Postdoctoral Researcher in Experimental Psychology and Psychophysiology - 1.0 FTE

Tilburg University | School of Humanities and Digital Sciences | Department of Computational Cognitive Science

Postdoctoral Researcher in Experimental Psychology and Psychophysiology – 1.0 FTE.

Department: Computational Cognitive Science

On site: Tilburg

Contract size: 1.0 fte (40 hours per week)

Full-time gross monthly salary: €4.925 – €6.682

Contract duration: 36 months

Intended start date: January 1, 2027

Are you excited about studying how people respond to challenging situations in healthcare? Do you have a strong interest in experimental psychology, psychophysiology, sensing technologies, and advanced quantitative methods? Are you fascinated by fundamental questions about stress, cognitive load, attention, and emotion, but equally motivated to translate these questions into applied settings such as healthcare training? Then this postdoctoral position may be the one for you.

The Department of Computational Cognitive Science at Tilburg University is looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the three-year VR-STRESS project.

VR-STRESS is a cross-border research and innovation project aimed at developing an adaptive virtual reality system for medical training. The project investigates how (neuro)physiological, behavioral, and interaction data can be used to infer a user's cognitive and emotional state during training, and how these insights can be used to adapt the training environment in real time.

A central component of the project is the development of an integrated system for measuring and interpreting user state during virtual-reality training. The system will combine multiple non-invasive sensing modalities and connect physiological and behavioral responses to relevant aspects of user state, such as stress, mental workload, attention, fatigue, emotion, and performance.

The postdoctoral researcher will take a leading role in the experimental and psychophysiological part of this work. You will investigate how these signals can be measured reliably across individuals and experimental conditions, and how they relate to subjective experience and task performance.

You will work closely with a project team of researchers, engineers, VR specialists, data scientists, and project partners from academia and industry.

Your position

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will design and conduct controlled experiments aimed at understanding and measuring cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses in immersive training environments.

You will contribute to the selection, calibration, validation, and integration of non-invasive sensing technologies and develop experimental protocols for reliable physiological measurement during VR use. An important part of the work will involve examining how physiological and behavioral responses change under different levels of stress, task difficulty, and cognitive demand.

You will analyze multimodal datasets that combine physiological signals, behavioral measures, self-reports, and performance data, using advanced statistical and quantitative methods. In close collaboration with data scientists, you will also contribute to the development and validation of machine-learning approaches for estimating user state and to the integration of these estimates into adaptive VR environments.

Your work will focus on:

• designing and conducting rigorous experimental studies on stress, cognitive load, and human performance in VR;
• developing and evaluating methods for multimodal physiological and behavioral measurement;
• analyzing complex datasets and relating physiological responses to subjective and objective measures of user state and performance;
• collaborating across disciplines on machine-learning, adaptive VR, and the scientific dissemination of project results.

The position offers considerable scope for developing fundamental research questions alongside the applied objectives of the project.

Your profile

We are looking for an ambitious and talented researcher in experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, cognitive (neuro)science, psychophysiology, or a closely related discipline.

You have, or are close to completing, a PhD in a relevant field and have experience designing and conducting controlled behavioral or psychophysiological studies. You are comfortable working with physiological or neurophysiological measurements, sensing equipment, or multimodal behavioral data, and have strong quantitative and statistical skills for analyzing complex experimental datasets.

You are interested in questions related to human cognition, emotion, stress, mental workload, attention, and performance, and are excited about applying this knowledge in areas such as virtual reality, adaptive systems, healthcare, data science, artificial intelligence, or brain-computer interfaces. Experience with R, Python, or comparable analysis environments is an advantage, as is a strong publication record appropriate to your career stage.

We are particularly interested in candidates who:

• combine strong experimental and quantitative skills with scientific curiosity;
• enjoy working independently while contributing actively to interdisciplinary collaboration;
• communicate effectively with researchers and partners from different disciplinary backgrounds;
• have excellent written and spoken English. Knowledge of Dutch is very welcome but not required.

We are particularly interested in researchers who are fascinated by fundamental scientific questions, but who also enjoy translating those questions into innovative applied technologies and real-world settings.

