Postdoctoral position in social robotics with focus on child-robot interaction

Are you interested in working with social robotics and child-robot interaction, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a Postdoctoral position at the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University.

The Department of Information Technology holds a leading position in both research and education at all levels. We are currently Uppsala University's third largest department, with 350 employees, including 120 teachers and 120 PhD students. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate students take one or more courses at the department each year. You can find more information about us on the Department of Information Technology website.

At the Vi3 Division, we have a unique combination of expertise in human-machine interaction, computerized image analysis and computing education research. In the Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) unit we study the interplay between people and machines (e.g., information technology, automation, robots and intelligent interfaces). From a global perspective, we aim to improve the relationship between people and technology and foster positive social change through technology.

The candidate will join the Uppsala Social Robotics Lab (https://usr-lab.github.io/)  at the Vi3 Division of the Department of Information Technology, Uppsala University. Our vision is to develop social robots following an approach that puts humans at the centre and is guided by ethical principles of respect for human autonomy, prevention of harm, fairness and explicability to improve individual and collective wellbeing. The natural testbeds for our research are socially assistive scenarios where robots provide not only physical, but also social support to humans, where robotic technologies have the potential to bring benefits to the society we live in, for example in application areas such as education and assistive technology, by enhancing the lives of children and other groups that require specialised support and intervention. The lab is equipped with a range of different robotic platforms, including Furhat, Pepper, and NAO.

Project description
The postdoc project will investigate the use of social robots in child-robot interaction applications.

The postdoc project is part of the newly established multi-site Research Group on Child Development in the Age of AI and Social Robots, funded by WASP-HS.

The Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program – Humanity and Society (WASP-HS) is a national research program in Sweden. The vision of WASP-HS is to foster novel interdisciplinary knowledge in the humanities and social sciences about AI and autonomous systems and their impact on human and social development. WASP-HS enables cutting-edge research, expertise, and competence building in the humanities and social sciences.

The research group on Child Development in the Age of AI and Social Robots will identify and address major emerging developmental challenges for children in the AI era, both in terms of how children interact with AI agents and social robots, and of how this process is shaped by, and shapes, fast-changing socio-cultural factors and practices. The research group aims to (1) understand individual and social consequences of children’s interaction with AI systems, and (2) explore new opportunities to promote development of children’s AI literacy, social, cognitive and emotional skills, wellbeing, and values that better meet the needs of the future society.

The postdoc project aims to explore how to design social robots for children’s learning of socio-emotional skills and reflection on societal values, and to understand and mitigate associated ethical risks in child-robot interaction.

This is an interdisciplinary project that will involve collaborations with other Principal Investigators involved in the research group with expertise in human-robot interaction, cognitive science and developmental psychology at Linköping University (Tom Ziemke), KTH (Olov Engwall), Umeå University (Helena Lindgren), Lund University (Valentina Fantasia), and Uppsala University (Gustaf Gredebäck), other recruited postdocs, as well as interaction with a broader set of participating researchers in other Swedish and international universities.

Duties 
The position includes work with social robots in child-robot interaction applications. The candidate is expected to program robots to develop robot’s capabilities and conduct empirical human-robot interaction studies for data collection and evaluation. The postdoc project aims to explore how to design social robots for children’s learning of socio-emotional skills and reflection on societal values, and to understand and mitigate associated ethical risks in child-robot interaction. The position may also include some teaching. 

Requirements
PhD degree in Humanities or Social Science, including Computer Science, with a focus on human aspects of social robotics, human-robot interaction or related areas relevant to the postdoc topic or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in these areas. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Priority will be given to applicants who have completed their degree no more than three years before the deadline for applications.  Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

We are looking for candidates with:

• a strong interest in interdisciplinary research and strong expertise and/or interest in human-robot interaction
• good communication skills with sufficient proficiency in oral and written English,
• excellent PhD publications and outputs,
• personal characteristics such as a high level of creativity, thoroughness, and/or a structured approach to problem-solving are essential

Additional qualifications
Experience with human-robot interaction studies is valued. Proficiency in programming (preferably Python) and documented ability to conduct user studies are valued. Experience in working with child-robot interaction, children and technology is a merit.

Application
The application must include:

1. A statement with a description of yourself, your research interests, reasons for applying for this particular postdoc position, past experience, and earliest possible date for starting (max. 2 pages);
2. A CV;
3. A research plan for the postdoc project;
4. Copies of relevant university degrees;
5. Links to relevant publications and your PhD thesis (or a summary in case the thesis work is ongoing) and other relevant documents.
6. Contact information to up to 3 reference persons.

Applicants who meet at least one of the entry requirements are strongly encouraged to apply. All applicants should state their earliest possible starting date.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Full time position. Starting date September 1st 2026 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Ginevra Castellano
(phone: +46 704250200, email: ginevra.castellano@it.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 15 April 2026, UFV-PA 2026/446.

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