Master Psychologie
Parcours Psychologie de la Cognition

Dear colleagues,

We are seeking applicants for two Postdoc positions and one PhD position within the research group “Psychology of Collective Action and Sustainability” led by Prof. Ulf Hahnel<https://www.leuphana.de/en/institutes/isep/people/ulf-hahnel.html> at the Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany. The newly founded research group examines human judgment and decision-making in the context of global climate change and the energy transition. Our research is grounded in theory and experimental methodology from psychological science and behavioral economics and seeks to build a deeper understanding of sustainable behavior. Moreover, we strive to develop evidence-based interventions to promote more sustainable actions worldwide. To transfer these findings from the level of individual decisions to the system level, we are developing interdisciplinary methodology to integrate behavioral and decision-making data into system and climate models (e.g., agent-based models).

PhD position “Sustainable decision-making and behavior change” (4 years, 75%): https://s.academiccloud.de/vNbRHM

Our research group is seeking a doctoral researcher to work on the intersection of psychology and sustainability, with a focus on the psychological and contextual drivers of and barriers to sustainable behavior. The position involves planning, designing, and analyzing of experimental studies to examine sustainable behavior change and its underlying mechanisms across various regions and national contexts. A key aspect of the position includes developing and validating theory-informed interventions to promote more sustainable actions – e.g., by incorporating novel tools such as AI-driven dialogues.

Postdoc position “Sustainable JDM and behavior change” (3 years, 100%): https://s.academiccloud.de/8fEM2Y

Our research group is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on the intersection of psychology and sustainability to study the psychological and contextual determinants of sustainable behavior. The position involves analyzing large datasets and coupling psychological data with objective behavioral data sources (e.g., high-resolution mobility data). While the primary work location will be Lüneburg, Germany, the project will be conducted in close collaboration with Dr. Kristian S. Nielsen<

https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments-and-centres/department-of-management-society-and-communication/staff/ksnmsc> (Copenhagen Business School) and Dr. Vedran Sekara<https://pure.itu.dk/da/persons/vedran-sekara> (IT University of Denmark) and will provide the opportunity for research exchanges in Copenhagen, Denmark. Additionally, the position offers the opportunity to engage in PhD supervision. An extension of additional two years is – in principle – possible.

Postdoc position “Psychology of Transformation” (5 years, 100%): https://s.academiccloud.de/Thqqfi

We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on the intersection of psychology, sustainability, and transformation as part of the university-wide research development program “Embracing Transformation” of the Leuphana University. With this program Leuphana aims to establish itself as a leading university for the analysis and critical reflection of transformation processes. More than one hundred researchers at various career levels will collaborate in an interdisciplinary environment to generate transformation knowledge that empowers individuals and communities to manage societal challenges and develop solutions for the common good. In particular, the project “Psychology of Transformation towards Sustainability” aims to contribute to a better understanding of individual and societal transformation processes, preferably in the context of the United Nations sustainability goals. It aims to investigate the conditions for successful transformation as well as how to cope with barriers and undesirable developments. Methodologically, the project aims to synthesize existing knowledge, theories and models on the psychological aspects of transformation, while also gathering new empirical evidence on the topic. This will be achieved in cooperation with a team of seven PhD students. Possible topics may range from individual sustainable behavior and behavior change, resiliency during transformation, the consideration of psychological processes in policy making, the communication of transformation to the mitigation of societal polarization related to transformation.

Please follow the links provided above for more information on the application process. If you are interested in both postdoc positions, please apply for both positions separately.

The deadline for all positions is June 29, 2025.

Best,

Ulf

--

Prof. Dr. Ulf Hahnel

Psychology of Collective Action and Sustainability

Institute for Sustainability Psychology (ISP)

Leuphana University Lüneburg

Universitätsallee 1

21335 Lüneburg

Building/Room C11.325

(Phone) +49 4131 677 1709

The Center for Empirical Philosophy and Behavioral Insights (CEPBI) is comprised of a group of researchers interested in the intersection of philosophy and behavioral science. More information can be found at http://www.cepbi.org/

We invite you to explore this intersection at our second 2025 online tandem talk titled EXPERIMENTS, CAUSAL INFERENCE, AND LIMITS OF EVIDENCE with philosopher Nancy Cartwright (Durham University, UC San Diego),

statistician Andrew Gelman (Columbia University), and

behavioral scientist Berna Devezer (University of Idaho).

