Associate Professor of Psychology, Stanford University
We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher who will be housed in the Social Learning Lab in the Department of Psychology, advised by Professor Hyowon Gweon. The lab investigates how humans learn, teach, and communicate by flexibly reasoning about what other agents know and want. Recently, we have been exploring how this framework of inferential social learning can be applied to develop socially intelligent machines that both learn from humans and help humans learn.
For full consideration, send a complete application in a single PDF to HAI-Fellowships@stanford.edu with the subject line: “HAI Postdoc Fellowship - Gweon”
The postdoctoral fellow will lead a project using AI technologies to support active learning in young children, by empowering them to create personalized learning experiences that are both effective and engaging. The first component of this work is to develop AI-augmented tools that enable elementary school-aged children to rapidly create personalized math learning games. The second component entails developing experimental studies with children to characterize (i) how children’s interest and prior knowledge influence the games they create, as well as (ii) how this game-creation experience affects children's own learning compared to playing existing games.
This research will capture how young children interact with AI tools that transform their ideas into tangible products. Critically, this work will generate a large open-source dataset of child-created games that can inform future designs of educational games and AI algorithms. The postdoctoral fellow will contribute to curating and publishing this dataset. Last but not least, the postdoctoral fellow will contribute their unique mix of expertise and interest in leveraging human-centered AI tools to improve learning, expanding our lab’s core strengths in behavioral and computational approaches to studying social cognitive development.
Applications are due on April 3, 2025 by midnight AoE. Instructions below.
Complete applications will include:
Cover letter explaining your interest in becoming a postdoc with the respective research lab/center/faculty through the HAI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (500 words max).
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Short answer responses (300 max each):
Description of your dissertation research and broader research agenda
How do you see your research training and expertise contributing toward the understanding and advancement of Human-Centered AI? HAI thinks about "Human-Centered AI" through three focus areas.
One representative writing sample (published or unpublished)
The expected base pay for this position is $86,100/yr. The pay offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors including (but not limited to) the qualifications of the selected candidate, budget availability, and internal equity.
Stanford is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The postdoctoral fellow will be mentored by Professor Hyowon Gweon. Researchers will also attend weekly group meetings and department-wide events (e.g., colloquia, area brown bags).
Stanford HAI is also committed to creating a diverse community of scholars who are engaged in contributing to the understanding and advancement of Human-Centered AI. Postdoctoral fellows will have the opportunity to engage with one another and with the broader Stanford HAI research community. They are also expected to participate in professional development, cohort-building, and other programmatic activities organized by HAI.
Applicants should have a PhD in psychology, cognitive science, education, or related fields.
Past research experience should demonstrate:
Significant track record working on empirical studies of social and cognitive development; ideally, should have prior experience related to play, decision-making, and social inference and learning.
Experience running human experiments with children; prior experience developing screen-based experiments (e.g., on tablets, browsers) is preferred.
Ability to collaborate with and lead an interdisciplinary team
Relevant prior research experience. Research track record should be demonstrated via prior publications in relevant venues in psychology, cognitive science, education, or human-computer interaction.
Knowledge and expertise related to social learning, play, and AI.
Potential of individual to add value to and gain benefit from the Stanford HAI community.
Application Deadline: April 3, 2025
Selections to be made by May 2025.
This is a 1-year appointment starting Fall 2025.
(Applicants advancing in the review process may be asked to submit additional materials, including letters of recommendation, and may be invited to interview.)