to study motivation, emotion, and their interactions with learning. Applicants can come from any fields of psychology or related fields, but we are particularly looking for candidates who have great potential to produce interdisciplinary work that has significant implications for education. The postdoc is supposed to primarily work with Professor Kou Murayama and Professor Michiko Sakaki. We give priority to researchers having transferrable skills to do various types of online experiments. 

The position comes with a fixed-term contract for three years with the possibility for extension for additional two years. The expected start date is October 2021 but we are highly flexible and committed to accommodating candidates’ individual circumstances. There is the possibility to participate in the institute's own postdoctoral academy PACE (Tübingen Postdoctoral Academy for Research on Education) which offers further training, coaching, and mentoring at postdoctoral level. 

The position is part of the new Alexander von Humboldt Professorship held by Professor Kou Murayama, who has moved to the University of Tübingen to continue his internationally renowned research at the Hector Research Institute. A Humboldt Professorship is the most highly endowed research prize in Germany and enables world class scientists to carry out long-term and ground-breaking research at universities and research institutions in Germany (www.humboldt-professur.de/en). The Hector Research Institute is a nationally and internationally leading research center in education sciences and psychology. Our interdisciplinary team works in a well-equipped building close to the historic old town of Tübingen, Germany. Traditionally, research at the Hector Research Institute investigates determinants of successful teaching and learning processes using large scale assessments, longitudinal studies, and randomized controlled field trials. Our team will collaborate within the institute continuing these traditions and also supplement them with a diverse array of methodological approaches. More information can be found at www.hib.uni-tuebingen.de.

The successful candidate is expected to combine research on motivation/emotion with education sciences based on his/her expertise, conducting innovative research that could substantially advance the way we study motivation and emotion in educational contexts. There are no “prescribed” projects for the position, and the successful candidate is expected to collaboratively generate innovative ideas together with his/her supervisors. The successful candidate is also expected to collaborate with other researchers in the institute to conduct various experimental studies. 

The successful candidate holds an excellent PhD in either Psychology or a related field (or will have obtained one by the start date of the position) and has visible track record in experimental work (e.g., publication and third-party funding experience). Research experiences in motivation/emotion research (broadly defined) are a good bonus. A visible commitment to research transparency is also a plus. Most importantly, the successful candidate should demonstrate (1) a solid methodological skill set (experimental programming, statistical analysis) that allows him/her to conduct research with independence and (2) a strong motivation and open-mindedness with respect to building interdisciplinary links with education sciences. The successful candidate will also be given the opportunity to join the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network (www.lead.uni-tuebingen.de) to develop cross-faculty collaborative network of researchers working on research on education. While beneficial, proficiency in German is not necessary for this position. 

For further inquiries about the position, please reach out to Professor Kou Murayama (k.murayamaspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de).

Applications including a cover letter detailing (1) your expertise and methodological skills (especially skills of online experiments, if there are any), and (2) how your experience and skills can make an unique contribution to educational science, a CV, contact of two references who can be contacted before interview, degree and other certificates with transcripts should be sent via email in one single pdf-file to verwaltungspam prevention@hib.uni-tuebingen.de Initial deadline is May 26, 2021 but we continue to seek candidates until the position is filled by a highly qualified candidate (i.e. late application is ac-ceptable until we make a final decision). Disabled candidates will be given preference over other equally qualified applicants. The University seeks to raise the number of women in research and teaching and therefore urges qualified women to apply for these positions. Employment will be officially organized by the central university administration.