Postdoctoral scholarship (2 years) on human-agent collaboration for promoting health among older adults

A two-year, full-time postdoctoral scholarship in the Department of Computing Science, Umeå University, within the Kempe Foundation-funded project "Artificial Intelligent Agents Supporting Older Adults' Engagement in Activities to Promote Health", hosted by the Intelligent and Interactive Systems group. The project explores how a digital companion could support older adults in daily activities they consider important for health and wellbeing, and how an AI-based instrument must work to be useful both to older adults and to occupational therapists in clinical practice. The scholar will tailor the support the agent provides through dynamic and adaptive modelling while addressing the computational challenges of collaborative human-agent dialogue and interaction, producing new models and estimation tools for individualised AI-based interventions that update as motivation, health, capability and activity change. The scholarship is 750,000 SEK tax-free over two years (375,000 SEK per year). Start 1 February 2027 or by agreement.

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree by the time of the award decision. Priority goes to candidates whose doctorate was completed no more than three years before the application deadline; earlier degrees can be considered for special reasons such as illness, parental leave, union appointments, military service or clinical practice.