Postdoctoral Researcher in AI-EMOTION

The Faculty of Educational Sciences invites applications for the position of

Postdoctoral Researcher

for a fixed-term appointment for 3 years, starting in September 2026 or as agreed.

The position is embedded in the AI-EMOTION project (Academic emotions in the AI learning era). AI-EMOTION is a European Research Council (ERC) funded project at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Elina Ketonen. We investigate what happens emotionally when students use AI tools in learning: how affect influences engagement, motivation and interaction in AI-mediated learning situations. The project brings together expertise from learning sciences, computer science and psychophysiology. Our aim is to advance theory on affective processes in human-computer interaction and to develop novel multimodal methods to measure and model emotions in real-world learning environments.

Job description

The successful candidate will investigate academic emotions and emotional well-being in technology-mediated learning, with a focus on psychophysiological indicators of emotions in ecologically valid learning settings. The position contributes to the AI-EMOTION project by combining wearable sensor data (e.g., cardiac and electrodermal signals) with event-based self-reports (experience sampling). A central task is to drive methodological development by advancing and validating sensor data processing and feature extraction workflows, and by developing approaches to integrate these outputs with self-reports to model students' emotions beyond laboratory settings. The work duties of the selected candidate include: Planning and implementing data collection in real-world learning contexts (including wearable-sensor measurements and experience sampling via smartphones)

Processing and analyzing wearable-sensor data (e.g., preprocessing, artefact handling, feature extraction, synchronization/alignment with experience-sampling prompts)

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