PhD student or Postdoc in Developing Cognitive Tutors (m/f)

The newly established Max Planck Research Group for Rationality Enhancement, headed by Dr. Falk Lieder at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen, Germany, is looking for a Postdoc or for a PhD student for a project at the intersection of machine learning and computational cognitive science.

Research questions

Our mission is to reverse-engineer and enhance human intelligence. You will be part of a larger project whose goals are to a) reverse-engineer the computational mechanisms enabling people to discover and continuously refine their highly efficient algorithms for planning, reasoning, and decision-making, to b) develop automatic methods for discovering optimal heuristics and general principles of good decision-making, and to c) develop cognitive tutors that teach people optimal cognitive strategies. Your primary focus will be to develop and evaluate cognitive tutors.

The positions

The postdoc position is full time (100%), on the German E13 or E14 pay scale of the Collective Wage Agreement for the Public Service, initially for two or three years (and can be extended longer). A successful postdoc candidate (m/f) should have a strong track record in research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and human learning and experience with web development and behavioral experiments. Expertise in machine learning, computational models of human learning, intelligent tutoring systems, educational software, human-computer interaction, education, or the learning sciences would be a plus.

The PhD student (m/f) will receive a PhD funding contract equivalent in remuneration to pay group E13, 65% of the Collective Wage Agreement for the Public Service. The successful PhD candidate (m/f) should have a solid background in computer science, cognitive science, or psychology, strong programming skills, and experience with web development. Experience in machine learning, cognitive modeling, artificial intelligence, behavioral experiments, human-computer interaction, and the learning sciences is a plus.

The starting dates for the two positions are flexible. The earliest possible starting date is July 1 2018.

The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

The Max Planck Research Group for Rationality Enhancement is part of the MPI for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen, Germany (http://is.tuebingen.mpg.de). The institute is a world-class center for foundational research in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, and material science. We are part of the Cyber Valley Initiative that is bringing new research groups, professorships, and industry partners to Tübingen and Stuttgart. The majority of the institute’s scientific employees come from outside of Germany. You will work among gifted students and experienced scientists from all over the world; and have access to excellent infrastructure, including several regular series of tutorials, lectures, journal clubs and invited talks by international guests, as well as a large computer cluster, and dedicated full-time specialists. The working language at the institute is English.

Tübingen

Tübingen is a scenic medieval university town, cradled in what is simultaneously one of Germany’s most beautiful landscapes one of Europe’s most economically successful areas. Stuttgart airport is an hour by bus, Frankfurt airport can be reached in two hours by train. Most locals speak English and knowledge of German is not required to live here.

How to apply

To apply for this position, please email your CV and a cover letter describing your motivation and relevant skills and research experience to  personal@vw.mpi-stuttgart.mpg.de and falk.lieder@gmail.com and arrange for 2-3 reference letters to be sent to the same address. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Falk Lieder.

Applications will be considered until the positions have been filled. For full consideration, please apply by July 1.

The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. The Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.