Postdoctoral Researcher in Experimental Psychology (M/F)

Job Description

Missions

As part of a joint laboratory with Michelin (Factolab) and the Clermont Auvergne Project i-site, the “laboratoire de psychologie sociale et cognitive” (LAPSCO) of the University of Clermont Auvergne offers funding for a post-doctoral period of 11 months with a salary Starting at €3,041 gross per month, depending on experience. The position would take place the 12 November 2026.
Details : Eye-tracking is a technique that matches the direction of the gaze with the visual elements present in the scene in order to determine what the person is looking at. This laboratory technique is increasingly exported to the field via wearable devices (glasses). The experimental data then generates hours of video in which a wide variety of objects are present, making manual analysis extremely tedious.
Within the joint laboratory, we have developed a system for automatic analysis of video data collected by an eye tracker in a professional situation. This analysis system can identify the time ranges corresponding to activities of persons equipped with an eye tracker. Specifically, the end-user of the system can indicate several generic criteria for detecting activities (characteristic objects, duration of appearance of objects in videos, order of appearance, eye fixations, ...). The system uses these criteria in various heuristics for activity detection. The goal of the postdoctoral researcher will be to assess the relevance of this system through a larger dataset. He or she will be responsible for analyzing data from previous experiments. He or she will also be responsible for gathering other sets of data from our partners within the FactoLab with two purposes. First, he or she will have to assess the robustness of the system, in order to establish whether this system is mature enough for recovery. Second, he or she will aim to explore the different heuristics that seem appropriate for the processing of these videos. In particular, he or she will have to look for heuristics that would not be supported by the system.

Activity

In particular, the postdoc will contribute to different aspects:
• Gather a diverse corpus of videos, with varied environments and activities.
• Explore the different heuristics that seem appropriate for the processing of these videos. In particular, he or she should seek to identify heuristics that are not yet supported by the system.
• Work in collaboration with a computer research engineer to share feedback. These exchanges will aim to feed an iterative approach for improving the system.
• Write and/or participate to the writing of several publications based on the data processed. He or she should also evaluate the possibility of a methodological publication on task processing heuristics.

Your Profil

Skills

The candidate should have a PhD in psychology, preferably on the themes of visual attention, attentional control and/or eye-tracking. Good familiarity with deep learning algorithms would be a plus. The candidate must be fluent in French and have a good level in English. International applications are welcome.

Your Work Environment

At the intersection of experimental psychology and integrative neuroscience, the Laboratory of Social and Cognitive Psychology (LAPSCO, UMR UCA-CNRS 6024) is dedicated to the study of the behaviors and cognitive processes involved in fundamental mental functions such as perception, attention, memory, language, and
temporality. Our research takes a broad perspective, ranging from the neural bases of these processes to their social and cultural determinants, with major implications for the fields of education, health, and industry.

Located on the Carnot campus of Clermont Auvergne University (right in the heart of downtown Clermont-Ferrand), LAPSCO brings together about 100 staff members
divided among two cross-cutting research areas (“embodied cognition” and “humanoid social robotics and cognition”) and four research teams:

• Team 1: Cognition, Behavior, and Context,

• Team 2: Social Behaviors and Collective Dynamics,

• Team 3: Physiological and Psychosocial Stress, Well-Being,

• Team 4: Social and Cognitive Ethology.

Together, we pursue an integrated vision of human cognition and behavior, with a deep commitment to research and innovation.

The successful candidate will work at LAPSCO under the supervision of Clément Belletier (associate professor). The successful candidate will be welcomed into the laboratory and will also be invited to collaborate with other members

Constraints and risks

none

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

Starting at €3,041 gross per month, depending on experience

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions