27.11.2025

Research Assistant (m/f/d, E13 TV-L, 75%)

Tübingen Center for Digital Education (TüCeDE), Innovative Education Technologies research area

Application deadline: 22.12.2025

The Innovative Education Technologies research area at the Tübingen Center for Digital Education (TüCeDE) is seeking to fill the following position as soon as possible

Research Assistant with a focus on Instructional Design and Evaluation 
(m/f/d, E13 TV-L, 75%)

is available as soon as possible. The position is limited until 30 June 2028 with the option of extension.

The position is part of the project VOILA – Voice Operated Intelligent Learning Assistant for Gifted Children, funded by the Hector AI + Education Future Fund. The project aims to develop an evidence-based, voice-controlled, open-source AI tutor for gifted primary school students. Its goal is to enable early and continuous individualized learning support, fostering curiosity, problem-solving skills, and long-term competence development. The project bridges educational research and modern AI technologies, initially focusing on Hector core courses in mathematics (proofs, number theory) and biology (evolution).

The core responsibility of the position is the research-based design, development, and empirical evaluation of the AI tutor. This includes modeling learning-supportive interactions and iteratively testing their effectiveness. Embedded in an interdisciplinary team (education, computer science, subject-matter education), the role serves as a key link between educational-psychological research and AI development.

Your Responsibilities:

• Research-based design of dialog-based AI tutor interactions (linguistic and instructional).
• Instructional modeling of learning paths, questioning techniques, and scaffolding strategies for gifted learners.
• Development of motivational interaction patterns (e.g., feedback, encouragement, metacognitive prompts).
• Close collaboration within an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional team to translate interaction concepts into AI models and prompt designs.
• Continuous evaluation of interaction effectiveness using qualitative and quantitative methods.

Your Profile:

• Excellent master’s degree or PhD in a relevant discipline (Education, Educational Science, Psychology, Instructional Design, STEM-focused subject-matter education, or comparable field).
• Strong knowledge in one or more of the following: gifted education, learning psychology, primary education, subject-matter pedagogy.
• Experience designing learning materials, dialog-based learning formats, or tutoring systems.
• Confident handling of instructional models (scaffolding, inquiry-based learning, feed-back models, metacognitive strategies).
• Creativity and sensitivity in linguistic interaction, conversation design, and motivational feedback.
• Experience in human-AI interaction, conversational design, or prompt engineering (advantageous).
• Enjoyment of transdisciplinary collaboration between educational research, software development, and educational practice.
• Advanced written and spoken English skills.

We Offer:

• A stimulating and dynamic work environment in an inspiring interdisciplinary setting. The project is a collaboration between European Laboratory for Learning and In-telligent Systems (ELLIS), the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology (HIB), and TüCeDE.
• Opportunity to contribute to sustainable AI solutions in education.
• Possibility to pursue further academic qualification including PhD in a strong research environment.
• Opportunity for inclusion in the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network.
• Attractive occupational health programs and extensive training opportunities.
• Occupational pension and annual special payments.
• Subsidies for the state-wide JobTicket and JobBike Baden-Württemberg.

Application Information:
The University of Tübingen is committed to equal opportunities and diversity. Applicants with severe disabilities will be given preference if equally qualified. The position is generally divisible. The University aims to increase the proportion of women in research and therefore explicitly encourages qualified female researchers to apply.

Please send your electronic application with the usual documents (including cover letter and CV) in one PDF file under the keyword “Innovative Bildungstechnologien” by 22 December 2025 to the Tübingen Center for Digital Education: infospam prevention@tuecede.uni-tuebingen.de

If you have questions regarding the requirements or research tasks, please contact: Dr. Pauline Frick – pauline.frickspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de 

The hiring is carried out by the Central Administration.