Postdoctoral Researcher at the Donders Centre for Cognition

18 Jul 2023
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Radboud University

Research Field

Cultural studies

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

28 Jul 2023 - 22:00 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

40.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

How does a waiter at a restaurant know what we mean when we point to an empty glass, and how did we learn to select that particular gesture? This cognitive neuroscience project bridges the fields of social motor cognition, neurodevelopment and experimental semiotics to understand the emergence and control of interaction-specific shared context.

This project studies interlocutors engaged in linguistic and non-linguistic communicative referential games, using behavioural (arm movements, gaze) and neural (fMRI) correlates of production and comprehension of communicative signals in adults. A second branch of the overall project is also exploring which features of children's socio-cultural environment influence their ability to coordinate with other people later in development. The overall goal of this project is to understand neurocognitive and developmental mechanisms supporting the construction of an interaction-specific context, i.e. a context that allows interlocutors to communicate effectively with referentially flexible signals. The project will test the hypothesis that interlocutors' brains become synchronised to shared communicative control parameters, over and above the dynamics of signal occurrence, and that variation in social experiences early in life is crucial for acquiring sensitivity to shared communicative control parameters.

We are looking for an experienced PhD graduate interested in joining a multidisciplinary team at the Donders Institute. The project is embedded in the research groups of Professors Ivan Toni, Arjen Stolk and Sabine Hunnius, and Dr Jana Basnakova, combining expertise in social neurocognition, experimental semiotics, neurodevelopment, and neuropragmatics. The project will use referential games, quantifying the dynamics of neural geometries simultaneously in dyads of interlocutors (dual fMRI) using representational similarity analyses. In the second branch of the project, we intend to use wearable audio-recording devices to measure the interactions of three- to four-year-old children during their time in day care.

You will be responsible for analysing fMRI signals in projects investigating the production and comprehension of communicative signals in adults, during or following the performance of referential games.

The position also involves supervision of a dedicated research assistant, as well as mentoring Master students. You will take the lead in reporting the findings, in collaboration with the Principal Investigators, in international journals and conferences.

The Donders Institute values a diverse workforce. Female candidates are therefore particularly encouraged to apply.

Requirements
Specific Requirements

• You hold a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, with hands-on experience in human neuroimaging, representational similarity analysis, and neuroimaging of children.
• Coding literacy (Matlab or Python, R) and fluency in written and spoken English are required.
• You have a strong collaborative attitude and a proven ability to work in a team, given the interdisciplinary and multi-PI research setting.

You will be responsible for analyzing fMRI signals in projects investigating the production and comprehension of communicative signals in adults, during or following performance of referential games.
The position also involves supervision of a dedicated research assistant, as well as mentoring MSc students. You will take the lead in reporting the findings, in collaboration with the PIs, in international journals and conferences. The Donders Institute values a diverse workforce. Female candidates are therefore particularly encouraged to apply.

Additional Information
Benefits

• It concerns an employment for 1.0 FTE.
• The gross monthly salary amounts to a minimum of €3,974 and a maximum of €5,439 based on a 38-hour working week, depending on previous education and number of years of relevant work experience (salary scale 11 ).
• You will receive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• It concerns a temporary employment for 2 years.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services . Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment and help your family settle in Nijmegen.
• Working for us means getting extra days off. In case of full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the legally allotted 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions . You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Selection process

You can apply until 28 July 2023, exclusively using the button below. Kindly address your application to Ivan Toni. Please fill in the application form and attach the following documents:

• A letter of motivation.
• Your CV.

The first round of interviews will take place on Monday 31 July. The second round of interviews will take place on Friday 4 August. You would preferably begin employment on 1 September 2023.
We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure . It offers a rough outline of what you can expect during the application process, how we handle your personal data and how we deal with internal and external candidates.

Additional comments

For questions about the position, please contact Ivan Toni, Professor, at ivan.toni@donders.ru.nl . Alternatively, you can contact Arjen Stolk, Professor, at arjen.stolk@donders.ru.nl .

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/330403/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Radboud University

Country

Netherlands

City

Nijmegen

Postal Code

6525 XZ

Street

Houtlaan 4

Where to apply

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/330403/postdoctoral-researcher-at-the-donde…

Contact

City

Nijmegen

Website

http://www.ru.nl/

Street

Houtlaan 4

Postal Code

6525 XZ

STATUS: EXPIRED