Postdoc Position: Improving Children’s Comprehension Digital Documents

Postdoc Position:
Improving Children’s Comprehension of Multiple Digital Documents

Join an ongoing NWO Vici research project on ‘Opportunities and challenges in children’s comprehension of multiple digital texts’. You will collaborate with a PhD candidate and the supervising team in setting up and conducting the intervention planned. In addition, there are opportunities to write on existing data of the project.

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher for the NWO Vici research project on ‘Opportunities and challenges in children’s comprehension of multiple digital texts’. We are heading towards the final years of the project, in which an intervention is planned.

Results so far show the complexities of reading and comprehending multiple online documents, as well as of integrating information from these documents into an essay. We have also seen the difficulties children have in navigating online environments.

We now plan an intervention study for the upper primary grades in which we will address these topics, and which may, for instance, consist of eye‑movement‑modeling examples. As we are still in the process of setting up this intervention, we are very much looking forward to your input.

You will set up and conduct the intervention, together with the PhD candidate and student‑assistants. You will analyse complex data, present the results at conferences and publish them in peer‑reviewed journals. Furthermore, you will participate in knowledge transfer, such as writing papers for Dutch applied journals and collaborating with the Dutch Centre for Language Education in writing a book on the topic.

You will also be an active member of the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI) in Nijmegen.

• You have or are about to obtain a PhD in behavioural or educational science, educational psychology, applied linguistics, or a related field, preferably related to reading comprehension and reading processes.
• You have an interest in digital reading.
• You have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• You have experience in designing and conducting intervention studies at primary schools.
• You have experience with using advanced statistical methods (e.g. R).
• You have excellent oral and written skills in Dutch and English.
• You preferably have experience with eye‑tracking and in project management.

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of two years.
• Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. If you have not yet obtained your PhD, you will start as a Junior researcher (salary scale 10). The amounts in the scale are based on a 38‑hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end‑of‑year bonus.
• 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. Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions reflect this. 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 membership.

In addition, you receive a 34% discount on the sports and cultural activities at Radboud University as an employee. And, of course, we offer a good pension plan. We also give you plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

You will be based at the Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), where you will work within the framework of the Learning, Education, & Development research programme (Department of Learning and Learning Problems). Within this programme, researchers conduct fundamental and applied research into individual differences in learning and development among children, teenagers…