Context

The purpose of eNSEMBLE (Future of Digital Collaboration) is to fundamentally redefine digital tools for collaboration. The pandemic has demonstrated both the possibilities and limitations of current tools for computer-mediated collaboration. Whether it is to reduce our travel, to better mesh the territory and society, or to face the forthcoming problems and transformations of the next decades, the challenges of the 21st century will require us to collaborate at an unprecedented speed and scale.

The PEPR eNSEMBLE launches a postdoctoral call to promising young researchers to participate in this collaborative endeavour.

Contract

The laureates will have a Post-doctoral contract from 12 to 24 months  (at the same salary as for similar contracts in the recruiting institution) as well as 6-10K€ of support for the purchase of equipment and travel expenses.

Eligibility

• The applicant must hold a doctoral degree at the beginning of the contract.
• The host laboratory and the referent advisor must be part of one of the partner institutions. The list of partner institutions depends on the « targeted project » (PC for « Projet Ciblé ») of PEPR eNSEMBLE and are available in the application form (see below).
• The research program should be aligned with at least the objectives of one the five PCs: CATS (not open for 2025 autumn session), PILOT, MATCHING, CONGRATS, TRANSVERSE.
• The postdoctoral contract should start no later than 6 months after the interview date.

Process

The co-chairs of the targeted project (PC) will analyse the submitted applications and select the candidates invited for an interview. The selected candidates will then give an oral presentation to present (1) their CV, (2) their previous research, (3) the proposed research program and (4) the adequacy of the research program to the PEPR eNSEMBLE and the selected PC. The jury will be composed of at least two co-chairs of the selected PC and one program director of eNSEMBLE. The interview can take place by videoconference.

Submission form

Use this form to submit your application

The application form requires uploading several PDF documents including:

• CV of the candidate (2 pages maximum)
• CV of the main advisor (2 pages maximum)
• Research program (3 pages maximum) including:
  • Context, Objectives, Challenges, Approach, Originality, Methods, Anticipated results,
  • Project organisation (feasibility, duration, milestones, partnerships, etc.)
  • Adequacy with the objectives of PEPR eNSEMBLE and of the selected PC.

Selection criteria

• Quality of the CV of the candidate
• Quality of the research program (objective, approach, originality, methods, feasability)
• Adequacy of the research program with (1) the PEPR eNSEMBLE objectives and (2) the specific topics of the selected PC (see details & additional requirements for some PCs in the application form)
• Commitment to participate in PEPR eNSEMBLE, including the animation of the selected PC
• The final decision takes into account program-wide criteria such as an equitable sharing of financial resources across space (geographical distribution), time (from one year to the next), gender (male/female/non-binary), partner institutions, etc.

The weight of the different criteria might depend on the selected PCs. We invite the candidate to carefully read the description of the selected PC and contact the PC chairs ahead of their application.

Calendar

• Applications can be submitted until the 06/03/2025 for the Spring session
  • 15/03/2025 at the latest: Notification about the candidates’ invitation to an interview for the Spring session
  • 28/03/2025 at the latest: Interviews for the Spring session
  • 29/03/2025 at the latest: Notification of the selected candidates
• Applications can be submitted until the 09/10/2025 for the Autumn session
  • 17/10/2025 at the latest: Notification about the candidates’ invitation to an interview for the Autumn session
  • 07/11/2025 & 14/11/2025: Interviews for the Autumn session
  • 17/11/2025 at the latest: Notification of the selected candidates

Specific characteristics of Target projects

CATS

PC1 CATS will not open any additional postdoctoral positions for the autumn 2025 session. Thank you for your understanding.

PILOT

Targeted Project 2 will open a limited number of postdoc positions for the entire year 2025 on the subject of long-term collaboration in the fields of industry, software engineering or health or another field if strongly justified.

MATCHING

MATCHING (PC3) prioritises projects falling within theme 3 (impact of intelligent systems on expertise and loss of competence) while not excluding excellent proposals falling within themes 1 and 2.

Theme 1: Modelling and understanding groups of agents with social capabilities in intelligent systems. This theme considers groups of humans and one or more intelligent systems. Human groups are composed of twenty or more people, which implies complex interaction dynamics. An intelligent system, composed of one or more artificial agents, must support the collaboration of such groups (human and/or hybrid) and facilitate their cohesion in the context of achieving common objectives. We are interested both in understanding how collaboration occurs and develops in a hybrid group comprising humans and artificial agents and in developing measures and indicators to evaluate this collaboration. In these contexts, we can address the subjects of agents’ sociability, their adaptation to collective activities, and the management of collaboration control in the various tasks carried out in groups of humans.
Keywords: Intelligent systems, collaborative process, group, conflict, leadership, collaborative interactions, emergence of collective agentivity.

Theme 2: Modelling and understanding collaborative or competitive interactions between two (or more) humans and intelligent systems. Users of increasingly complex intelligent systems may feel a loss of control due to difficulties in understanding the elements that lead to decisions in these systems. The objective is to propose models and frameworks for mutual understanding between humans and intelligent systems in a context of collaboration, in particular through individualised and contextualised adaptations of intelligent systems to humans. This theme could, for example, address (but is not limited to) the fields of affective computing, virtual agents and the modelling of user diversity. These areas could involve collaborative situations comprising several humans and agents, and the models produced could be based on multimodal interactions.
Keywords: Complexity, Control, User state, Trust, Adaptation, Ethics, Diversity.

Theme 3: Impact of intelligent systems on expertise and the loss of skills. This theme addresses the effect of prolonged use of intelligent systems by a set of human users. Whether they trust or distrust these systems, their use can modify their critical thinking, their curiosity and their analytical skills, and have a deleterious impact on the decisions or performance of the hybrid complex formed in the short or longer term, including collaboration between humans. For this theme, contributions from the human and social sciences could be complemented by technical contributions to establish the desirable conditions of use of intelligent systems.
Keywords: Long-term interaction, shared authority, deskilling, vulnerability

CONGRATS

No specific instructions

TRANSVERSE

No specific instructions