Doctoral Researcher (Gamification / Games / XR / GenAI / Emerging Media for Engagement with Sustainable Futures), 1-3 positions / Väitöskirjatutkija, 1-3 tehtävää

Tiivistelmä työpaikkailmoituksesta: Tampere University is hiring 1–3 full‑time doctoral researchers to study gameful and engaging technologies for sustainable, prosocial, and transformative applications. Research may involve XR/VR, gamification, AI (including LLMs), bioadaptive technologies and games, with positions linked to the CLIMETA VR/climate metacognition project or broader OPEN sustainability themes. Applicants must hold a relevant Master’s degree by 1 Jan 2027 and be fluent in English, with backgrounds such as computer science, HCI, cognitive science, design, behavioural sciences, or related fields welcomed. The position is a four‑year fixed‑term appointment with a six‑month trial period and a typical starting salary of approximately €2,800 per month, and applications close on 15 October 2026. Tämä tiivistelmä on luotu tekoälyn avulla. Tampere University is a unique, boldly future‑oriented and evolving community, and one of Finland’s most multidisciplinary universities. At Tampere University, technology, health and society come together in a distinctive way. Our research groups and projects carry out interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research that transcends organisational boundaries. Our community is international, with members from more than 80 countries. Read more at Tampere University (TAU) | Tampere University . We are seeking doctoral researchers in the area of gameful and engaging technologies for sustainability to join us at the Research Centre of Gameful Realities , Tampere University. The positions are situated in the broad area of engaging media technologies for prosocial, sustainable, and transformative applications. We are looking for candidates who are interested in investigating how novel engaging media and technologies (such as extended reality, gamification, gameful systems, bioadaptive technologies, artificial intelligence, conversational agents, and other interactive or experiential media) can help people reflect, learn, engage with humanity's wicked challenges, collaborate, or imagine and shape futures in these domains. The positions are suitable for applicants with a background in, for example, computer science, human-computer interaction, affective computing, information systems, cognitive science, media and communication studies, design, health technology, behavioural sciences, education, economics, or human-environment interaction. We welcome both theoretically ambitious and empirically rigorous doctoral projects, including those combining different approaches such as technology development, experimental research, qualitative inquiry, design, and public engagement. The selected doctoral researcher(s) will develop their own research plans within this broader research agenda. Some of the positions are expected to be connected to the project CLIMETA, while others may be shaped around the OPEN theme relating to the above-described emerging research directions within the Research Centre of Gameful Realities. We therefore welcome a) applicants with a clear interest in CLIMETA, as well as b) applicants whose proposed research fits the wider theme of engaging media and technologies for sustainable applications (OPEN). In your application, please indicate whether you are primarily applying for a position connected to CLIMETA or OPEN position within the broader research theme of engaging media and technologies. You may also indicate interest in both, if applicable. Research Context 1. Non project-specific / OPEN application Engaging technologies increasingly shape how people encounter information, learn, make decisions, understand themselves, relate to others, participate in communities, and act in the world. Games and gamification, extended reality, virtual environments, AI-supported systems, conversational agents, bioadaptive technologies, and similar avenues are creating new possibilities for learning, collaboration, participation, wellbeing, behaviour change, creativity, and social imagination. At the same time, societies are navigating complex transformations related to, for example, sustainability, technological change, changing forms of work and consumption, social polarisation, and participation. Engaging technologies can make complex systems experiential, create new forms of social interaction and participation, support learning and reflection, facilitate perspective-taking and collaboration, and enable people to explore alternative behaviours and possible futures. The recruited doctoral researcher(s) will investigate how games, XR, AI, gamification, and other engaging and emerging media technologies can contribute to individual, social, and societal benefit. Research may address, for example, learning and literacy, motivation and behaviour, interaction and user experience, agency and participation, social connection and cooperation, wellbeing, perspective-taking, creativity, systems thinking, public engagement with science, digital and AI-mediated interaction, or the desi