PhD Candidate in Human-Centered Generative AI for Software Engineering

Are you fascinated by the possibilities of Generative Artificial Intelligence in software development? Are you eager to ensure that Generative AI is actually used to boost developers’ productivity? Then we invite you to apply for this PhD position on Human-Centered Generative Artificial Intelligence in Software Engineering in the Software Science group at the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) powered by large language models (LLMs) plays an increasing role in software development, allowing for task automation and just-in-time developer feedback. However, without considering humans, it is easy for LLM-based tools to hinder rather than help software developers in their tasks or to introduce unexpected side effects. Human-centered GenAI for Software Engineering aims to put software developers at the forefront of the design of LLM-based tools to amplify and augment their capabilities.

In this multidisciplinary PhD project supervised by Dr Mairieli Wessel and Prof. Frits Vaandrager, you will combine insights from software engineering, human-computer interaction and machine learning by applying empirical research methods such as field studies, mining studies and interviews. Specifically, you will investigate ways of effectively augmenting software developers' abilities in achieving their specific goals. There are many directions in which your research can contribute to this and you will have the freedom to shape your own research direction within this broad field. You will be expected to conduct high-quality research, coming up with creative solutions, working diligently, interacting with peers worldwide, and interacting with practitioners from both the open source and industrial domains to evaluate your research. Your teaching load will be up to 10% of your working time.

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (0.8 FTE 5- year contract - 1.0 FTE 4- year contract) 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) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• 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.

As a PhD candidate, you will be affiliated with the Software Science group at the Institute for Computing and Information Sciences (iCIS) at Radboud University. The Software Science group employs approximately 60 members, comprising full, associate and assistant professors, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD candidates. The group’s major research themes are human aspects of software engineering and empirical research. Its researchers have developed techniques to make it easier for software developers to develop and evolve software systems. You will pursue your PhD in a vibrant international research environment. More information about the group can be found here.