The online talk will take place on April 25 from 10:00 to 11:30 AM ET.

About the talk:

In recent years, evidence from the behavioral sciences has come under intense scrutiny due to methodological concerns, particularly issues related to replicability. In this talk, we will explore the foundations and underlying causes of this criticism, challenge the uniformitarian assumptions often applied to behavioral evidence, and examine the limitations of experiments that seek to elicit law-like patterns in human behavior. We invite you to engage in a critical analysis of how knowledge is produced in disciplines that study humans both as subjects and as objects of the scientific process.

About the speakers:

Nancy investigates how scientific findings can meaningfully inform real-world decisions by centering her work on the methodology of the social sciences. She is interested in objectivity, causal inference, and the conditions under which evidence becomes actionable in fields like education, child protection, and international development.

Andrew examines how we use data to understand the world, with research spanning voter behavior, policy evaluation, toxicology, survey methods, and the interpretation of statistical effects. He is especially interested in the limits of inference and the practical challenges of applying statistical models to complex social questions.

Berna’s work focuses on reproducibility, statistical theory, and the modeling of scientific processes. Drawing from behavioral research and computational modeling, she explores how experimental design and research context shape the reliability and validity of empirical findings.

You can join by Zoom on April 25th here: 

https://lmu-munich.zoom-x.de/j/65365292241?pwd=B9eJ4msJ9Epd704CvTawasuRrEjbaz.1 https://lmu-munich.zoom-x.de/j/65365292241?pwd=B9eJ4msJ9Epd704CvTawasuRrEjbaz.1

We are hoping to see you all soon.

Best regards,

Cait Lamberton and Martin P. Fritze 

for CEPBI

Center for Empirical Philosophy and Behavioral Insights (CEPBI)

www.cepbi.org http://www.cepbi.org

info@cepbi.org mailto:info@cepbi.org

Dear all,

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join our research team for a project at the intersection of economics, computational social science, and human-computer interaction. The successful candidate will receive a three-year scholarship, starting in October 2025, and be jointly supervised by Astrid Hopfensitz (Emlyon, GATE), Frederic Moisan (Emlyon, GATE), and Jean-Claude Dreher (ISC, CNRS). The candidate will contribute to the design and execution of economic experiments with human subjects that aim to mimic the formation of real social networks and well-known phenomena (e.g., misinformation, polarization, collaboration).

About the Institute

The PhD student will be based at the GATE (Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique) Lyon Saint-Étienne Institute (https://www.gate.cnrs.fr) and enrolled in the doctoral school in economics and management in Lyon (https://edseg.universite-lyon.fr), France. The GATE is a prestigious research center affiliated with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). The GATE is renowned for its interdisciplinary approach, combining economics, social sciences, and computational methods to address complex societal challenges. The institute has a strong reputation for experimental economics, with extensive expertise in designing and conducting controlled economic experiments to understand decision-making, cooperation, and strategic interactions. GATE offers a collaborative and dynamic research environment, providing access to cutting-edge resources and opportunities for interaction with leading experts in economics.

Qualifications and Skills

 *  Master’s degree (MSc) or equivalent in Economics, Computational Social Science, Human-Computer Interaction, or related fields.

 *  Experience and/or interest in designing and conducting experiments with human subjects.

 *  Some knowledge of Behavioural Economics, Game Theory, Network Science, and Agent-Based Modelling.

 *  Strong programming skills including proficiency in data analysis and simulations (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R, Stata) as well as web development (e.g., SQL, JavaScript, PHP, HTML). Familiarity with machine learning techniques for analysing large and complex datasets is highly desirable.

 *  The research institute's working language is English. English proficiency is required. Knowledge of French is not required.

Project Overview

The interdisciplinary project is part of an ANR funding grant (PEPR ENSEMBLE: https://www.pepr-ensemble.fr/) and will use an experimental and theoretical approach to understand the influence of algorithms (e.g., recommendations, bots) in promoting collaboration in social networks. It will involve developing an experimental platform, conducting (web-based) experiments with human subjects, analysing behavioural data, and contributing to theoretical and empirical insights into the economics of human networks. Topics of interest include understanding the role of social networks in the spread of information, and how algorithmic interventions can help promote cooperation in networks.

