Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d)

Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie (ZPID); Trier; Hybrid; EUR 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

Partial remote work

Annual special payment (TV-L)

Supplementary pension (VBL)

Company health management

Access to Trier University facilities

Job summary

The Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID) in Trier, Germany, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) to work on fine-tuning and evaluating open-source LLMs using high-quality psychological data. You will curate datasets, document results, publish in journals, and supervise research assistants, contributing to open science and advancing cognitive AI.

The position is full-time for 24 months, TV-L E13, with flexible hours and partial remote work; starting date as

Qualifications

• PhD in (computational) psychology, computer science, or a related field.
• Experience with fine-tuning and evaluating Large Language Models.
• Interest in data science and cognitive AI.
• Strong English language skills; German is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Fine-tuning and evaluation of Large Language Models using high-quality psychological data and materials.
• Retrieving, pre-processing, and curating psychological survey, experimental, and (neuro)physiological datasets.
• Documenting results and writing empirical articles.
• Supervising research assistants.

Skills

LLM fine-tuning

Data processing

English proficiency

Education

PhD in computational psychology or related field

Job description

The Leibniz Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID) in Trier (Germany) is an internationally recognized research-based psychology service center located in Trier (Germany) and belongs to the Leibniz Association. ZPID puts a strong emphasis on open science and is currently establishing research groups in science reception, psychological meta-science, and big data in psychology.

Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d)
(salary group TV-L E13, full-time, 24 months)

Preferred starting date: as soon as possible after January 1, 2027.

As part of the project funded by the High-Tech-Agenda Rheinland-Pfalz, we want to harness our archived, high-quality psychological research data for modeling human behavior and cognition using Large Language Models (LLMs). By harnessing and transforming ZPID’s large-scale archival research datasets and materials, the successful candidate will fine-tune and evaluate open-source LLMs for predicting human behavior and cognition, curate psychological benchmark databases for training and testing LLMs as well as document and publish the results in academic journals and proceedings.

Tasks:

• Fine-tuning and evaluation of Large Language Models using high-quality psychological research data and materials
• Retrieving, pre-processing, and curating psychological survey, experimental, and (neuro)physiological datasets
• Documenting results and writing empirical articles
• Supervising research assistants

Your profile:

• PhD in (computational) psychology, computer science (or a related field)
• Experienced in employing, fine-tuning, and evaluating Large Language Models
• Interest in data science and cognitive AI
• Profound English language skills (spoken and written), knowledge of German is an advantage

We offer:

• An exciting scientific environment with a cutting-edge computational infrastructure
• The opportunity to realize your own research ideas
• Excellent teamwork in a friendly and collegial atmosphere
• Family-friendly working conditions (certified by Audit berufundfamilie)
• Flexible hours and partial remote work
• Salary according to TV-L pay group E 13, including an annual special payment
• Supplementary pension scheme (VBL)
• Company health management
• Access to the facilities of Trier University

Please get in touch with Prof. Dr. Frederic Hopp ([e-mail]) for further information on this position.

ZPID is highly committed to the employment of people with disabilities. Severely disabled applicants are given preferential consideration provided they are qualified for the position. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion or belief, age, or sexual orientation and identity.

We observe guidelines regarding laws and regulations governing part-time employment. When applying for a position at ZPID, you will submit personal data. Please refer to our data protection statement in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the collection and processing of personal data as part of your online application at our website. With submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have reviewed ZPID's data protection statement.