The Georg-August-University Göttingen, the German Primate Center and the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience are looking to fill four positions of

Postdoctoral fellows

The postdoctoral fellows will be associated with the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory (Julia Fischer, www.dpz.eu/de/abteilung/kognitive-ethologie), the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (Stefan Treue, www.dpz.eu/cnl), including the Sensorimotor Group (Alexander Gail, www.dpz.eu/smg) and the Decision and Awareness Group (Igor Kagan, www.dpz.eu/dag), at the University of Göttingen and the German Primate Center, or the Theoretical Neurophysics Group (Fred Wolf, https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/58058.html) at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience.

All positions are at pay grade 13 TV-L, full-time (currently 39, 80 hours per week) for an initial duration of 2 years and are available immediately.

Your project

We are recruiting postdoctoral fellows for an interdisciplinary research project studying social interactions and decision-making in human and non-human primates. For this purpose, a novel experimental platform is to be developed for behavioral (and with the later option of electrophysiological / stimulation) studies of sensorimotor decision-making in cooperative and competitive social interaction settings, across humans and different non-human primate species. We are searching for two postdoctoral fellows with an experimental or engineering background to develop this innovative experimental platform by integrating several technological (e.g., eye-tracking, hand motion tracking, real-time behavior-contingent visual stimuli, etc.) and methodological approaches (e.g., from neurosciences, behavioral biology and psychology) into a single experimental tool. Two postdoctoral fellows with a mathematical or theoretical background are expected to develop a mathematical framework and the computational tools for the analysis of large-scale multimodal data streams to be generated through the platform and from other sources.

Your profile

We are looking for highly motivated, enthusiastic and creative researchers with strong experimental and/or analytical skills. Good command of written and spoken English is a must, German is a plus. The ability to work in an interdisciplinary team and the capacity to supervise students and technical personnel is expected.

Successful candidates for the development of the experimental platform should have a PhD in cognitive science, psychology, behavioral biology, neuroscience or related fields. Demonstrable experience with designing, conducting and analyzing behavioral experiments in humans and/or non-human primates is essential; programming skills and an understanding of hardware and software integration in real-time experimental systems is beneficial; a prior experience in studying social interactions is of additional value.
Successful candidates for the development of computational tools should have a PhD in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, informatics, statistics, or related fields. Advanced knowledge of stochastic dynamics, systems and signal theory, as well as excellent computational skills are required. Extensive experience with the analysis of complex data streams is a plus. Ideal candidates will be driven by a genuine interest in theoretical approaches to complex biological systems.

The project is embedded in the recently established Leibniz ScienceCampus “Primate Cognition” (www.primate-cognition.eu/en) that encompasses a wide range of Göttingen researchers from multiple disciplines interested in understanding primate cognitive functions. Due to a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of the project, and the recent upsurge of interest in the social aspects of decision-making and goal-directed actions both locally and in the international scientific community, it promises to be very visible. While the fellow positions are available for two years, the goals and the underlying framework of the project are a central part of the long-term commitment of the “Primate Cognition” scientific community and are expected to be continued.

The University of Göttingen is an equal opportunities employer and places particular emphasis on fostering career opportunities for women. Qualified women are therefore strongly encouraged to apply as they are underrepresented in this field. Disabled persons with equivalent aptitude will be favored. The positions are generally suitable for part-time employment.

Please send your application with the usual documents submitted as a single PDF file via email to the ScienceCampus coordinator, Dr. Christian Schloegl (cschloegl@dpz.eu), with the subject “Application social decision-making”. Application deadline is January 31st, 2016. Three months after completion of the application process, submitted application material will be deleted.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Christian Schloegl (cschloegl@dpz.eu; phone: +49-551-3851-480).

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Dr. Christian Schloegl

Leibniz-WissenschaftsCampus Primatenkognition

Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH

Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung

Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen

Tel: +49 551 3851-480

Fax: +49 551 3851-489

E-Mail: cschloegl@dpz.eu

http://www.primate-cognition.eu

Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates: MDgt Rüdiger Eichel
Geschäftsführer: Prof. Dr. Stefan Treue, Assessor jur. Michael Lankeit
Sitz der Gesellschaft: Göttingen
Handelsregister: Göttingen HRB 933