This PhD position offers a unique opportunity at the intersection of software engineering, machine learning, and educational technology. You will contribute to innovative technologies with direct societal impact while addressing fundamental research challenges.

PhD Position: Software Engineering and Machine Learning for Sustainable AI-Supported Reading Technologies 100 %

School:

School of Engineering

Starting date:

Start date: immediately or by arrangement. PhD contract: 12 months with possible extensions up to a maximum of 36 months.

Your role

The PhD Position is fully funded by the LitAI project and the ZHAW School of Engineering. The PhD will be carried out over a period of 36 months under the advisory of Dr. Michael Wahler (ZHAW) and Prof. Dr. Jan Dirk Wegner (UZH). We look forward to welcoming a team player and enthusiastic PhD candidate to join our LitAI research team working on a hybrid teaching and learning environment for deep reading of informational and literary texts in German and English at secondary school level.

Adolescents are reading less and less, with far-reaching consequences. For years, studies have pointed to declining reading literacy, exacerbated by digital distractions and the increasing consumption of short screen-based texts. LitAI develops and evaluates a hybrid teaching and learning environment for deep reading of informational and literary texts in German and English at secondary school level. It combines digital reading support with in-class consolidation and critical reflection.

The successful candidate will work on the frontiers of software engineering and machine learning by researching, designing and implementing a novel system that analyzes gaze data from an eye-tracking device, identifies reading challenges, and offers customized support to the reader.

The successful PhD candidate will work together with an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, linguists, and usability experts to investigate the problem, design a solution, and perform experimental validations. The PhD student should satisfy the criteria to be accepted at the University of Zurich. Results of the research should satisfy the University of Zurich standards for a successful PhD thesis.

Your profile

• Team player and socially competent to join an interdisciplinary team of computer scientists, linguists, and usability experts.
• Good communication skills and willingness to work in collaborative projects with multiple partners and present results at journals, conferences, university events, project meetings and partners.
• Excellent master's degree in computer science, data science, or a related discipline from a university or university of applied sciences.
• Very good English language skills. German is not required but is beneficial.
• Sense of responsibility and self-motivation to achieve the PhD goals independently as well as contribute effectively to the LitAI team.
• Motivation and basic knowledge in machine learning, computer vision, eye tracking, and user experience are nice to have.
• Enthusiasm, empathy and commitment to work in the domain of linguistics and technology to conduct experiments in controlled environments at public schools.
• Your application to this LitAI PhD position should include a motivation letter, curriculum vitae (including publications, awards, if available), recommendation letters, a research statement indicating the skills you have and you want to learn during your PhD in the LitAI project, and master diploma.

This is what we stand for

Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW is one of Switzerland's largest multidisciplinary universities of applied sciences, with over 14'000 students and 3'400 faculty and staff.

As one of Switzerland's leading educational and research institutions, the School of Engineering (SoE) focuses on topics relevant to the future. Fourteen institutes and centers guarantee high-quality education, research, and development with a focus on energy, mobility, information, and health.

The Institute of Informatics (InIT) focuses on distributed systems, human-centered computing, information security, intelligent information systems, and software engineering. We research and develop innovative information technologies, software systems, and services in collaboration with partners from industry and academia.

The Software Engineering Research Group focuses on current topics in the development of automated methods and tools to support software engineering and application generation, such as no-code/low-code software engineering, sustainable digitalization, and software quality. In addition, we are experts in empirical software engineering to ensure the successful development and transfer of our research products into practice.

ZHAW is committed to gender-mixed and diverse teams in order to promote equality, diversity and innovation.

What you can expect

We offer working conditions and terms of employment commensurate with higher education institutions and actively promote personal development for staff in leadership and non-leadership positions. A detailed description of advantages and benefits can be found at Working at the ZHAW. The main points are listed below:

Contact

Dr. Michael Wahler
Senior Lecturer in the Research Group Software Engineering

Jocelyn Schaad
Recruiting Manager