Call Expression of Interest MSCA Postdoctoral fellowships at UNIGE – N. Adaptive

Position: Call for Expression of Interest for MSCA Postdoctoral fellowships at UNIGE – N. 53 Adaptive and[...]
University of Genoa, UNIGE, located in Genoa, Italy.
Position
Call for Expression of Interest for a joint application under the upcoming Call for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2026.
About the Fellowship
The Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship is a funding scheme of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Research & Innovation programme, dedicated to promoting excellent research through international mobility, interdisciplinary and intersect oral exchanges. The fellowship provides a competitive salary, mobility and family allowances, and a contribution to cover research, training and networking costs. Projects last 2–3 years.
Selected candidates will be provided with special support for proposal writing and development. In May 2026 the University of Genoa will organize the fifth edition of the Masterclass MSCA@Uni Ge, a 2‑day online intensive training and coaching course on successful proposal writing. The masterclass includes pre‑screening of draft proposals and dedicated B2B meetings with the European Research Office of Uni Ge, National Contact Point and other experts.
MSCA Domain
Information Science and Engineering (ENG)
Research Project Description
The main thematic area is the design and development of innovative Extended Reality (XR) environments that integrate multimodal interaction techniques and adaptive mechanisms. The overarching goal is to move beyond conventional Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) solutions by proposing methods and systems that genuinely extend users’ perception and interaction capabilities within digitally mediated environments.
The research will focus on several key aspects:

(1) Artificial Intelligence for Advanced Interaction: using AI techniques to enable more robust, natural, and context‑aware interaction paradigms within XR environments, enhancing user‑system communication through intelligent interpretation of behavioural and sensory inputs.
(2) Adaptive AI‑Driven Environmental Mechanisms: designing mechanisms that dynamically modify environmental features in response to user behaviour, preferences, and cognitive or affective states, personalising the XR experience in real time and improving usability, engagement, and task performance.
(3) Multimodal and Physiological Signal Integration: employing multimodal interaction signals, including physiological data such as heart rate variability, galvanic skin response, or eye‑tracking, to implement biofeedback mechanisms that support implicit interaction and allow the environment to adapt according to users’ emotional or cognitive conditions.
(4) AI and Computer Graphics for Realistic and Efficient XR Environments: integrating AI and computer graphics techniques to enhance realism and behavioural plausibility of virtual environments and intelligent agents while addressing computational efficiency and real‑time performance constraints in immersive systems.

Research Group
Fellows will participate in the research activities of DIBRIS (Dept. of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems Engineering) at the University of Genoa, specifically with the Perception & Interaction Lab (PILab). PILab conducts research on human perception and computational modelling, applied to human‑computer interaction problems in eXtended Reality. PILab’s goal is to advance beyond traditional VR and AR applications by addressing perceptual and interaction issues that hinder natural adoption of these technologies, benefiting a range of contexts from entertainment to education and rehabilitation.
Recent projects include biorobotic and digital technologies for healthcare (Fit 4 Medical Robotics), digital media for assessment and rehabilitation of social interactions (Project Interreg Alcotra INTEVIDI), and biofeedback‑based VR exposure therapies for anxiety disorders (BRAVE Project). The group also focuses on XR solutions for training and learning, as well as potential issues related to XR.
PILab is located at Valletta Puggia c/o DIBRIS, equipped with appropriate facilities.
Eligibility Criteria

Maximum 8 years of post‑doctoral research experience.
Must not have resided or carried out main activities in Italy (for European Fellowship) or in the Third Country of the outgoing phase (for Global Fellowship) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the deadline (9 September 2026).

Application Information
The call will open on 10 April 2026. For further details, consult the official MSCA PF 2026 information.
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