VDS in Cognition, Behavior, and Neuroscience
The VDS CoBeNe is an interdisciplinary, interfaculty doctoral school connecting Psychology, Behavioural and Cognitive Biology, Neuroscience and Cognitive Humanities such as Linguistics and Art History. The PhD candidates supported by the school work on diverse topics within and also across those areas of scientific inquiry. Human and also non-human minds and behavior are investigated in relation to their societal, environmental and (neuro)biological contexts with a wide variety of theoretical and empirical approaches. The school supports PhD candidates in becoming independent, successful early-career researchers by offering rigorous training including scientific as well as soft skills, mentorship and opportunities for collaboration. These goals are achieved for example by interdisciplinary workshops, retreats, conferences, outreach events and by providing financial support for research activities. VDS CoBeNe promotes the student's scientific development by promoting state of the art methods and scientific practices (e.g. open science, meta-science) as well as personal development by offering an open-minded, supportive and research facilitating environment.
Application language: Applications to this doctoral school must be submitted in English.
Update: The application deadline was 2 March, 14:00 CET.
You can still access your submitted application via the Application Portal.
Please do not inquire about the status of your application. All candidates will be informed of the outcome of the selection process as soon as possible.
Supervisor / Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
We are an interdisciplinary research group based at the Faculty of Psychology and the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS). We study the microbiome-brain axis in relation to neural plasticity, learning, and memory by integrating neuroimaging, gut microbial profiling, and behavioural assessments. Our work spans healthy humans, individuals with reduced plasticity (e.g., stress, genetic risk for dementia, perturbed neurodevelopment), and animal models. We showed that gut microbial networks relate to brain network dynamics and that their metabolic capacities shape stress hormone regulation. Ongoing projects include the world’s largest cohort of young APOE4 carriers to study effects of early dementia risk on microbiome and cognition. Supported by an ERC Starting Grant, we now focus on the microbial effects on (human) hippocampal plasticity, and on the impact of microbial neurotransmitter production (e.g., GABA) on (mouse) hippocampal circuits and behaviourh
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
The candidate should support our research on microbiome-brain interactions for (human) neural plasticity, learning, and memory. Candidates should have a strong interest in neuroscience, microbial networks and their metabolic outputs. Research themes may include pre/probiotic/dietary interventions in individuals with reduced neural plasticity (genetic risk for dementia, older adults, different clinical populations), or studies on microbial metabolite/neurotransmitter production and hippocampus-related (neuro)cognition. We are also very interested in studying the temporal dynamics of microbial networks and their effects on the host. Projects do not need to involve neuroimaging (fMRI) but may also be purely behavioural, using paradigms related to hippocampal plasticity. The position also offers a certain degree of flexibility to pursue independent research ideas that may arise from the above topics, and that are connected to the group’s research interests and expertise.
Weblink for further information: https://www.isabellawagner.com
Email: isabella.wagner(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Interests and supervision areas cover (but are not restricted to):
(1) Human perception, in particular seeing, but also hearing and feeling. What role do expectancies play in perception? Why do perceptual illusions occur? How do humans perceive consciously?
(2) Human attention - the selection of information for various purposes (e.g. during driving or reading).
(3) Experimental psychology, allowing to identify the most powerful critical side conditions for human performance.
(4) The limits of human intentional control: When are humans susceptible to information and messages they do not want to process? What are the necessary side conditions for the succesful suppression of the processing of unwanted input?
(5) Human emotional processing: How can emotions be measured? How are they elicited? How can humans strategically control their emotions?
(6) Human memory, in particular priming - a form of implicit or nondeclarative memory -, working memory, and skill memory.
(7) Human ergonomics and sensorimotor coordination, with a focus on compatibility - that is, the "fit" between sensory input and required output, including Human-Machine- and Human-Computer-Interactions/Interfaces (HMI and HCI).
(8) Human consciousness: What is it? How can it be measured? What is the division of labor between conscious and nonconscious processing?
