As Assistant Professor, you will be part of the team Brain & Cognition (8.5 fte) and develop your own, innovative research line in the area of digitalization, decision making and the brain; specifically the effect of language generation models on the brain and cognition. In doing so, you join efforts with the rest of the team in answering questions such as: “how do language generation models affect the brain and cognition, and how is this reflected in society?”. One of the team’s focal points is the psychology of digital media, and your research should provide a significant contribution to this theme.

Apart from your research, you contribute to education in two master programs, where the focus is on the psychological implications of the use of AI systems. You develop and teach courses on these themes that create interactive settings for our students and encourage active learning. Additionally, you supervise bachelor and master theses.

Summarized, your main tasks include:

• Developing your own research line in the area of digitalization, decision making and the brain; specifically, the effect of language generation models on the brain and cognition.
• Educating students in the master specialisations Psychology of the Digital Media and Brain & Cognition and supervising bachelor and master theses.
• Creating positive societal impact by improving human decision making, behavioural change or health, and ensuring digitalization developments do not create divides within society.
• Actively contributing to obtaining external subsidies and grants.
• Cooperating in the interdisciplinary EUR-wide SSH program: The Influence of Digitization on Work, Prosperity, and Entrepreneurship.

This vacancy is part of the new interdisciplinary, EUR-wide Social Sciences & Humanities-program ‘The Influence of Digitalization on Work, Prosperity, and Entrepreneurship’. We are recruiting a total of 3 new Assistant Professors as part of this program for the theme ‘Digital Decision Support’. As a team, we follow the principles of Open Sciences, and expect the same of you.

Would you be moving to the Netherlands for this position, perhaps together with your partner? Then EUR will support your relocation, and help your partner find a suitable position here as well through our Dual Career Programme.

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate (m/f/x) who meets the following requirements:

• You have a master’s degree in a relevant discipline (psychology/cognitive science/related field) and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence or a related topic.
• You are comfortable writing and speaking in English (minimum C1) and communicate clearly. Speaking Dutch fluently is not required for this position, but we expect an effort towards mastery of this language and will facilitate taking a Dutch course.
• You have experience with education on the academic level. If you do not have your UTQ yet (certification required), you can enroll for the track free of charge.
• You are able to effectively bridge different disciplines and people and enjoy working with a diverse team with various perspectives and levels of expertise.
• You have a cognitive science perspective on AI, its implications, and its applications – ideally in relation to language generation models.

An internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with good working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

The start date of this position is 01/10/2023 or earlier and you will be based at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at campus Woudestein, Rotterdam. The position is for 0,8 – 1 FTE. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 3.974 to a maximum of € 5.439 gross per month on a fulltime basis, in accordance with scale 11 of the CAO-NU. In addition, we offer an 8% holiday allowance, an end-of-year payment of 8.3%, and a very generous paid leave scheme. Furthermore, EUR is affiliated with ABP for the pension provision, and we offer partially paid parental leave, fully paid extended birth leave for partners, a personal career budget, work-life balance coaches, discounted collective health insurance, and more. Combined with personal and professional development, as well as active career support, we help you become and remain fit for the future. As an employee, you can also use EUR facilities such as the University library and receive a discount on subscriptions for the Erasmus sports center.

Erasmus University Rotterdam offers a Dual Career Programme (DCP) to assist the life partners of new academic staff (on payroll) in finding employment in The Netherlands. The programme is offered in close cooperation with the nearby universities of Delft and Leiden.

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfill their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 3.700 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.  

Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB)

The Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences is home to a vast diversity of scientific disciplines: public administration, pedagogical sciences, psychology and sociology (www.eur.nl/essb). Our activities are always focused on people and society. At the ESSB fundamental, internationally oriented research is of paramount importance. In addition, social research for professionals, policy makers, and the society is part of our research activities. ESSB offers a stimulating research environment where major national and international research grants are received. Appealing guest researchers and ambitious PhD candidates come along to conduct their research. Both the Dutch and English education programs are highly ranked by students and alumni. ESSB is home to over 4000 students and more than 400 staff-members. More information about the research at ESSB can be found here: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/information/researchers/research-themes More information about the education at ESSB can be found here: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/education/find-your-study

Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies (DPECS)

More information about the education of DPECS can be found here: https://www.eur.nl/en/essb/education/find-your-study

Team Brain & Cognition

Our group's overarching research interest is in higher cognitive processes, such as memory and language comprehension. Cognition is a fundamental part of psychology that is studied in fundamental brain and behavioral research on the one hand and, on the other hand, has a place in applied research in our group as part of the social debate. Our fundamental knowledge of cognitive processes helps us to explain current phenomena in society, such as fake news, the popularity of conspiracy theories and bias. This way, we contribute to themes of other teams and research groups within the faculty and collaborate with them on projects that have a major social impact. Filling the assistant professor vacancy will mean a broadening of our research interests and the possibilities for collaboration with others and increase the social impact of our whole team.