Application Process

Interested candidates should submit:

 *  Motivation letter concerning the research project and topic.

 *  CV detailing relevant research experience and technical skills.

 *  Academic transcripts (including provisional grades for ongoing studies, where applicable).

 *  Master’s thesis if available, or any relevant research done up until now.

 *  Two reference letters.

Applications should be submitted in pdf format to moisan@em-lyon.com<mailto:moisan@em-lyon.com> (please specify in the subject line "application network PhD") AND online through the CNRS job portal: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR5824-TAIDAO-030/Default.aspx?lang=EN.

The deadline for application is on May 15, 2025. Interviews will be scheduled soon after.

For more information or to apply, please contact Frederic Moisan (moisan@em-lyon.com<mailto:moisan@em-lyon.com>).

We look forward to receiving your application!

Best regards,

Frederic Moisan

Dear all,

The Institute for Cognition and Behavior <https://www.wu.ac.at/en/cobe> at WU Vienna is looking to fill a PhD position, with the intended starting date of June 01, 2025.

The position is funded for six years and comes with teaching obligations of 2 SWS per semester. 

We welcome applications from candidates with a background in psychology, economics, management, business or related disciplines. German language skills are NOT required. 

Vienna is a vibrant, highly livable city with a big behavioral and experimental research community across WU Vienna, the University of Vienna, CEU, and IHS Vienna. 

The application deadline is April 23, 2025, and interviews will be held via Zoom. 

The job announcement, including the link to apply, can be found here (please refer to job ID 2387): https://www.wu.ac.at/karriere/arbeiten-an-der-wu/jobangebote

Please feel free to share this opening with any suitable candidates. If you have any questions about these positions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Warmest,

Rima

Psychology Discipline and Robotics Institute at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia are offering a funded PhD position for interdisciplinary research into using computational cognitive models to improve human-robot collaboration.

Project description

Collaboration between humans and robots is rapidly increasing, creating a need for integrative work between engineering and psychology to improve robots' collaborative skills. One promising approach is to equip robots with cutting-edge cognitive computational models of their human collaborators' decision-making processes. These models would enable robots to account for latent factors guiding human decisions (e.g., beliefs, inferences, preferences, risk, confidence, caution), during collaborative tasks. This could enhance the efficiency of robots' observational learning and allow them to take actions that support and optimise human decision-making, ultimately improving teamwork and productivity.

The project will be supervised by Dr Milan Andrejevic, a Lecturer in Psychology, and Dikai Liu, a Distinguished Professor in Robotics from the University of Technology Sydney, and entail collaboration with Prof. Jakob Hohwy, a Professor in Philosophy from Monash University.

Candidate requirements:

 *  Honours or Masters degree in: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and a good grasp of statistics OR Engineering, Computer Science OR other related and relevant discipline and a strong interest in psychological science;

 *  Willingness to learn computational cognitive modelling approaches;

 *  Excellent academic writing skills;

 *  Experience with, and/or willingness to learn coding and using statistical software (R, Matlab, Python, and/or alike);

 *  Demonstrated work ethic.

Also desirable:

 *  A record of contributing to academic publications;

 *  Experience with mathematical / computational modelling

If you would like to apply for this project, please send your CV and Research Proposal to Milan Andrejevic and Dikai Liu.

Links:

PhD position description<https://sites.google.com/uts.edu.au/coghumrobophdadvert/project-description?authuser=3>

University of Technology Sydney<https://www.uts.edu.au/>

Psychology Discipline<https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculties/graduate-school-of-health/clinical-psychology/what-we-do/psychology-research>

Robotics Institute<https://www.uts.edu.au/research/robotics-institute>

Dr. Milan Andrejevic<https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Milan.Andrejevic>

Dist. Prof. Dikai Liu<https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Dikai.Liu>

Dr. Milan Andrejević (he/him)

Lecturer

Psychology | Graduate School of Health

University of Technology Sydney

+61 2 9514 4126

Level 10, 100 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008

I acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation upon whose ancestral lands we work and gather at UTS, and their traditional custodianship over knowledge for this land. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present.

Dear all,

We are pleased to announce that our upcoming London Judgment and Decision-Making (LJDM) talk will be given in person by Dr Jens Koed Madsen, London School of Economics. 