Our offer

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment:

• Employment of 1.0 fte (40 hours per week).
• Salary between €4.925 and €6.682 gross per month for full-time employment (UFO-profile Researcher 3, salary scale 11). Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system based on relevant work experience.
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• Hybrid working with home working allowance (€2 p/day) and internet allowance (€25 p/month).
• Reimbursement sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
• Options model for additional leave, pension, a bicycle or personal training.
• Moving allowance (subject to conditions).
• 30% rule for international employees (if applicable).
• Pension through ABP.
• Ample training offer: personal development, leadership, education, research or language courses.
• Inclusive work culture: everyone welcome, equal opportunities.
• A green, inviting campus that’s easily accessible by public transport.

For more information, please see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities.

Who we are

The Computational Cognitive Science (DCS) department performs cognitive and computational research in the domains of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science and runs educational programs on Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and Society. The department is partially housed on Tilburg University campus and in the near Tilburg central station as member of Mind Labs. We maintain close collaborations with the Jheronimus Academy of Data Science (JADS) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

The research group consists of about 70 researchers covering a broad range of topics relevant for cognitive science and artificial intelligence, including about 35 PhD students. Core research domains include cognitive science, machine learning, deep learning, games, virtual reality, computational psycholinguistics, brain-computer interfaces, robotics, cognitive modeling of language, computational linguistics, educational technologies, computational modeling of evolutionary and adaptive systems, image and signal processing, with a strong emphasis on quantitative methods.

The DAF Technology Lab is a university facility consisting of office space, two research cabins and two CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) systems. The two CAVE systems offer a 5x5 meter immersive environment with VR projections on the four CAVE walls combined with advanced audio facilities. The CAVEs have been used for education and research purposes, the research cabins have been used for (VR) research purposes. In addition, sensing technologies (eye trackers, EEG and fNIR scanners, heart rate and skin response monitors, etc.), are available to researchers to monitor participant behavior in experiments.

Want to know more?

For more information on this position or the project, please contact the principal investigator, prof. dr. M.M. Louwerse M.M.Louwerse@tilburguniversity.edu or Ilse Souhail e.p.p.v.d.pol@tilburguniversity.edu.

Want to apply?

To apply for this position please submit a motivation letter outlining why you are the right candidate for this position, a CV outlining publications and research activities) and two referees who might be contacted for letters of recommendation.

The only way to apply is online.

Deadline for applications: November 5th 2026

Online interviews are expected to take place mid November 2026, with follow-up interviews several weeks later.

About Tilburg University

Tilburg University is the university in the humanities and social sciences. Ever since our foundation in 1927, we have been committed to a just, inclusive, and sustainable society. With leading research and inspiring education, we contribute to the interpretation and, where possible, solutions to current societal issues, from climate change to digitalization

Our community is personal, engaged, and small-scale. On our green, compact, and vibrant campus there is room for encounter, collaboration, reflection, and personal growth. Read more about Tilburg University.

Working at Tilburg University means working in an inclusive team with attractive employment conditions. At Tilburg University, you will receive ample opportunities to strengthen your talents and develop your career, in a warm working atmosphere where we attach great importance to the following values: curious, connected, caring, and courageous.

About the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD)

Research and education at the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD) focuses on humans, technology, culture, and their interactions in a globalizing digital society. From the interplay of our disciplines, our research and education focuses on the development of artificial intelligence and interactive technologies, their influence on communication, culture and society, and moral and existential challenges that arise. The School of Humanities and Digital Sciences consists of six Departments: Communication and Cognition, Computational Cognitive Science, Intelligent Systems, Culture Studies, Philosophy, and the Tilburg Center of the Learning Sciences. Collaboration across disciplines is encouraged among both researchers and students. With this approach, we nurture a way of thinking that takes into account different perspectives and the diverse, sometimes conflicting needs and interests of people and society. At TSHD, we foster a culture of integrity, trust, diversity and inclusion, and constructive and critical dialogue. All members of our community are recognized and valued for their unique contributions.

University College Tilburg, with its interdisciplinary Liberal Articles and Sciences program, holds a unique position within the School. This collaboration with other Schools also includes the disciplines of economics, law, and the social sciences. Read more about the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD).

Recruitment code

Tilburg University applies the recruitmentcode of the Dutch Association for Personnel Management & Organization Development (NVP).

Disclaimer

The text of this vacancy advertisement is copyright-protected property of Tilburg University. Use, distribution and further disclosure of the advertisement without express permission from Tilburg University is not allowed, and this applies explicitly to use by recruitment and selection agencies which do not act directly on the instructions of Tilburg University. Responses resulting from recruitment by non-contractors of Tilburg Universities will not be handled.