Phd Position | Developmental Psychology / Education

(part-time 65 %, E 13 TV-L)

Reference Number 2023/013. Opportunity to conduct a PhD, starting preference is spring 2023. The position is initially limited to three years.

The University of Konstanz is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. Since 2007 it has been successful in the German Excellence Initiative and its follow-up programme, the Excellence Strategy.

The working group of Prof. Grütter (Social Development and Social Change Lab) investigates how schools can promote social and moral skills and help to promote social inclusion and belongingness among children and adolescents. We study the development of group dynamics with a focus on stereotypes, prejudices and their relation to social and moral development from early childhood to young adulthood. In addition, our research group focuses on the development of interventions to improve inclusive peer attitudes in schools.

To investigate these questions, we integrate frameworks and evidence from developmental psychology, educational psychology, and empirical educational research. We gain and compare evidence from different cultural contexts and combine different methodological approaches and theories from developmental psychology, social psychology, neuropsychology, economics, evolutionary biology, engineering, computational science, and educational science. We develop practical applications and educational programs in close collaboration with schools. We are looking for a new team member to investigate the effectives of VR-based educational programs to promote social and moral skills, such as empathy or perspective taking.

For more information, you can visit the following websites:
Your Responsibilities

• Support the research team in the various projects related to child and adolescent development and educational interventions in schools (for more information, see our website)
• Develop lab-based experiments and field research with children and adolescents (creativity is a big plus)
• Support the team in the development of practical interventions for schools
• Support the team in designing VR-based scenarios for educational interventions
• Data management and analyses of quantitative, qualitative, observational, and (if interested) physiological data
• Publication of the results in international, peer-reviewed, high-impact journals
• Contribution to supervision of master and bachelor students as part of the research project
• 2 SWS teaching in Bachelor’s and Master’s courses in empirical educational research (prospective teachers)
• Organizational tasks for the lab, mostly with regards to coordinating data collection, management and analysis

Your Competencies

• Master’s degree in psychology, educational science or related fields
• Curious and highly motivated to work on the research topics of our lab, in particular to working with children and adolescents
• Strong methodological, statistical, and data analysis skills (knowledge of R, MPLUS or Python are a plus, but can be learned)
• Interest in learning and applying different methodological approaches (e.g., VR, observational or physiological methods)
• Experience in working with children, adolescents or schools is desired
• Interest in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural work
• Highly dedicated to research, strong organizational and communicational skills
• Strong written and oral communications skills in English

We Offer

• An enthusiastic, collaborative, international and interdisciplinary research group
• Support to develop your own academic identity and mentorship for your PhD in psychology or educational science
• Top-level, innovative research on new research fields
• Possibility for international short visits and involvement in cross-cultural work
• Access to state-of-the-art methods and professional research infrastructure
• Open and transparent science
• Working and living in a fabulous and diverse environment
• Remuneration according to the pay group E 13 TV-L

For more information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jeanine Grütter: .

We look forward to receiving your application (a motivation letter, a brief research statement relating your interests to the research program of our group, CV, publication list, copies of degrees and certificates, names and e-mail addresses of two or more academic referees) preferably by February 15th 2023 via our Online Application Portal.

The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity as well as a good balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women working in the field advertised (). Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (, +49 7531 88-4016).