Time & Location

Wednesday, March 12, 17:15-18:15 UK time.  Room G03 in Bedford Way (26) & https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498 

Title

A view of polarisation built on dependencies

Abstract

Issue polarisation describes a state where citizens in a society move away from each other on a particular issue – for example, people may harden their views in both directions on abortion rights, economic policy, and more. In this talk, we first consider whether issue polarisation is occurring, as this is a subject of debate within the field. Across 247 samples from 105 countries, we show that issue polarisation is a contextual challenge. That is, while there is no global increase from 1999 to 2022, we see an increase in issue polarisation in some countries, such as the USA (typically driven by disagreement between culturally-conservative majorities and culturally-liberal minorities).

Having set the scene, we present a Bayesian model that builds on perceived dependencies. According to the model, when presented with conflicting testimony from two source groups, Bayesian agents should update towards the position of the group they deem to be more independent in terms of the factors that influence their testimony, meaning those who disagree about which group that is should polarize. In a pre-registered experiment, we find support for this model, as we can experimentally create polarisation by manipulating dependency perceptions.

To see if the intuitions of the model are appropriate, we survey citizens from the UK and the USA to gauge their dependency perceptions of in- and out-group members. In both countries, we find that, using a novel scale instrument, real-world partisans (Labour, Conservative, Republican, and Democrat) perceive their party’s supporters to be more independent than the opposing party’s supporters, with large average effect sizes (d = 0.87 UK, d = 0.82 US), suggesting the conditions are in place for such polarization to occur in the real world. We conclude the talk by considering limitations to the current work and future directions for the polarisation project.

Please check our website regularly for updates. 

We look forward to seeing you all!

Hadeel, Audrey, and Calvin 

London Judgment and Decision-making Group

-------------------------------------------

Visit our UCL page

Follow us on X 

PhD studentship on "Understanding pro-environmental decision-making: an

agent-based modelling approach"

Apply by 5th March 2025

The Adaptive Learning Psychology and Neuroscience (ALPN) Lab (

https://alpn-lab.github.io/) is looking for a highly motivated PhD student

interested in the cognitive, computational, and sociocultural basis of

pro-environmental decision-making. This PhD project will apply the recent

developments in agent-based modelling (ABM) to comprehensively understand,

explain, and ideally predict pro-environmental behaviours with both

large-scale secondary data and novel experimental data. The deadline for

applications is 5th March 2025 to start in autumn 2025.

The lab is based at the Centre for Human Brain Health (

https://birmingham.ac.uk/research/centre-human-brain-health/index.aspx) and

Institute of Mental Health (

https://birmingham.ac.uk/research/mental-health/index.aspx) at the

University of Birmingham, UK.

This is an interdisciplinary, fully funded 4-year PhD studentship

co-designed by the University of Birmingham (School of Psychology,

Birmingham Business School) and The James Hutton Institute (Social,

Economic and Geographical Sciences Department). This studentship is open to

both UK and international students.

The direct application for this project is here:

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centre-ub/projects/understanding-pro-environmental-decision-making-an-agent-based-modelling-approach

More general information regarding CENTRE-UB can be found here:

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centre-ub/centre-ub-phd-studentships

Informal inquiries can be sent to Dr. Lei Zhang <l.zhang.13@bham.ac.uk>.

Best wishes,

Lei

Decision under risk: A tale of two information modes

Emmanouil (Manos) Konstantinidis¹

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Warwick

Wednesday 19 February 2025, 2pm to 3pm (UK time)

Esther Simpson 2.12, or online through Zoom

Register here, or go to https://shorturl.at/Z775C

 linkedin.com/company/centre-for-decision-research/

 @cdrleeds.bsky.social

Abstract

Information about risky or uncertain situations typically comes in two forms. In some cases, we have access to complete descriptive summaries of risky outcomes and their associated probabilities (e.g., a physician may rely on published literature and success likelihoods to recommend a risky course of treatment). In other situations, we rely on our own experiences to form estimates of outcomes and probabilities (e.g., a physician drawing on their own prior experience with a particular treatment). Although real-life decision-making often involves combining these sources of information, previous research has primarily examined each source in isolation. In this talk, I will present empirical and computational modelling results that explore how different types of information are combined in studies of risky decision-making. I will also discuss ongoing empirical work investigating whether people naturally prefer one type of information over the other (description vs. experience) and the factors that moderate this preference. Finally, I will address the theoretical, practical, and computational implications of these findings.

