Research Software Engineer

This is a new and structural position offered within the Department of Communication and Cognition at Tilburg University. It is funded by the Sectorplan Social Sciences and Humanities and partly by a recent NWO-KIC grant. The successful candidate will divide their time primarily between these two domains.

In the Department of Communication and Cognition, we increasingly rely on computational methods, for example, to collect and analyse data, but also to develop new digital applications which can be used for research purposes.  The research software engineer will offer support to researchers, PhD candidates and (research master) students by developing, maintaining, and/or customising new and existing tools for research purposes. Since this is a new function, we anticipate that the successful candidate will help set up a digital support structure for the department, maintaining an overview of available tools, and offering small-scale programming support for individual researchers. 

In the NWO-KIC project, we will develop a digital self-management platform that aims to help people with, for example, a history of depression to better monitor their own well-being, to prevent relapse. The platform to be developed will rest upon an existing experience sampling method (an app which asks participants repeatedly to briefly report on, for example, their thoughts, activities, and emotions on various moments during the day) and we will explore to what extent other sources of information can be integrated in this platform as well. The research software engineer will spend part  of their time supporting the development and implementation of this platform.

In short, the main tasks of the successful candidate will be offering computational support to researchers with their research, helping to manage the computational research infrastructure of the department, offering support in the education of technical skills, such as programming or (automated) data collection and annotation, and collaborating with researchers within the NWO-KIC project for the technical development of a self-management platform for people with severe mental illness . Additionally, occasionally the candidate will help with the day-to-day management of the lab infrastructure of the lab.

Desired qualifications for this position include:

• Either a master’s degree in a relevant technical discipline (for example, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics) or a master in Communication and Information Science, Cognitive Science (or comparable), combined with ample programming experience.
• An interest in (computational) research in communication and cognition (for example in generative AI tools, chatbots, social robots, virtual reality, game or app design).
• Good programming skills in a variety of tools and languages (including Python, R, JavaScript) and the ability to quickly and independently learn the basics of new libraries and languages.
• Experience with version control systems and collaborative coding tools.
• An awareness of applicable regulations (e.g., data protection laws) relevant for the tasks described above.
• Good communicative and collaborative skills in English and (ideally) in Dutch.

We realize this is a lot to ask. Hence also people who are enthusiastic about the position, and are willing to acquire certain missing skills along the way, are invited to apply.

Tilburg University offers excellent benefits in a pleasant working environment: 

• A position based on 0.8 – 1,0 fte (32 - 40 hours per week).
• A salary of minimum €3.378 and maximum €5.331 gross per month for full-time employment, based on salary scale 10. Tilburg University uses a neutral remuneration system based on relevant work experience.
• This is a vacancy for a position in accordance with Article 2.3 paragraph 1 CLA DU. You will be given a temporary contract for the duration of 12 months.
• Vacation pay of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• Over 8 weeks of vacation leave.
• The opportunity to work partly on campus and partly from home with a home office allowance of €2 per day.
• Reimbursement for sustainable commuting: walking, cycling, and public transport.
• A monthly internet allowance of €25.
• An options model in which you exchange benefits for things such as additional leave, more pension, a bicycle or personal training at our Sports Center.
• A moving allowance (subject to conditions).
• Employees from abroad may be eligible for a tax-free allowance for extraterritorial expenses equal to 30% of taxable salary.
• A pension with ABP; the largest Dutch pension fund.
• Training in personal development, career development, leadership, education, and research. Or a language course at our Language Center.
• A work culture in which we embrace differences, everyone is welcome and given equal opportunities.
• A vibrant campus in green surroundings that is easily accessible by public transport. 

For more information, see our website and the CLA Dutch Universities. 

Tilburg University is an academic, inclusive, and engaged community. Together with nearly 3,000 employees, we are committed to broad prosperity, sustainably, and inclusion. For current and future generations. We develop and share knowledge for the requirements of people and our society. This is how we contribute to solving complex social issues and help society move forward.

We educate our 19,500 students of 110 nationalities to become responsible leaders with knowledge, skills, and character. With our education and research for broad prosperity, we exceedingly focus on themes such as mental and preventive care, an inclusive labor market, the energy transition, and digitalization.

About Department of Communication and Cognition 
The successful candidate will be part of the Department of Communication and Cognition (DCC), within the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD). 

DCC researchers explore cognitive and social aspects of human communication through a multi-method approach, combining carefully designed experiments with survey methods, corpus analyses, computational modelling, digital ethnography and design research. It is a highly interdisciplinary program, including communication and cognitive science with AI and (computational) linguistics, human-computer interaction, psychology and sociology. Core research topics are communication & technology, verbal and non-verbal communication, health communication, climate communication, information visualisation, language comprehension and production, evaluation of large language models (LLMs), and human-computer interaction. The program includes both fundamental and applied research, the latter often in externally funded research projects, in close collaboration with societal partners. 

DCC staff is also responsible for a successful teaching program in Communication and Information Sciences (CIS), in which students can follow three tracks: Business Communication and Digital Media (BDM), Communication and Cognition (CC) and New Media Design (NMD). 

The department consists of about 85 researchers covering a broad range of topics relevant for cognition and communication, and includes approximately 30 PhD students and post-docs. 

The NWO-KIC project “Technology-assisted Self-Management: Preventing Relapse and Crisis by the Severe Mentally Ill Themselves” is a six-year program that started September 2023, and is conducted under the umbrella of the university-wide Academic Collaborative Center on Digital health and Mental Wellbeing. The project is conducted by a team of researchers which also includes people from The Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (TSB), the universities of Delft, Maastricht and Leuven (B) as well as the societal partners GGzE, GGz Breburg and the Tilburg Municipality. 

Would you like to know more before applying? Feel free to contact Martijn Goudbeek at M.B.Goudbeek@tilburguniversity.edu. 

We kindly invite you to apply before August 15th 2025; this can only be done online. Address your cover letter to Martijn Goudbeek and attach your resume.