Postdoc in Foundations for Emergent Deception in Human-AI Interaction

We are seeking to recruit a postdoctoral researcher to work on the project "DeceptionWeb: Foundations for Emergent Deception in Human-AI Interaction", funded by a UCPH Convergence Grant and led by Pepa Atanasova (Computer Science), Ingo Zettler (Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science and Department of Psychology), and Egor Starkov (Economics). The project's goal is to build a foundational framework for understanding emergent deception in human-AI interaction by uniting behavioural-psychological, economic-strategic, and machine learning perspectives.

The postdoc will be jointly supervised by Pepa Atanasova and Ingo Zettler and will work at the interface of machine learning and behavioural psychology. Duties include contributing to co-designing and running controlled human-AI interaction experiments; developing the computational evaluation infrastructure; and contributing interpretability-based detection methods to the joint oversight framework. In addition to the PIs and this postdoctoral researcher, the team also includes a second postdoc bridging Economics and Psychology, and a student assistant.

The postdoc’s duties will also to a smaller degree include teaching and supervision.
 
 

Who are we looking for?

Applicants should hold a PhD degree or equivalent in Computer Science or a related field and have good written and oral English skills. The assessment of qualifications will also be made based on previous scientific publications and relevant work experience. The ideal candidate would have an educational background, prior research and work experience on Natural Language Processing, LLM Security, and/or Explainable AI. Experience in interdisciplinary projects, experimental research with human participants, and/or cognitive, personality, or social psychology is a plus.
 
 

Our group and research- and what do we offer?

The successful candidate will join the CopeNLU group and the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the University of Copenhagen. These are vibrant and collaborative research groups. With a strong focus on both foundational and applied research, we provide a platform for exploring cutting-edge topics in NLP, while also emphasising the importance of transparent and responsible AI development.

The Natural Language Processing research environment at the University of Copenhagen is internationally leading, as e.g. evidenced by it being ranked second in Europe according to CSRankings. Further information about research at the Department is available here: https://di.ku.dk/english/research/.

SODAS is an interdisciplinary social data science center at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Combining social science and data science theories, methods, and paradigms, it aspires to conduct cutting-edge and creative interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach at the crossroads of the social sciences and data science. The position is open from 1 October 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter, and will be offered for one year and nine months.

Terms of employment

The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Salary, pension and other conditions of employment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant organisation. Currently, the monthly salary starts at 39,900 DKK/approx. 5,300 EUR (August 2026 level). Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 18,07 % to your pension fund.

Foreign and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions, if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include

1. Cover Letter detailing your motivation and background for applying for this position;
2. Research plan – description of current and future research plans;
3. Curriculum vitae including information about your education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position;
4. Diplomas (Master’s and PhD degree or equivalent);
5. Complete publication list;
6. Separate reprints of 3 particularly relevant papers;
7. Names and contact details of three references.

Application deadline
 The deadline for applications is 5 July 2026, 23:59 GMT +1.

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee. You will be notified about whether your application will be selected for assessment.

The assessors will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above-mentioned research area, skills and other requirements. The assessors will conclude whether each applicant is qualified. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessments. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in July 2026.

Questions
 Inquiries about the position can be made to Pepa Atanasova <pepa@di.ku.dk> and Ingo Zettler <ingo.zettler@sodas.ku.dk>.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position