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Currently, we focus on the following areas, but the list can be easily accomodated by other topics:
(1) visual perception in novel laser-beam micro-mechanical electrical displays (together with industry INFINEON and TU Vienna), where we study the inclusiveness of the technology (e.g. is it suited for the elderly?) as well as its perceptual underpinnings;
(2) suppression of unwanted input in visual perception (e.g. how is suppression achieved? How does suppression relate to intentional search for relevant information? Can one and the same feature actively searched-for and suppressed, depending on the context? How quick are humans to switch between search and suppression? What features or objects can be suppressed? Can features be suppressed at particular times only?);
(3) novel haptic technology: what can we achieve with it? Currently, we use a mouse- or scroll-wheel that can be programmed to show various resistance profiles and test if it allows novel applications in human-computer interactions (together with industry STIWA);
(4) attention to insects: are insects threatening to humans because they correspond to a threat? Does this influence attention, e.g. attract attention or lead to avoidance? How do humans attend to different insects, e.g. beneficial insects vs. pests? Does human knowledge about insects make a difference? The questions are important as insects do not get the financial support and protection as is necessary given their role for ecological systems.
Weblink for further information: https://homepage.univie.ac.at/ulrich.ansorge/
Email: ulrich.ansorge(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Evolution of language, evolution of music. Speech rhythm. Music cognition.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
EEG analysis of two people performing musical duets (singing, keyboards, drums, etc). EEG analysis of speech rhythm and musical rhythm. Corpus analysis of a large corpus of English folk songs. Effects of rhyme on memory.
Weblink for further information: https://becogbio.univie.ac.at/people/scientific-staff/tecumseh-fitch/
Email: tecumseh.fitch(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Our research group applies theories from the fields of social psychology and social cognition to study consumer behavior. We link basic and applied research and investigate how consumers process information, form judgments, and make decisions in applied fields. For instance, we study consumer behavior in the context of digital transformation, sustainability demands, and economic change. We are interested in how social psychological principles can help to understand problems in real life and how they contribute to a better life and positive social interactions. Specific areas of interest include examining the origins of dietary beliefs, such as the "unhealthy=tasty" intuition, and investigating why such beliefs persist despite contradictory experiences. We also study how beliefs about how others behave in social interactions motivate individuals to contribute to collective goals and examine the positive development of individuals within digital contexts.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
We are open for a wide range of topics related to theories of social cognition and social psychology. Specific topics for supervision include studying the development of social beliefs (e.g., the development of zero-sum beliefs in social interactions), investigating how the assumption that the own perceptions are objective influences evaluations of others in digital contexts (e.g., disregarding how others form judgments), and examining how prioritizing immediate self-interest versus positive outcomes for a social system influences consumer behavior (e.g., deciding to reduce consumption).
Weblink for further information: https://soko-psy.univie.ac.at/team/arnd-florack/
Email: arnd.florack(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
We examine how structural and functional properties of neural auditory and language systems constrain speech perception, language learning, multilingualism and reading. We link detailed morphology of Heschl’s gyrus and temporal sampling of speech to individual differences in aptitude, dyslexia and multilingualism. Using structural and functional MRI, EEG/MEG, computational modelling and behavioural assays, we map how nature and nurture shape linguistic abilities. Our automated phenotyping tools and open datasets enable reproducible characterisation of auditory cortex structure and its relationship to cognition, and emerging imaging–genetics findings. We aim to identify mechanistic markers that bridge behavioural profiles, neural dynamics and developmental or clinical outcomes. Ongoing/future directions include lifespan and developmental approaches to probe multilingualism-induced cognitive and neural reserve, and multimodal studies of multilingual dyslexia.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Projects may examine how linguistic environments, educational practices and sociocultural factors influence language learning trajectories; how multilingual experience shapes cognitive and neural organization; or how literacy and biliteracy reshape linguistic knowledge across communities. Other themes include cross-linguistic variation in orthography, phonology, syntax and semantics as a window into neurocognitive constraints; humanities-oriented analyses of linguistic diversity (e.g. typological distance measures) paired with neurobiological markers; and interdisciplinary work on communication, identity and language disorders.
Weblink for further information: https://brainandlanguagelab.org/
Email: narly.golestani(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Language change and language acquisition, acquisition of morphosyntactic complexity, cognitive basis of language change and reanalysis of morphosyntactic structure, processing and production of complex word forms and of argument/event structure alternations, structure of the mental lexicon, testing theories of language change (especially generative/mentalist approaches) with L1 acquisition data.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Directionality and language change from an L1 acquisition perspective; L1 acquisition and change in the selectional properties of derivational morphology; L1 vs. L2 processing of complex word forms: implications for morphological change/language change; directionality in syntactic vs. morphological change and L1 acquisition
Weblink for further information: https://lauragrestenberger.com/
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
My research lies at the intersection of developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience and focuses on social and cognitive development in early childhood. Using a combination of behavioral and physiological methods in infants and children, my team and I investigate the mechanisms underlying naturalistic social learning interactions. In our research with caregiver-child dyads, we discovered that interpersonal synchronization of brain activities emerges spontaneously and remarkably early in caregiver-child interactions and is linked to relationship quality. Current projects focus on the role of interpersonal neural synchrony for children’s social well-being and language development.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Potential topics for doctoral projects include (but are not limited to):
- Early cognitive and brain processes of language learning and their links to later outcomes
- Predictors of child well-being during social and cultural transitions
- Cross-cultural differences and developmental trajectories of perception and attention (e.g., in art or music perception)
Weblink for further information: https://www.kinderstudien.at/en/
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
The Health Psychology Group works at the interface of psychology, public health and science communication, aiming to promote healthy lifestyles at the population level. We combine assessments of psychological determinants and outcomes with digital trace data and health behaviours tracked in real life (e.g., via Ecological Momentary Assessment and wearable sensors). In several new projects starting in spring 2026, we will investigate the influence of factual and misleading health information generated and obtained in online environments to understand how (mis-)information exposure shapes trust in science and institutions, attitudes, and health behaviours. Ultimately, we aim to derive intervention and policy recommendations. Our work is embedded in a strong interdisciplinary and international network, spanning disciplines such as communication science, science and technology studies and law, and several European countries and the United States.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
We are looking for a predoctoral researcher to conduct research in one of the following areas: (1) online food information environments, including misinformation and harmful marketing practices on social media; (2) trust in and preferences regarding AI-generated health advice; (3) factors contributing to trust in science and scientific health information, potentially with a specific focus on underserved populations.
Weblink for further information: https://gesundheit-psy.univie.ac.at/
Email: laura.koenig(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
My main research focus is
(a) to identify malleable characteristics in educational settings, i.e., concrete teacher behaviors, teacher attributes, and classroom climate, as these contribute to beneficial development of motivational, cognitive, and socio-emotional student outcomes with a special focus on diversity (gender, ability, achievement, migration background).
(b) I exploit and advance cutting-edge statistical methodologies to address important substantive questions, and
(c) typically use multiple methods (questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, portfolios), multiple informants (students, teachers, parents), and different research designs.
(d) Additionally, I aim to focus on the development and evaluation of training and intervention programs in different educational contexts (gender equality, traffic safety, students in the transition to University, “Induktionsphase” in teacher education).
(e) Another line of research focuses on identity development in adolescence.
Weblink for further information: https://lehrerinnenbildung.univie.ac.at/arbeitsbereiche/entwicklungspsychologie-und-bildungspsychologie-des-schulalters/
Email: marko.lueftenegger(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
The research of the Psycholinguistics Group at the Department of Linguistics revolves around the cognitive and neural basis of language processing and learning and their interface with domain general cognition. We have a specific interest in language and cognitive development and combine behavioral methods with neurophysiological measures (EEG, fNIRS), computational models and conceptual work. This includes collaborations across many disciplines beyond psycho- and neurolinguistics and includes developmental psychology, cognitive biology, philosophy and computer science.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Potential research topics that would fit particularly well in the current research foci of the group are
i) neurocognitive development of mentalization skills in early infancy
ii) projects targeted at the role of linguistic representations and processes for ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of higher cognitive functions
iii) phenomenology and function of inner sign in deaf people who are proficient in sign language(s) (here, potential applicants need to be proficient in at least one sign language)
iv) cognitive and neural processes underlying processing, identification and sharing of disinformation and bullshit
v) projects that combine theoretical or historical linguistic questions and tools from psycho- and neurolinguistics
Projects that combine questions and methods across different disciplines and involve co-supervision are encouraged.
Weblink for further information: https://www.babelfisch.at/
Email: jutta.mueller(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
In my research, I am trying to understand the potentially benefical effects of aesthetic experiences, in particular of music (both actively playing, but also merely listening to music). I combine both quantitative and qualitative methods and assessments, contextualized in various research settings ranging from ecologically valid approaches (e.g., orchestra, opera, but also everyday life of listeners) to more controlled environments (e.g., laboratory settings). To this end, I am directing the Vienna Music & Health Lab (https://www.musicandhealthlab.com/), and I am open to supervising innovative research in the area of music and health.
