(Note: The 2026 PhD positions are now filled.)

One position for a post-doctoral researcher, from September 2026:

This is a 100% TVL-13 position, initially for 3 years, with the possibility to extend under certain conditions. On the research side, the postdoc will be embedded in my group, and will be expected to help maintain its research activities, while gradually forging a recognisable own profile. As such, a substantial overlap with the concerns of the lab (see https://clp.ling.uni-potsdam.de/publications/ ; roughly: situated language use / “agents”; learning in interaction; computational pragmatics) would be helpful. The way this would be expressed would be through joint supervision of Master’s students (and perhaps PhD students, eventually), leading to publications, and support in defining research projects (and grant proposals).

As usual with this type of position in Germany, it comes with a teaching load of 4 hours per semester (which usually works out as 2 classes per semester), contributing to our Bachelor of Science “Computerlinguistik” and our Master of Science “Cognitive Systems: Language, Learning, and Reasoning”. (See the list of past teaching to get an idea.) Being able to teach in German is a plus, but not absolutely necessary.

The ideal candidate for this position has a PhD in Computational Linguistics or Computer Science (with NLP specialisation), strong programming skills, strong writing skills, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to carry a research project through.

Experience in one or more of the following fields is desirable: evaluation of LLMs; explainable AI; reinforcement learning / post training; dialogue systems; situated interaction / embodied AI; as is some first experience with teaching and supervision of student projects.

The position is open until filled. Evaluation of applications has already begun (March 2026); so if you are interested, send in your application ASAP.

The Department of Linguistics at the University of Potsdam is a great place with many research activities (collaborative research center in linguistics; part of the University’s “designated research focus” on cognitive science); popular CL/NLP BA and MSc (taught in English); well established contacts with NLP industry in Berlin / Potsdam area.

Potsdam and the general Berlin/Potsdam metropolitan area is a great place to live.

To apply, send

a) a statement of research interests, relating them to the research of the group;
b) electronic copies of your degree certificates;
c) a CV with a list of publications, code repositories, etc, (if such already exists; otherwise, any other kind of writing and coding samples);
d) the names of references,

to my assistant, Rebecca Erxleben ( first.last@uni-potsdam.de ), by email; subject “Application Postdoc Schlangen Lab”.

For any enquiries, contact me, David Schlangen ( first.last@uni-potsdam.de ), directly.

For information on the TVL-13 scale, see here.

Other opportunities

I sometimes accept self-funded PhD students, if the research interests are sufficiently aligned. If you have an idea for a project (and a source of funding, such as DAAD or your national funding agency), let’s talk.

I also sometimes accept research interns (advanced Master’s students) for the summer. I have had interns that brought their own funding (RISE, DAAD), and have in exceptional cases also provided funding for interns recommended by other labs I have collaborated with.

Note: If you cold email me, tell me exactly where you see a connection between your idea and our research. Just mentioning a (random) paper title is not enough. If I don’t see an actual engagement with our work, I will have to ignore the email – I simply cannot answer all the unsolicited requests I get.