Postdoctoral Positions in Active InferenceUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa The Shocklab research group in conjunction with the Neuropsychology research group at the University of Cape Town (UCT) is seeking two postdoctoral researchers to join our dynamic team working on Active Inference in relation to affective consciousness. This position offers an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of computational, cognitive and affective neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, in collaboration with leading researchers in the field including Dr Ryan Smith at the Laureate Institute and lr Charel Van Hoof MBA at TU Delft. About the Position - Duration: One year with possibility of one- or two-year extension - Start Date: Immediate availability - Salary: R540,000 per year, tax free (equivalent to around R740,000 per annum, taxed) - Location: University of Cape Town, South Africa Research Environment Our research group combines expertise in consciousness studies, Active Inference, and Reinforcement Learning, with leads: - Associate Professor Jonathan Shock, Director of the UCT AI Initiative, head of Shocklab and Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. - Professor Mark Solms, Professor in Neuropsychology, author of "The Hidden Spring" and collaborator with Karl Friston on consciousness and Active Inference. The group currently includes two Masters students, one PhD student and one postdoc, all working on Active Inference in foraging environments in the presence of competing needs. The Shocklab group also has a large number of graduate students working on Reinforcement Learning. Graduate student supervision would be an important part of the postdoctoral role. The work is jointly located in the UCT Neuroscience Institute and the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Project Description The research focuses on studying single and multi-agent Active Inference agents in dynamic environments in which agents must learn to satisfy competing ‘survival’ needs. This programme has a sophisticated inference/sophisticated learning/tree-search focus. The overarching aim is to gain insights into affective consciousness, attention, and need prioritization. This work is supported by donor funding from Conscium, UK. Computing Resources - Access to UCT High Performance Computing cluster - Dedicated Shocklab cluster featuring two RTX 4090 GPUs Required Qualifications - PhD, preferably obtained within the last five years - Strong research background in Active Inference - Programming expertise, particularly in JAX (preferred) Benefits - Competitive salary (R540,000 tax free per year) - Funding for at least one international conference per year, and potential extended research visit at the Laureate Institiute - Opportunity to work in one of the world's most beautiful cities About UCT and Cape Town The University of Cape Town is Africa's leading university, situated at the foot of Table Mountain. The institution has a rich research history and is currently accelerating its research initiatives in AI. Cape Town offers an exceptional quality of life with incredible natural beauty and a flourishing scientific environment. A living costs calculator can be found here: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Cape-Town Application Process Please submit the following materials: - Cover letter and CV - Research history - Future research plans on Active Inference - Three letters of reference Application Deadline: March 15th, 2025 Interviews: late March/early April 2025 Contact: jonathan.shock@uct.ac.za with Subject: "ActInf postdoc"