Weblink for further information: https://www.musicandhealthlab.com/
Email: urs.nater(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Research and supervision focus on the psychology of ageing, with particular emphasis on social relationships, motivation and emotion in later life. Older adults are viewed as active agents of their own development and well-being, shaping their lives through goals, choices and social engagement. Further interests include the role of the natural environment in social, motivational and emotional functioning in older age, and life transitions in older adulthood, with a primary focus on menopause.
Weblink for further information: https://altern-psy.univie.ac.at/en/
Email: jana.nikitin(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Environmental Psychology, behavioural insights, risk perception, risk and uncertainty communication, drivers of individual and collective behaviour, policy support, social processes of change, science-policy interface, motivation and emotion related to environmental risks, quantitative methods, experimental designs
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
the above in the context of environmental pollutants such as microplastics, harmful chemicals, or in relation to climate change, biodiversity threats
Weblink for further information: https://env-psy.univie.ac.at/
Email: sabine.pahl(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Head of ARTIS Lab (https://www.artislab.org/): Empirical Aesthetics and Psychology of Art. Cognitive and Neuroaesthetics. Arts and Health, Wellbeing, Societal Challenges. interpersonal neuroscience, hyperscanning, fNIRS. Artistic creativity and the brain.
Weblink for further information: https://www.artislab.org/
Email: matthew.pelowski(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Cognitive research in art history
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Using eye tracking to solve art historical issues
Weblink for further information: https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/en/staff/professors/rosenberg-raphael/
Email: raphael.rosenberg(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
The primary research interest is to understand from a neuroscientific point of view the mechanisms (neurochemical and neurophysiological) behind processes at the heart of what has been termed “social intelligence”, such as empathy and prosocial behaviors, in the clinical and non-clinical population. This goal is achieved by using multi-level approach that combines different methodologies: functional neuroimaging, TMS, EMG and pharmacological manipulations.
Supervision areas involve:
• Basic research: understanding the fundamental mechanisms behind social cognition, social emotions and their link to social behaviors.
• Clinical research: understanding differences in social competences and processing of other people’s mental and emotional states observed in conditions such as autism and alexithymia.
• Developmental research: understanding the development of social emotions, social intelligence and prosociality across the life span.
• Translational research: bridging different theoretical and methodological approaches from animal and human models of cognition.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
- The neural circuitry of social homeostasis in humans (from social isolation to social overload)
- The neuropharmacology of reward processing
- The neurodivergent brain: myths and challenges
- The role of cognitive and neural diversity in collective behavior
- Diversity in the school context: training double empathy
Weblink for further information: https://klinische-gesundheit-psy.univie.ac.at/forschung/arbeitsbereiche-und-arbeitsgruppen/clinical-social-neuroscience-unit/
Email: giorgia.silani(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
Full Professor of Psychological Research Methods – Research Synthesis (Dept. of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology).
Research focus: methods of research/evidence synthesis (meta-analyses, systematic reviews, mapping and scoping reviews, etc.), pursuing both method development (statistical tests, data visualization for meta-analysis) and applications of meta-analysis (across various themes/fields in the social sciences), and related topics (open science/scholarship, replication studies, metascience [“research about research and researchers”].
Longstanding interdisciplinary interests: research collaborations, joint publications with researchers outside psychology in the social sciences and humanities (communication science, literary studies, political science, sociology).
Additional humanities degrees: Mag. phil. (MA) in German studies (minor: communication science), Dr. phil. (PhD) in German studies. Various publications in comparative literary studies.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Applications of research/evidence synthesis methods (meta-analysis, etc.) in the social sciences and humanities.
Open science, open scholarship, and metascience studies in the social sciences and humanities.
Quantitative approaches in the humanities (e.g., quantitative text analysis in literary studies and literary translation studies, text mining).
Interdisciplinarily minded topics with joint PhD supervision – amalgamating perspectives, approaches, research questions, and methods from psychology with other social science disciplines and/or the humanities – are particularly welcome.
Weblink for further information: https://homepage.univie.ac.at/martin.voracek/
Email: martin.voracek(at)univie.ac.at
Research Interests and Supervision Areas
I am broadly interested in how the environment affects health and well-being, especially how urban nature can build and maintain health-related resilience processes.
Possible research themes or topics for doctoral projects
Environment and Health; Ecological public health; Nature and well-being; Nature-based therapies; Biopsychosocial Resilience; Green spaces; Blue spaces
Weblink for further information: https://env-psy.univie.ac.at/about-us/mat-white/
Email: mathew.white(at)univie.ac.at