The CITEC (Center for Cognitive Interaction Technology) has the following two job openings in the SFB TRR 318 [subproject A03 & A05]:
Employment is conducive to academic qualification.
Research Positions in the SFB TRR 318 in the field of emotionally intelligent interactive systems
ID: Wiss25382
- starting: 01.01.2026
- Vollzeit
- salary according to Remuneration level 13 TV-L
- befristet
The transregional collaborative research center (TRR) “Constructing Explainability” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the Universities of Paderborn and Bielefeld, deals with explainable and explanatory artificial intelligence. The central hypothesis of the TRR is that explanations should be co-constructed by dialogue partners so that humans can make confident and informed decisions when interacting with intelligent systems.
To this end, both universities aim to contribute basic research in the areas of co-constructive explanation processes and their mechanisms, explanation as a socio-technical phenomenon, and computational representations of the dynamics of co-constructive explanation. They bring together different disciplinary perspectives both at the level of individual projects and the TRR as a whole. The goal of the second funding phase is to develop more flexible, personalized, proactive explanation systems (sXAI) that take social and situational context into account when adapting their explanatory behavior.
Subprojects A03 and A05 investigate and model interactive explanations of AI decisions and suggestions with a special focus on emotions (A03) and negating/contrasting (A05) as powerful scaffolding strategies. In both projects an existing explanation model is to be extended by integrating context relevant features and an LLM-based dialogue system that can adapt explantions to heterogeneous users in the context of the task at hand. The development is being carried out in cooperation with project partners from the field of pycholinuistic and economics/behaviroal sciences and includes our own suer studies and the evaluation of the developed model.
The position will be filled subject to project approval.
To this end, both universities aim to contribute basic research in the areas of co-constructive explanation processes and their mechanisms, explanation as a socio-technical phenomenon, and computational representations of the dynamics of co-constructive explanation. They bring together different disciplinary perspectives both at the level of individual projects and the TRR as a whole. The goal of the second funding phase is to develop more flexible, personalized, proactive explanation systems (sXAI) that take social and situational context into account when adapting their explanatory behavior.
Subprojects A03 and A05 investigate and model interactive explanations of AI decisions and suggestions with a special focus on emotions (A03) and negating/contrasting (A05) as powerful scaffolding strategies. In both projects an existing explanation model is to be extended by integrating context relevant features and an LLM-based dialogue system that can adapt explantions to heterogeneous users in the context of the task at hand. The development is being carried out in cooperation with project partners from the field of pycholinuistic and economics/behaviroal sciences and includes our own suer studies and the evaluation of the developed model.
The position will be filled subject to project approval.
Your Tasks
- research activities (90 %):
- further development of an interactive system (virtual agent or interactive robot, e.g. Nao) to explain AI decisions or tasks with a focus on the influence of emotion or on scaffolding using negation/contrast on understanding and decisions
- user studies to investigate explanation strategies and to evaluate implemented interaction strategies
- publication and presentation of research results at international conferences and in journals
- teaching of 1 LVS (5 %)
- collaboration in administration (5 %)
Employment is conducive to academic qualification.
We offer
- salary according to Remuneration level 13 TV-L
- befristet (limited until 30.06.2029 - end of project) (§ 2 (1) sentence 1 of the WissZeitVG; in accordance with the provisions of the WissZeitVG and the Agreement on Satisfactory Conditions of Employment, the length of contract may differ in individual cases)
- Vollzeit
- internal and external training opportunities
- variety of health, consulting and prevention services
- reconcilability of family and work
- flexible working hours
- good transport connection
- supplementary company pension
- collegial working environment
- open and pleasant working atmosphere
- exciting, varied tasks
- modern work environment with digital processes
- various offers (canteen, cafeteria, restaurants, Uni-Shop, ATM, etc.)
Your Profile
We expect
- completed academic university degree (e. g., master's or equivalent) in computer science, computational linguistics or related fields
- interest and passion for interdisciplinary research at the interface of psychology, cognitive science, behavioral science or linguistics and human-robot interaction
- good knowledge of German and English (spoken and written)
- analytical skills and scientific mindset
- independent, responsible, and committed approach to work
- teamwork skills
Preferred experience and skills
- practical experience and theoretical knowledge in system development, dialogue modeling, and user studies/evaluation
- practical experience with processing physiological data/ECG and with image processing software for recognizing emotions from facial or behavioral data
- prior knowledge of ROS or other middleware
- experience with designing or conducting studies
Application Procedure
We are looking forward to receiving your application. To apply, please preferably use our online form via the application button below.
application deadline: 13.10.2025
Contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Britta Wrede
+49 521 106-67885
bwrede3@uni-bielefeld.de
Postal Address
Universität Bielefeld
Medizinische Fakultät OWL
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Britta Wrede
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Britta Wrede
+49 521 106-67885
bwrede3@uni-bielefeld.de
Postal Address
Universität Bielefeld
Medizinische Fakultät OWL
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Britta Wrede
Postfach 10 01 31
33501 Bielefeld
Bielefeld University has received a number of awards for its achievements as an equal-opportunity employer and has been
recognized as a family-friendly university. The university welcomes applications from women. This is particularly true with regard
both to academic and technical posts as well as positions in information technology as well as the skilled crafts and trades.
Applications are handled according to the provisions of the state statutes on equal opportunity. Applications from suitably qualified
handicapped and severely handicapped persons are explicitly encouraged.
At Bielefeld University on request positions can be carried out with reduced working hours as long as this does not conflict with official needs.
