Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Behavioral Science (m/f/d)

Universität St.Gallen; Sankt Gallen; Hybrid; CHF 90.000 - 115.000; Vollzeit

Benefits dieser Stelle

Competitive salary

Access to unique datasets

Conference and research funding

International collaborations

Supportive research environment

Mentoring for fellowships (SNSF, MSCA)

Relocation support with hybrid work

Zusammenfassung

The University of St.Gallen invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher for the ACTWELL project. You will coordinate research activities with Prof.

Stachl, lead one or more work packages, and process high‑dimensional smartphone log data to study how activities and contexts relate to well‑being over time. The role offers access to unique datasets, international collaborations, conference/funding support, mentoring for prestigious fellowships, relocation assistance and hybrid work, with a

Qualifikationen

• PhD or defence scheduled within this year in a related field.
• Strong applied machine learning skills.
• Fluency in R and/or Python.
• Experience with intensive longitudinal or high-frequency behavioral data.
• Publication record appropriate to career stage.
• Commitment to open, reproducible research.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Aufgaben

• Coordinate research activities in the ACTWELL project together with Prof. Stachl.
• Lead one or more ACTWELL work packages, especially sequence and dynamics analyses.
• Process and model high-dimensional smartphone log data.
• Develop and validate interpretable ML models linking behavior and context to well-being outcomes.
• Publish as lead and co-author in psychology and related outlets; present at international conferences.

Kenntnisse

Machine learning

R

Python

Data analysis

Longitudinal data

Open science

Communication

Ausbildung

PhD in psychology / computational social science / data science

Jobbeschreibung

Postdoctoral Researcher – ACTWELL (SNSF Grant No. 215303)

The Computational Behavioral Science Lab at the University of St.Gallen, led by Prof. Dr. Clemens Stachl, is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher for the ACTWELL project.

ACTWELL investigates how subjective well-being is expressed in and shaped by everyday behavior. The project combines large smartphone sensing datasets from Europe and the United States with behavioral logs, contextual data (e.g. mobility, outdoor time), and self-reports. Using interpretable machine learning, we study how activities, contexts, and personal characteristics relate to life satisfaction and momentary well‑being over time.

We offer

• Competitive salary (F8)
• access to unique existing datasets
• generous conference and research funding
• international collaborations (Stanford, LMU, SODAS)
• a supportive research environment
• mentoring for competitive postdoctoral fellowships (SNSF, MSCA, Ambizione)
• relocation support with hybrid work options

Your tasks

• Coordinate research activites in the ACTWELL project together with Prof. Stachl
• Lead one or more ACTWELL work packages, in particular the sequence and dynamics analyses
• Process and model high-dimensional, intensive longitudinal smartphone log data
• Develop and validate interpretable machine learning models linking behavior and context to well-being outcomes
• Publish as lead and co-author in psychology, computational social science, and interdisciplinary outlets; present at international conferences
• Maintain reproducible analysis pipelines and preregistrations, and prepare code and materials for open release in line with the project's SNSF Data Management Plan
• Contribute to privacy-preserving data handling and the lab's research ethics practice
• Co-supervise doctoral and master's students; contribute to lab meetings and methods workshops

Your profile

• PhD in psychology, computational social science, data science, cognitive science, statistics, computer science, or a related field, completed by the start date or with the defence scheduled this year.
• Strong applied machine learning skills and fluency in R and/or Python
• Experience with intensive longitudinal, sensing, or other high-frequency behavioral data, and with the measurement problems these data raise
• Publication record appropriate to career stage, including at least one first-authored empirical paper
• Commitment to open, reproducible research
• Excellent written and spoken English

"A place where knowledge is created" - As one of Europe's leading universities of economics and business administration, the University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, is committed to the education of over 10'000 students. The HSG is one of the largest employers in the region and provides an attractive and innovative environment for more than 3'800 researchers, educators and professional staff.