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

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

This is a 100% TVL-13 position, initially for 3 years, with the possibility to extend under certain conditions. This position is a collaboration with DFKI Berlin (Speech and Language Technology); it is funded through an “innovation grant” by the University of Potsdam.

The candidate will mainly be working on the project “FLICA: Fluid Interaction with LLM-Based Conversational Agents”. Other responsiblities include support for writing grant-applications, and some limited teaching (2 hours per semester) in our Bachelor’s and/or Master’s programmes on Natural Language Processing.

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. Good evidence for the above are first-authored publications at ACL, EMNLP, etc.

Experience in one or more of the following fields is desirable: dialogue systems; situated interaction / embodied AI; speech processing; natural language understanding; as is some first experience with teaching and supervision of student projects.

The position is open until filled. Evaluation of applications has already begun (July 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.