Postdoctoral Researcher Macroscope (AI Collaboratory, Language Technology) Leiden University in Netherlands

The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) is seeking a postdoctoral researcher for the Macroscope project, a groundbreaking initiative funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) with €16.8 million. The Macroscope aims to build the world’s first population-level research infrastructure to observe and understand societal evolution, with a strong focus on language and textual data analysis. The postdoctoral researcher will play a key role in developing the AI Collaboratory, a state-of-the-art compute infrastructure that enables access to language data, advanced language technology, and computational resources through APIs and user-friendly protocols. This infrastructure is designed to support both technically oriented and non-technical researchers, facilitating AI-based corpus access (including LLMs and RAG), and integrating tools for topic modelling, sentiment analysis, opinion mining, trend analysis, and various forms of text annotation. Efficient training and fine-tuning of machine learning models are also central to the project.

The successful candidate will collaborate closely with researchers at the Dutch Language Institute and Radboud University Nijmegen. The position requires a PhD in a relevant field (such as computational linguistics or digital humanities), excellent programming skills in Python, and extensive experience with machine learning and LLM frameworks (LangChain, agent-based LLMs, RAG). Experience with fine-tuning, deploying, and evaluating large language models, developing scalable backend solutions with open-source frameworks and microservices (Docker), and familiarity with noSQL, Postgres databases, and ElasticSearch are essential. Candidates should have experience in the functional and technical design of complex software infrastructures and possess a good command of Dutch (near-native speaker). Analytical, meticulous, results-oriented, and collaborative personalities are highly valued.

LUCL is a vibrant research environment with over 120 linguists and offers extensive research support, including grant application assistance, project finance guidance, and communications support. The Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University is renowned for its expertise across philosophy, religious studies, history, art history, literature, linguistics, and area studies, providing a rich interdisciplinary context. The university offers attractive employment conditions, including a salary range from €4,728 to €6,433 gross per month (pay scale 11), additional holiday and end-of-year bonuses, and a temporary appointment of 12 months with the possibility of extension by 36 months based on performance. International candidates may benefit from a substantial tax break, and a dual career programme is available for spouses.

Applications must be submitted online by 12 April 2026. Required documents include a CV, list of publications, cover letter (max. 2 pages), and contact details for two referees. For further information, contact Prof. Gijsbert Rutten at [email protected]. For more details about LUCL and the Faculty of Humanities, visit the university’s website.