The School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK, invites applications for a 3-year position as a post-doctoral researcher. The successful candidate will work together with Dr. Jennifer Cook on a European Research Council (ERC)-funded project on the relationship between social cognition, motor control and dopamine system function (ERC-StG-Brain2Bee). The starting date for the position is 13th January 2018 (although there is some flexibility around start date). The closing date for applications is 10th November 2017. See here for details: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BFB695/research-fellow/ *Project description:* Parkinson’s Disease is usually characterised by motor impairment, and Autism by social difficulties. However, the co-occurrence of social and motor symptoms is critically underappreciated; Parkinson’s disease patients exhibit social symptoms, and motor difficulties are common in Autism. At present, the biological basis of co-occurring social and motor impairment is unclear. Notably, both Autism and Parkinson’s disease have been associated with dopamine system dysfunction and, in non-clinical populations, DA has been linked with social and motor ability. This project will use psychopharmacology and behavioural training in typical individuals to understand the relationship between dopamine system function, and social and motor ability. Insights from these initial studies will be used in studies of patients to better understand the relationship between DA system dysfunction and the social and motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Results from this package of work will help us to move closer to a cross-disorder understanding of factors underlying variation in social and motor abilities. *The Candidate:* The successful candidate will be responsible for contributing to the development of a social and motor task battery; leading a study of social and motor function in patients with Parkinson’s Disease; and working with a team of researchers to run a psychopharmacology study to assess the effects of a dopaminergic drug on social and motor outcomes in 100 participants. Candidates should have substantial experience of behavioural experimental methods and ideally experience of working with a clinical population, and running and analysing psychopharmacology studies. This post will require analysing data associated with this project, preparing manuscripts for publication, presenting results at national and international conferences and the possible supervision of research assistants and students. Please note this post is aligned to external funding and therefore the salary on offer is up to a maximum of £32,548. -- Dr Jennifer Cook Birmingham Fellow School of Psychology University of Birmingham Tel: 0121 414 7218 <goog_589294029> www.jencooklab.com http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/psychology/people/profile.aspx?Reference...