PhD Position: AI for Education at the Donders Centre for Cognition

As part of the ongoing NOLAI initiative, we are looking for a motivated PhD candidate to work on content-generating algorithms for AI in education. Nearly all so-called ’generative’ AI is not suitable for this task. There are many reasons for this, including pedagogical and didactical ones. At the same time, there is a clear need in education for some kinds of content to be generated. This is where you come in.

NOLAI funds co-creation projects that are driven bottom up, starting with the actual needs of stakeholders in Dutch primary and secondary education. In this context, typical ’generative’ AI is viewed critically. When used by pupils to complete tasks, it interferes with the learning objectives of the processes involved. Whereas when used to give feedback, the unavoidable inaccuracies interfere with the quality of the feedback. At the same time, the notion of being able to generate content is attractive in education – this could be, for example, novel materials that teachers could use in class or novel ways of supporting learning. NOLAI co-creation projects identify such needs. However, there are not always existing methods to fulfil them. At the same time it also remains unclear what kind of methods would be acceptable in education and what kind would not.

You will therefore carry out research on the responsible use of content-generating algorithms in education. You will need to interact with existing and upcoming co-creation projects as well as teachers at various schools in the Netherlands to develop a good understanding and taxonomy of the actual need for such technology. You will also develop novel algorithms, in particular for content generation, based on these needs. Finally, you will not only critically assess the opportunities such technologies offer but also their fundamental limitations; for example, you will investigate how to ensure that the quality of education is not compromised and pedagogical and didactical goals continue to be met.

Overall, this project will therefore develop a framework to guide deployment of content-generating algorithms in education as well as algorithms and applications that adhere to this framework and can be deployed in NOLAI co-creation projects. You will create algorithms whose generated content addresses the specific real-world needs of stakeholders in education.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate.

Requirements:

• You have strong coding and machine learning skills.
• You are interested in societal applications of AI, especially in education.
• You have a good understanding of the ethical, moral and societal challenges of generative AI and its use.
• You have strong teamwork and proactive research skills.
• You have an excellent command of spoken and written English.

Salary Benefits:

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,901 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,707 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

38 hours per week

Houtlaan 4