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Project staff (Phd candidate) 

47 Faculty of Psychology  

Job vacancy starting: 06/01/2025 (MM-DD-YYYY) | Working hours:  30,00  | Classification CBA: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) 

Limited contract until: 05/31/2028

Job ID: 3881

We are looking for a project staff (PhD candidate) to join the Social and Economic Psychology group (https://social-econ-psych.univie.ac.at/) led by Prof. Dr. Robert Böhm (https://robertboehm.info/) at the Department of Occupational, Economic, and Social Psychology. 

This position is part of the interuniversity cluster project, “Synthetic vaccine hesitancy to revolutionize intervention testing and education in vaccination communication,” conducted in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt (Medical University of Vienna). The project aims to create a synthetic population patients using Large Language Models (LLMs). These AI-generated patient profiles will be employed to develop and test interventions designed to increase vaccine acceptance. Moreover, the synthetic population will be integrated into a training tool for healthcare professionals, helping them improve their communication skills when dealing with concerned patients. This work will involve conducting randomized controlled evaluation studies

Your personal sphere of influence:

The successful candidate will collaborate closely with the project partners at the Medical University of Vienna and will also have the opportunity for academic exchange and cooperation with the other members of the Social and Economic Psychology group. Our group uses a wide range of social and behavioral science methods to study human judgment and decision-making in response to social challenges - such as infectious diseases, climate change, intergroup conflict, and technological transformations. We place particular value on diversity (personal, thematic, and methodological), mutual respect, and support. More information about our Team Values can be found here: https://social-econ-psych.univie.ac.at/team/team-values/ 

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. The contract is starting on June 1, 2025, and the position provides the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree. Doctoral candidates will be integrated into the structured PhD program of the “Vienna Doctoral School in Cognition, Behavior and Neuroscience from Biology to Psychology and the Humanities” (VDS CoBeNe; https://vds-cobene.univie.ac.at/). VDS CoBeNe aims to create a supportive environment for interdisciplinary research endeavors and doctoral training.

Your future tasks:

You will contribute to research and administration. This means:

• You will contribute to research projects and scientific studies of the research group. 
• You will fine-tune LLMs to create a synthetic population of patients that represents the diverse concerns of real patients.
• You will examine the possibilities and limitations of LLMs for developing interventions to increase vaccine uptake, which will be evaluated in randomized controlled trials.
• You will contribute to academic presentations and publications with the aim of completing an independent dissertation.
• You will undertake administrative tasks, particularly in academic self-administration.

What we expect:

• You have a very good MSc degree (or equivalent) in a social and behavioral science discipline (e.g., Psychology, Cognitive Sciences, Decision Sciences) or a computer science discipline (e.g., Computational Social Science, Data Science, Computer Science).
• You have a high intrinsic motivation to contribute with your research to solving societal challenges.
• You have very good statistical knowledge and basic programming skills in R and/or Python. You are also eager to learn new research methods.
• You have initial experience working with and fine-tuning LLMs and wish to further develop these competencies.
• You have first-hand experience in planning and conducting experimental studies.
• You are cooperative and team-oriented.
• You have excellent oral and written communication skills in German and English

What we offer:

Work-life balance: You have flexible working hours and can also work remotely from time to time. 

Inspiring working environment: You will be part of a motivated and cooperative working group with an international team of postdocs, PhD candidates, student assistants, and administrative staff.

Continuing education: You will have the opportunity to continuously improve and expand your skills in research and teaching.

Research infrastructure and support: We provide a comprehensive research infrastructure with several laboratory facilities as well as the necessary financial resources to conduct research projects and attend scientific conferences.

Fair salary: You will receive a starting salary of about EUR 2,600 gross per month (75% employment; 14 monthly salaries).

How to apply:

• Motivation letter (max. 2 pages), describing your qualifications and experience in relation to the advertised position
• Curriculum vitae
• Confirmation of your completed MSc studies (or indication of when it is expected at the latest)
• Transcript of records of your MSc studies
• An example of an independent scientific work (e.g., MSc thesis)
• Contact details of at least one person who would provide a reference if needed (e.g., MSc thesis supervisor)
• Via our  job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Robert Böhm  

robert.boehm@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 lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

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​Application deadline: 04/30/2025 (MM-DD-YYYY)