Post-Doctoral Research Visit F/M Postdoc - Visualization for Storytelling, Collaboration, and Situation Awareness across Time and Place

The Inria Saclay-Île-de-France Research Centre was established in 2008. It has developed as part of the Saclay site in partnership with Paris-Saclay University and with the Institut Polytechnique de Paris .

The centre has 41 project teams , 27 of which operate jointly with Paris-Saclay University and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Its activities occupy over 600 people, scientists and research and innovation support staff, including 44 different nationalities.

This postdoctoral position is funded through the Inria International Relations Department to support the collaboration between the ILDA team at Inria Saclay and Prof. Matt Brehmer’s group at the University of Waterloo. The postdoc will contribute to a broad research agenda on Visualization for Storytelling, Collaboration, and Situation Awareness across Time and Place, investigating how visualization can support people in analyzing, communicating, coordinating, and making sense of data together across co-located, remote, synchronous, and asynchronous settings. Possible contexts include control rooms, remote visual analytics, asynchronous revisitation of collaborative analysis, and situated or place-based data storytelling. The fellow will be based at Inria Saclay and is expected to spend part of the contract period at the University of Waterloo, in accordance with Inria mobility rules.

Eligibility

Candidates for postdoctoral positions are recruited after the completion of their Ph.D. or a first postdoctoral period. To be eligible, candidates must have defended their Ph.D. no more than 3 years before the start date of the contract. As the start date will be between November 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027, the latest eligible Ph.D. defense date will vary accordingly (approximately between November 1, 2023 and January 1, 2024).

In order to encourage mobility, the postdoctoral position must take place in a scientific environment that is truly different from the one of the Ph.D. (and, if applicable, from the position held since the Ph.D.); particular attention is thus paid to French or international candidates who obtained their doctorate abroad.

Recrutment Process

This position is part of the Inria International Relations Department Postdoctoral Campaign 2026. Candidates should submit their application through this website by June 7, 2026. Applications should include a detailed CV with a complete list of publications, a motivation letter, a short research statement explaining how the candidate would position their work within the proposed topic, and the names of two referees or recommendation letters if already available. The selected candidate will then be proposed by the host team to the Inria International Relations Department for final evaluation. For any question about the position, candidates are encouraged to contact Arnaud Prouzeau at arnaud.prouzeau@inria.f

Assignments :
The postdoctoral researcher will conduct an original research project within the broad topic of Visualization for Storytelling, Collaboration, and Situation Awareness across Time and Place. The goal is to investigate how interactive visualization systems can support shared understanding across different collaborative configurations, including co-located and remote work, synchronous collaboration, and asynchronous communication or revisitation. Depending on the candidate’s profile, the work may focus on collaborative visualization, data storytelling, situation awareness, immersive or multimodal interaction, AI-assisted collaboration, or evaluation methods for collaborative systems. The researcher will contribute to the collaboration between Inria Saclay and the University of Waterloo through research design, prototype development, empirical studies, publications, and joint scientific exchanges.

Collaboration :
The recruited person will be in connection with Prof. Matt Brehmer at the University of Waterloo, who collaborates with the ILDA team on collaborative visualization, data storytelling, and communication around data.

Responsibilities :
The person recruited is responsible for conducting the related scientific work, developing prototypes or research artifacts when relevant, designing and running empirical studies, analyzing results, and contributing to publications in major venues in HCI and visualization.

Main activities (5 maximum) :

• Conduct a literature review on collaborative visualization, data storytelling, situation awareness, CSCW, and related interactive systems.
• Design and develop interactive visualization prototypes, research probes, or experimental systems, depending on the selected research direction.
• Conduct empirical studies with users, which may include interviews, observations, controlled studies, design workshops, or field studies.
• Participate in the scientific collaboration between Inria Saclay and the University of Waterloo, including regular meetings and possible research visits.

Technical skills and level required : Strong background in Human-Computer Interaction, Information Visualization, Visual Analytics, Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, or a related field. Experience with designing, implementing, or evaluating interactive systems is expected. Skills in user studies, qualitative or mixed-methods research, prototyping, data analysis, or data storytelling will be strongly appreciated.

Languages : Excellent written and spoken English is required. Knowledge of French is not required but would be appreciated.

Relational skills : Ability to work autonomously while actively collaborating with an international research team. Good communication skills, openness to interdisciplinary work, and ability to interact with researchers, students, and potential study participants.

Other valued appreciated : Experience with collaborative systems, immersive analytics, AR/VR, multimodal interaction, AI-assisted tools, field studies, or design studies would be a plus. Previous publications in HCI, visualization, CSCW, or related venues will be appreciated.

• Subsidized meals
• Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
• Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
• Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours
• Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
• Social, cultural and sports events and activities
• Access to vocational training
• Social security coverage

€2,788 gross per month