Research Associate for "PerspektivArbeit Lausitz" (m/f/d) - Reference Number: 43-2026 PAL -

Interdisciplinary teams specializing in work research and engineering from five universities, as well as 27 companies and associations from Saxony and Brandenburg, are pooling their expertise in the PerspektiveArbeit Lausitz (PAL) project. Their shared goal is to make work in the Lausitz region more efficient, attractive, and healthier through data-driven assistance systems.

The overarching goal of the PAL research project (https://pal.webspace.tu-dresden.de/) is to establish a regional center of excellence for the future of work in Saxony and Brandenburg. Ergonomic methods are to be deliberately combined with artificial intelligence techniques and made tangible in cross-industry demonstration centers as “Living,” “Learning,” “Innovation,” and “Mobile” Labs.

As part of this collaborative project, the Chair of Business Administration, specifically Production Management and Logistics at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, is developing and investigating data-driven assistance systems to support operational processes; in particular, the use of intelligent chatbots as data-driven voice assistance systems in both internal and external knowledge management is being examined. To ensure the successful implementation of this AI-supported assistance system, the expectations and acceptance factors of employees at small and medium-sized regional companies regarding the new technology will be examined based on ergonomics-related research questions.

The position holder (m/f/d) will be responsible in particular for the following tasks:

• Requirements analysis, further development, deployment, and evaluation of intelligent voice assistance models along the value chain of regional SMEs,
• Identifying individual acceptance factors among employees to map and incorporate them into the design of data-driven voice assistance systems,
• Conceiving, designing, and evaluating personalized and acceptance-oriented data-based assistance systems in economic decision-making situations,
• Deriving practical recommendations for action to ensure the transferability of the results,
• Scientific dissemination of project results at (international) conferences and in academic journals,
• Monitoring project progress and reporting.

The following knowledge and skills are required

• A university degree in a scientific field, preferably in production, logistics, or supply chain management; industrial engineering; computer science; business sciences; or a related department,
• Experience with R, Python, MATLAB, or another programming language for data science applications,
• Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods,
• Knowledge of project management

In addition, the following are desirable:

• Knowledge of local chatbot solutions, how vector databases work, and language models,
• Experience in the development and application of machine learning in an industrial setting,
• Experience in scientific project work and the publication of research results,
• Proficiency in spoken and written English,
• experience with R, Python, MATLAB, or another programming language for data science applications,
• Interest in social science and psychological issues,
• Willingness to pursue further qualifications as part of a (cooperative) doctoral program.

We expect you to have

• Strong written and oral communication skills, as well as an independent, conscientious, systematic, analytical, and team-oriented approach to work,
• Confidence in public speaking and the ability to present research findings to both expert and non-expert audiences,
• A willingness to perform and help others; flexibility; creativity; interdisciplinary thinking,
• Willingness to travel for work.

We offer you

• Flexible and family-friendly working hours in accordance with applicable employment agreements, as well as part-time options,
• Opportunities for personal and professional development through targeted continuing education and training,
• Attractive employee benefits (company pension plan, annual bonus, capital-forming benefits),
• A workplace health management program with initiatives to promote employee health and the option to use a job ticket.