Doctoral researcher (PhD student) in Computer Science

The University of Luxembourg aspires to be one of Europe’s most highly regarded universities with a distinctly international and interdisciplinary character. It fosters the cross-fertilisation of research and teaching, is relevant to its country, is known worldwide for its research and teaching in targeted areas, and is establishing itself as an innovative model for contemporary European Higher Education.

The Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) contributes multidisciplinary expertise in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Life Sciences and Medicine. Through its dual mission of teaching and research, the FSTM seeks to generate and disseminate knowledge and train new generations of responsible citizens, in order to better understand, explain and advance society and environment we live in.

The University of Luxembourg invites applications to the following vacancy in the Department of Computer Science (https://dcs.uni.lu ) within its Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine.

Your Role...

The successful candidate will be part of the Collaborative and Socio-Technical Systems group (COaST), which operates the VR/AR Lab (https://vrarlab.uni.lu ) with cutting-edge technology for immersive experiences. Working under Dr. Jean Botev's supervision, the candidate will engage in research within the context of the multi-disciplinary European project ChronoPilot. The H2020-funded project involves a consortium of five partner universities and focuses on controlling human time perception through stimuli delivered via mediated-reality technologies.

Although time can be measured objectively, human time perception is remarkably subjective and influenced by individual motivations, cognitive states, and social factors. In stressful conditions, we often experience a lack of time. In contrast, in more relaxing circumstances, we might lose track of time. Based on fundamental knowledge from psychology and cognitive science, ChronoPilot aims at developing a prototype technology to extend or compress human subjective time adaptively and whenever required. Mediated-reality approaches such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) have enormous potential for presenting the users with visual, auditory, and haptic stimulation patterns that directly or indirectly influence their subjective time. Going beyond individual settings, ChronoPilot will also investigate how to coordinate time plasticity in collaborative environments where one group member's actions affect the other members' perception. Different scenarios, where humans alone or humans and robots have to collaborate in realistic and virtual environments, will validate the research.

The improved understanding of the psychology of time perception and the complementing technological means to modulate time can have a profound impact on both technology and society. Time will no longer constitute a passive, constant and immutable factor; instead, it will be a novel focal point around which future socio-technical approaches related to human-human and human-machine interaction revolve.

The candidate’s tasks include:

• Mediated-reality development for prototyping and simulation of dedicated, interactive scenarios ranging from fully controlled/artificial (VR) to increasingly realistic (AR) environments
• Research on and validation of different strategies for unisensory stimuli generation and methods for balancing multisensory input
• Exploration of the modulation of subjective time perception related to visual cues and information
• Meeting regularly (physically or virtually) with other researchers in Europe
• Disseminating results through scientific publications
• Contributing to teaching and co-supervising students

What we expect from you…

• A Master’s degree in Computer Science or a closely related discipline
• Strong programming skills; ideally previous experience in VR/AR and UX development
• A proven interest in interdisciplinary research and record of initiative
• English language proficiency, written and spoken
• The candidate should be a self-motivated, critically-reflecting team worker

In Short...

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract 36 Month - extendable up to 48 months if required
Work Hours: Full Time 40.0 Hours per Week
Location: Belval
Employee and student status
Job Reference: UOL03980

How to apply...

Applications written in English should be submitted online and include:

• Detailed curriculum vitae, including your contact address, work experience, and publications
• Letter of motivation
• Degree certificates and transcript of all grades from university-level courses taken
• Contact information for 2-3 referees

Early application is highly encouraged, as the applications will be processed upon reception. Please apply ONLINE formally through the HR system. Applications by email will not be considered.

The University of Luxembourg embraces inclusion and diversity as key values. We are fully committed to removing any discriminatory barrier related to gender, and not only, in recruitment and career progression of our staff.