Doctoral Researcher in Psychology University of Oulu in Finland

Doctoral Researcher in Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland

The University of Oulu is seeking a doctoral researcher for a four-year, full-time fixed-term position in the Faculty of Education and Psychology, starting on 15 October 2026 (or by agreement) and ending on 31 August 2030. The position is based in the university’s new Psychology Unit, an active and growing research environment with strengths in developmental psychology, learning, personality psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience.

The successful candidate will join the project Developmental trajectories in understanding irony in adolescence, led by Academy Research Fellow Henri Olkoniemi and funded by the Academy of Finland. The project examines how irony comprehension develops from adolescence into adulthood and how understanding irony differs between spoken and written communication. This is a timely research topic because irony is widely used in everyday interaction, where it can soften criticism and convey meaning indirectly, but it is cognitively demanding and develops relatively late. The project also addresses the growing use of irony in written communication, such as social media, where prosodic cues are absent and interpretation may be more challenging.

As a doctoral researcher, you will conduct your dissertation research within the project, contribute to the co-design and implementation of experiments, collect and analyse data, and participate in ethical pre-assessment applications, research permits, responsible data management, open science practices, and GDPR-compliant research procedures. You will pursue doctoral studies at the University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS), publish findings in high-quality international peer-reviewed journals, and present at conferences. You will receive regular supervision and multidisciplinary support while gradually taking more responsibility for your research questions, methodological decisions, publications, and international research profile.

The position offers the opportunity to work in an ambitious interdisciplinary project with strong support for national and international collaboration, conference participation, co-authorship, and research mobility according to project needs. Employee benefits include exercise, culture and well-being support (ePassi), career development opportunities within a large university, and a work culture that supports balancing work and personal life. The salary is typically EUR 2600–3200 per month, with an additional performance-based component of up to 50% of the task-specific salary.

Applicants should hold a suitable master’s degree or equivalent in psychology, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, speech and language therapy, or another relevant field, completed before the employment starts. You should have interest in or experience with language research, a strong motivation for long-term doctoral work, basic research-methods skills, and readiness to develop quantitative and mixed-methods expertise. Fluency in written and spoken Finnish and English is required. The University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS) eligibility requirements must be met, and doctoral study rights must be applied for at the start of employment. Experience with statistical analysis, data handling, eye-tracking, speech acoustics, or tools such as R, Python, and Praat is considered an advantage.

Applications must be submitted through the university’s recruitment system by 20 September 2026. Include a cover letter describing your motivation and expectations, a CV following the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity template, and a preliminary research plan of about one page. Interviews will be held remotely or on site, and shortlisted applicants may be asked to present degree certificates.

For questions, contact University Lecturer Henri Olkoniemi at [email protected].