Postdoctoral Position: Regarding SENSE: Sensory Education in Children with Multiple Impairments (Recruiting Grant, Foecker)

The Danish School of Education (DPU) at the Faculty of Arts, Aarhus University, invites applications for a fixed-term, two-year postdoctoral position associated with the AUFF-funded research project SENSE: Sensory Education in Children with Multiple Impairments.

The position is full-time (37 hours per week) and begins on 1 March 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The position is based within the Department of Educational Psychology at DPU’s Emdrup campus in Copenhagen (see the description of DPU below).

DPU is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply, regardless of their personal background.

Research context

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join a project investigating how children with special needs engage with gamified sensory activities, and how these activities influence enjoyment, perception and cognition. The project aims to advance inclusive education by developing a theoretical and empirical basis for multisensory enrichment in learning environments.

The successful applicant will contribute to both the theoretical development and the empirical implementation of the project, working closely with schools, teachers, children and interdisciplinary collaborators.

Key responsibilities include:

• Investigating children’s interactions with gamified tactile and multisensory activities, and assessing their impact on enjoyment, perceptual performance and cognitive processes
• Reviewing and synthesising relevant literature to develop a robust theoretical framework linking sensory technologies to multisensory learning and inclusion
• Recruiting participants and schools, coordinating data collection and managing ethics procedures
• Conducting school visits to engage directly with children, observe their behaviour and preferences, and collaborate with teachers
• Designing and running online studies investigating the digital experiences and learning environments of children with special needs
• Analysing behavioural data and contributing to theory development
• Preparing manuscripts for submission to peer-reviewed journals and contributing to conference presentations.

As AUFF-funded research projects may not include any teaching activities, this position is entirely dedicated to research throughout the project period.

Qualifications

Applicants must hold a PhD degree or document equivalent qualifications in Education, Educational Psychology, or a related field.

Applicants must be able to document, relevant to the position:

• A research profile within special needs education or a related field in education, documented by a PhD dissertation and/or research publications
• Experience in independently managing research projects
• Experience with qualitative data analysis, documented in relevant publications
• Experience working with children in educational or developmental contexts; experience with children with special needs is an advantage
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills for productive engagement within the research team and with external organisations
• Experience in planning and conducting educational fieldwork
• Excellent proficiency in the Danish language.

Furthermore, it will be considered an advantage if applicants can document:

• A track record of high-quality research publications at an international level, commensurate with career stage.

Please note that although the application process can be completed on the Aarhus University system without uploading publications, applications that do not include uploaded publications (maximum two) will not be considered.

Deadline

Applications must be received no later than 15 January 2026.

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