University assistant predoctoral Universität Wien

Job description:

At the University of Vienna almost 11,000 personalities work together towards answering the big questions of the future. Around 7,700  of them do research and teaching, around 3,000 work in administration and organisation. We are looking for a/an

University assistant predoctoral

Among the many good reasons to want to research and teach at the University of Vienna, there is one in particular, which has convinced around 7,500 academic staff members so far. They see themselves as personalities who need space for their continuous striving and curiosity in order to be able to be scientifically successful. Does that sound like something for you? Welcome to our team! 
The Faculty of Psychology consists of the Dean's office and the studies service center, as well as the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, the Department of Occupational, Economic and Social Psychology, the Department of Applied Psychology: Work, Education and Economy, the Department of Development and Educational Psychology, the Outpatient Unit for Research, Teaching and Practice. Currently, nearly 3500 students of Psychology are enrolled in Bachelor's, Master's and PhD programs, attending nearly 200 courses per semester, which are taught and supervised by 220 teachers.

Your personal sphere of influence:

As a university assistant prae doc, you will join the Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology. The Department consists of approximately 100 staff members organized in eight research units with fMRI, EEG, fNIRS, VR, eye-tracking, physiology, and brain stimulation facilities. The interdisciplinary Methods of Psychology team currently consists of several post-doctoral and PhD students with backgrounds in psychology, life science, neuroscience, computer science, engineering, and physics. The focus of our research is to develop new neurotechnologies and AI tools to better understand psychological phenomena and to advance experimental therapies for debilitating psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Your future tasks:

As a new member of our team, you will actively contribute to research, teaching, and administrative activities. This includes:

• Participation in research projects and scientific studies focused on applying computational methods to psychological and clinical domains, especially large language models, natural language processing, machine learning, and statistical modeling for the analysis of psychological data.
• Finalizing your dissertation agreement within 12–18 months.
• Working on and completing your doctoral dissertation.
• Attending the Vienna Doctoral School in Cognition, Behaviour and Neuroscience (VDS CoBeNe).
• Independently teaching courses in accordance with the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
• Contributing to administrative tasks related to research, teaching, and departmental activities.

This is part of your personality:

Strong computational skills are required, particularly in Python. Ideally, the candidate should have knowledge of natural language processing (including large language models), machine learning, computational linguistics, and statistical analysis. Fluency in English is required; German language skills or a willingness to improve them are desirable.
For this position, we are seeking applicants with a strong interest in applying computational methods such as large language models, natural language processing, machine learning, and statistical modeling to research on mental health.
The ideal candidate will have some prior research experience, particularly in conducting empirical studies and performing advanced statistical analyses.

• Completed Master's degree in psychology, computer science, data science, cognitive science, or a related discipline
• Experience in academic writing and with research methods
• Very strong data analysis skills
• Excellent communication skills

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible, family-friendly working hours, remote/hybrid and/or part-time work (upon agreement).

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace in the center of beautiful Vienna is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3.776,10 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Model 1: The employment duration is 3 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 3 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration. With appropriate work progress, an extension to a total maximum of 4 years is possible.

Equal opportunities for all: We look forward to diverse personalities in the team! 

It is that easy to apply:

• With your scientific CV
• A brief statement of your research interests
• With the names and contact details of 2 referees
• Via our  job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any content questions, please contact:

Frank Scharnowski

frank.scharnowski@univie.ac.at

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We place particular emphasis on enhancing women’s representation among the academic and general university staff, particularly in leadership roles, and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

University of Vienna. Space for personalities. Since 1365.

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Application deadline: 09/14/2026 

Apply now