The speaker

Dr. Konstantinidis’ (Ph.D.) main research focus is on judgment and decision making, with an emphasis on the computational modelling of the underlying psychological and cognitive processes. Specifically, he is interested in how people make choices under risk and uncertainty in various basic and applied domains, the role of learning and memory processes, and the combination of different sources of information when people make judgments and decisions. To provide insights into the mechanisms of human behaviour, his research utilises a mixture of laboratory experiments, quantitative techniques, and computational cognitive models.

Dear all,

We are pleased to announce that our upcoming London Judgment and Decision-Making (LJDM) talk will be given in person by Dr Greta Mohr, University College London.

Time & Location

Wednesday, February 12, 17:15-18:15 UK time.  Room C3.12, IoE, 20 Bedford Way & https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498 

Title

Biases in Causal Reasoning: The Perceived Influence of Good and Bad Actions in Everyday Medical Decision-Making

Abstract

Causal counterfactual reasoning is fundamental to everyday medical decision-making, where individuals must evaluate whether specific actions (e.g., gentle yoga to alleviate muscle soreness) contribute to health outcomes. This study investigates how performing good or bad actions, their consistency with each other, and alignment with the outcome influence causal strength judgments. Participants were presented with everyday medical scenarios where agents took 2 actions (good or bad) and judged how much each action contributed to a health outcome (improvement or worsening). They then made a series of counterfactual judgements, were then asked to rate how the outcome may have differed if the actions taken had been different.

Results revealed systematic biases in causal attribution. Actions consistent with the outcome but inconsistent with the other action were perceived as having stronger causal strength, than those with consistent other actions. Additionally, bad actions (e.g., skipping hydration to alleviate a headache) were judged as having greater causal strength than good actions, though this effect was more pronounced for the second action. Notably, when both actions were taken bad actions were perceived as contributing more to the outcome than good actions. Overall, these findings suggest a bias in causal reasoning, where harmful or unexpected actions are perceived as more influential in determining health outcomes. This bias could lead people to overemphasise the negative consequences of bad actions while underestimating the benefits of good decisions. Recognising these biases can help improve public health messaging and encourage more accurate causal reasoning in everyday healthcare decisions.

Please check our website regularly for updates. 

We look forward to seeing you all!

Hadeel, Audrey, and Calvin 

London Judgment and Decision-making Group

-------------------------------------------

Visit our UCL page

Follow us on X 

Dear all,

We are pleased to announce that today's London Judgment and Decision-Making talk will be given by Prof. David Comerford from Stirling Management School. 

Time & Location

Wednesday, January 15 , 17:15-18:15 UK time.  Online talk via Zoom with a watch group in Room 639, IoE, 20 Bedford Way .

 Zoom Link

https://ucl.zoom.us/j/99605138498

Title

Overthinking

Abstract

Conceptually, there can be three types of people: those who overrely on their gut feelings; those who overrely on deliberation; and those who are well calibrated. The first type has been identified by the heuristics and biases research program. The current research investigates the second. I start my search from the following premise: evolutionary psychology posits that gut feelings have evolved to help us navigate the complexities of living in social groups. If this is so, then suppressing these instincts in favour of deliberation ought to be especially costly in the social domain. I hypothesize that individuals with high numeracy scores—reflecting a tendency to engage cognitive effort—will report lower social satisfaction. Analyses of five large national datasets (one preregistered) find that respondents who score in the top decile for numeracy report lower social satisfaction than those who scored lower on numeracy. This effect is robust to controls for sociodemographic characteristics, Big-5 personality traits and verbal intelligence. A preregistered analysis demonstrates the effect is driven by items measuring cognitive reflection. In sum, respondents who demonstrate a tendency to stop and think experience less satisfying social lives.       

We look forward to seeing you all!

Hadeel, Audrey, and Calvin 

London Judgment and Decision-making Group

-------------------------------------------

Visit our UCL page

Follow us on X  

To unsubscribe from the RISK-AND-DECISION list, click the following link:

https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=RISK-AND-DECISION&A=1