Max M. Louwerse

This postdoctoral position at BISS, Maastricht University focuses on developing advanced AI methods for interpreting complex human signals in the context of the VR-STRESS project. The project combines multimodal sensing, machine learning, and adaptive virtual reality to better understand how people respond to stress, cognitive demand, and task complexity in simulated medical training scenarios. The successful researcher will take a leading role in the data science and AI component of the project. The work centers on processing and integrating heterogeneous physiological, neurophysiological, behavioral, and interaction data to infer cognitive, emotional, and physiological user states. A major goal is to turn raw multimodal data into robust, interpretable models that can support real-time or near-real-time adaptation in a VR environment. Research activities include signal processing, multimodal data fusion, model evaluation, and the development of methods that are both predictive and scientifically interpretable. The project also emphasizes understanding what information the models use, how robust they are across individuals and conditions, and how their outputs relate to subjective reports, experimental manipulations, behavioral measures, and performance indicators. The postdoc will work closely with experimental psychologists, cognitive scientists, engineers, and VR developers in an interdisciplinary research environment. BISS is Maastricht University’s Brightlands Institute for Smart Society, based on the Brightlands Smart Services Campus in Heerlen. The institute brings together researchers from different disciplines to address data challenges with socially responsible digital technologies, with a strong emphasis on human-technology interaction and applied data science.