[Hiring] Working Student - Physiological Signals as a Measure of Cognitive Load in Virtual Reality @Fraunhofer-Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen IIS

Role Description

As part of the "Advanced Speech Research" group, you will be involved in performing empirical research on the perception and cognition of audio in an interactive virtual environment. One of the goals is to understand how physiological signals can be used to assess the cognitive load of processing speech information. Specifically, a study will be conducted to assess eye data such as pupillometry and gaze-tracking while people perform mind-wandering and N-back tasks. A controlled virtual reality environment will be developed to induce different cognitive states in a systematic manner using different speech passages, enabling research into mental demand in a reproducible environment. The research provides a unique opportunity to combine:

• Creative Design and Implementation: You will design and implement an audiovisual environment in a virtual reality environment and integrate tools to record physiological signals.
• Gathering Ground Truth Data: You will coordinate and conduct an empirical research experiment to collect data from participants reflecting cognitive states throughout various tasks.
• Data Analysis: You will perform statistical analysis of data following publishing methods in addition to supporting new modelling methods.
• Scientific Writing: You will be given the chance to contribute to publishing the research through scientific journals or conferences, in addition to showcasing your results through online datasets.

Qualifications

• You are currently studying either a bachelor’s or master’s degree related to cognitive sciences, sensory sciences, or a related field.
• Enjoying creative and collaborative work in a multidisciplinary field and are eager to learn about topics such as virtual reality and auditory cognition.
• Strong command of English for working in an international environment.

Requirements

• Organize your schedule: Benefit from flexible working hours that are perfectly compatible with your studies.
• Become part of a creative team: Experience an open and friendly working atmosphere in which your ideas are valued.
• Variety that inspires: Look forward to diverse tasks that inspire and challenge you.
• Shape the future with us: Take part in application-oriented research and put your theoretical knowledge to practice.
• Innovation that inspires: Exciting and pioneering projects that make a real difference.

Benefits

• We will agree your start date and weekly working hours with you individually (as a working student 10 to 15 hours per week or for an internship at least three months).
• You can reduce your hours before exams and increase them during semester breaks.
• You can set your working days flexibly.
• After your studies, there are attractive opportunities to join the institute on a full-time or part-time basis.
• You can flexibly determine the working days of your fixed-term employment contract.
• We would be happy to offer you the opportunity to write a bachelor's or master's thesis in cooperation with us in the above-mentioned subject area.

Company Description

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is one of the world’s leading applied research organizations. 74 institutes develop cutting-edge technologies for our economy and society – more precisely: 30,000 people working in technology, science, administration, and IT. They know: If you join Fraunhofer, then you are able to promote change. For themselves, for us and for the markets of today and tomorrow.