MODELING LANGUAGE IN THE HUMAN BRAIN USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS

A joint postdoctoral position is available in the labs of Christopher Honey and Tal Linzen at Johns Hopkins University.  ( https://www.honeylab.org and https://caplabjhu.org )

The goal of this project is to use state-of-the-art artificial neural networks to understand the mechanisms and architectures that enable the human brain to integrate linguistic information at the levels of syllables, words and sentences. For this purpose, the project lead will have access to high-fidelity intracranial recordings from the surface of the human brain, as people process sentences and narratives. In parallel, this project is expected to generate new computational models and analytic methods for natural language processing (NLP), informed and constrained by human data.

Johns Hopkins is home to a large and vibrant community in neuroscience and computational linguistics, and the training environment will span the Departments of Cognitive Science, Psychological & Brain Sciences, and Computer Science. The postdoctoral researcher will be affiliated with the Center for Language and Speech Processing, one of the world’s largest centers for computational linguistics (https://www.clsp.jhu.edu/).

For candidates who wish to collect new datasets, Hopkins provides a top-notch neuroimaging center, including 3T and 7T scanners; new TMS and EEG facilities housed in the PBS department; and access to human intracranial experiments via neurology collaborators in Baltimore and Toronto. The postdoctoral researcher will have access to a large number of GPUs for training neural networks and other computational models through the Maryland Advanced Research Computing Center.

The position is available immediately, though start date is somewhat flexible. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The initial appointment is for one year, with the opportunity for renewal thereafter. We especially encourage applications from women and members of minorities that are underrepresented in science.

Qualifications: Candidates should have (i) a PhD in a relevant field (e.g., linguistics, cognitive science, neuroscience, physics, psychology, mathematics, or computer science) by the start date; (ii) a publication record that includes computational modeling and empirical data analysis. The ideal candidate will have a combined background in computational linguistics, machine learning and neuroscience.

Application Instructions: To apply, please email a cover letter (including a brief summary of previous research accomplishments and future plans), a current CV, and a relevant publication to neural.language.modeling.jhu@gmail.com. In the CV or cover letter, please include contact information for three references. For any questions, feel free to email Chris Honey (chris.honey@jhu.edu) and Tal Linzen (tal.linzen@jhu.edu).