Postdoctoral Research Fellow for AI in Education (m/f/d, E13 TV-L, 100%)

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

Bewerbungsfrist
: 15.07.2026

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

Postdoctoral Research Fellow for AI in Education: Multimodal Learning Analytics in Collaborative Learning 
(m/f/d, E 13 TVL, 100% for 2 years)

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher in Computer Science, Data Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Empirical Educational Research, Learning Sciences, Cognitive Science, or related disciplines who is eager to contribute to cutting-edge research on collaborative learning, multimodal learning analytics, and artificial intelligence. The position offers substantial opportunities to develop an independent research agenda within the broader areas of multi-modal learning analytics, AI in education, and (computer-supported) collaborative learning.

The successful candidate will join the interdisciplinary DFG-funded project AEyeCoL – Advanced Understanding of Eye Gaze in Co-Located Collaborative Learning, which investigates co-located collaborative learning processes using mobile eye-tracking, video recordings, discourse data, physiological measures, and machine-learning approaches. The project aims to better understand how gaze behavior, communication, and other multimodal indicators reflect and predict group dynamics during collaborative learning and how these processes can be automatically assessed and supported using multimodal data and AI-based methods. The postdoctoral researcher will play a leading scientific role in the project, driving multimodal data analyses, developing novel computational methods, publishing findings in leading international journals and conferences, contributing to grant development, and preparing follow-up studies in higher education and school contexts.

The successful candidate will work closely with Dr. Babette Bühler, future Tenure-Track Professor of AI in Education, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Trautwein, Dr. Tim Fütterer, project collaborators at the Technical University of Munich, and other researchers at the Hector Research Institute. The Hector Research Institute is a nationally and internationally leading research center in education science and psychology. Our interdisciplinary team works in a well-equipped building located close to the historic old town of Tübingen, Germany (see here). The institute aims to establish a research hub focused on data science and machine learning in education, and we are seeking candidates who have the potential to take a leading role in this initiative.

The position is offered as a fixed-term contract for 2 years, with the possibility of extension contingent on funding availability. The expected start date is Fall 2026. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to participate in the institute’s postdoctoral academy, PACE (Tübingen Postdoctoral Academy for Research on Education), which offers training, coaching, and mentoring at the post-doctoral level. In addition, the candidate may join the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network to develop cross-faculty collaborations with researchers in the field of education.

What We Expect from You

We are looking for a candidate with a strong methodological background, excellent research skills, and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary collaboration. Specifically, we expect:

• A completed PhD in Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, Data Science, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Empirical Educational Research, Learning Sciences, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience with machine learning, learning analytics, computational modeling, computer vision, natural language processing, or related AI-based methods.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python.
• Experience working with complex, multimodal datasets and reproducible research work-flows.
• Experience with eye-tracking research or a strong interest in learning and applying eye-tracking methods.
• Proficiency in English as a working language in an international research team.
• The ability to work independently while contributing actively to collaborative research projects.
• Interest in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of education, psychology, AI, and learning analytics.

In addition, the following qualifications would be considered an asset:

• Experience with multimodal machine learning and multimodal data fusion approaches.
• Experience with discourse analysis, natural language processing, or conversational data.
• Interest in open science, reproducible workflows, and open-source tool development.

What We Offer

We provide an inspiring, productive, and collaborative research environment with excellent opportunities for professional and academic development. Specifically, we offer:

• Access to a unique, large-scale multimodal dataset that has already been collected, including mobile eye-tracking, video, discourse, physiological, and collaboration data, providing immediate opportunities for high-impact publications and methodological innovation.
• Support for interdisciplinary and international collaborations, such as lab visits and participa-tion in international conferences.
• Opportunities to contribute to the supervision of doctoral and student researchers and to participate in collaborative grant development activities.
• Opportunity to participate in the institute’s postdoctoral academy, PACE (Tübingen Postdoctoral Academy for Research on Education), which offers training, coaching, and mentoring at the
• Integration into the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network.
• Involvement in a dynamic and motivated research team passionate about education, AI, and technology.

For further inquiries about the position, please contact Babette Bühler babette.buehler@uni-tuebingen.de. 

Applications should include (1) a cover letter outlining your expertise, (2) a CV, (3) contact details of two referees, and (4) copies of degree certificates and transcripts. Please submit all documents as a single PDF file, referencing “AEyeCol Postdoc”, to jobs@hib.uni-tuebingen.de . The application deadline is July 15, 2026.

The University of Tübingen is committed to equity and diversity and actively promotes equal opportunities. Equally qualified candidates with disabilities will be given preference in the hiring process. The University of Tübingen is committed to increasing the percentage of women in research and teaching and thus encourages women with adequate qualifications to apply.

Employment will be officially carried out by the central university administration.