PhD Candidate in the Project "Supporting Teachers’ Engagement with Scientific Evidence Through Artificial Intelligence – Assessing Its Added Value in Reading Instruction" (100%)

About the job

For the research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) "Supporting Teachers’ Engagement with Scientific Evidence Through Artificial Intelligence – Assessing Its Added Value in Reading Instruction (STAIR)" at the Institute of Educational Psychology (IPP-PHSG), we are seeking a PhD candidate from 1 January 2027 or by agreement for a duration of four years.

The project centres on the development and empirical investigation of the AI-supported application MyResearchMate. The application is intended to assist teachers in understanding educational scientific findings to promote adolescents’ reading motivation and to use these for evidence-informed design of reading instruction. The project comprises three successive research phases. The position is primarily focused on the area of promotion of reading motivation.

Workplace: Rorschach, Stella Maris university building

The following tasks await you:

• Collaboration in the conception, planning and implementation of empirical studies with teachers – from experimental studies to testing MyResearchMate in everyday school life
• Systematic processing and synthesis of scientific evidence on the promotion of reading motivation as content basis for MyResearchMate
• Development and testing of case vignettes and other research materials
• Analysis and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data
• Preparation and publication of research results in scientific journals as well as presentation at (inter)national conferences
• Preparation of an independent dissertation within the framework of the project with the opportunity to set your own scientific focus in the field

Our expectations of your profile:

• Excellent Master’s degree in a humanities or social science discipline (e.g. educational science, psychology, empirical educational research) or in teacher training
• Solid knowledge of quantitative research methods and/or willingness to deepen these
• Teaching diploma and teaching experience advantageous
• Very good German and English skills
• High commitment and initiative, ability to work in a team and cooperate
• Willingness to take responsibility and ability to work independently
• Strong interest in motivational psychology questions and lesson development in the context of reading. Prior knowledge and interest in artificial intelligence and its use in educational processes is expressly desired but not a mandatory requirement

These benefits we offer you:

We offer you a scientifically demanding and at the same time practice-oriented position at the University of Teacher Education St.Gallen (PHSG) at 100%. The four-year employment explicitly includes the working time intended for the preparation of the dissertation in addition to participation in the research project. This allows you to develop an independent dissertation within your 100% workload, set your own priorities and participate in empirical studies whose results you can present in publications and at (inter)national conferences. You will be closely supervised scientifically and work with the project partners at the University of Zurich and the Zurich University of Teacher Education.

Further information about the project can be found here:
www.phsg.ch/en/stair

For additional information please contact: