Dear colleagues, I am looking for a Postdoc and a PhD student to join my newly established Cognitive Neurosciences Lab at the University of Potsdam (Germany) as described in more detail below, and would be very grateful if you forward this announcement to potentially interested candidates. Many thanks and best wishes, Milena Rabovsky --------------------------------------- Cognitive Neurosciences Lab at the University of Potsdam Postdoctoral and PhD student position The newly established Cognitive Neurosciences Lab at the University of Potsdam (PI Milena Rabovsky) is looking for a Postdoc to focus on neural network modeling of brain potentials during sentence comprehension and a PhD student to investigate prediction and adaptation during language comprehension using EEG. The positions are funded by an Emmy Noether grant from the German Research Foundation focused on investigating the processing of language and meaning in the brain using EEG and deep neural network models (see e.g., Rabovsky, Hansen, & McClelland, 2018, Nature Human Behaviour). Preferred starting date for both positions is November 1, 2019 (but can be discussed). Postdoc position The salary and benefits are determined by the collective bargaining agreement for public employees in Germany (TV-L 13 Ost, 100%). This is a temporary position initially limited to a term of 24 months (with possible extension). Project and responsibilities The goal of this project is to train a neural network model of sentence comprehension that has been successfully used to simulate language related brain potentials (Rabovsky, Hansen, & McClelland, 2018, Nature Human Behaviour) on a large-scale semantically labeled training corpus. Prospectively, the trained model will allow for (in collaborations with others in the lab) the simulation of language related brain potentials using stimulus materials from empirical experiments, and the comparison of representations in the model with representations in the brain via representational similarity analysis. Requirements - very good Master and PhD in relevant field (Cognitive Sciences, Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Machine Learning, Data Science, Computational Neuroscience, etc.) - excellent computational skills (e.g., MATLAB, Python,…) - deep learning/ deep neural network modeling skills - capacity to work independently - excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills (in English) - strong interest in several aspects of the lab’s research focus, i.e., neural network models, cognitive neurosciences, language, meaning - high motivation and commitment In addition, the ideal candidate has - experience with deep neural network language models - excellent track record in a relevant field PhD student position The salary and benefits are determined by the collective bargaining agreement for public employees in Germany (TV-L 13 Ost, 65%; please note that 65% of full staff member positions are the current norm for PhD student positions in Germany). This is a temporary position initially limited to a term of 36 months (with possible extension). Project and responsibilities The goal of this project is to investigate the relation between prediction errors and adaptation/ learning during language comprehension, as reflected in event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Specific tasks include designing and programming the experiments, collecting and analyzing the data (behavioral and EEG), interpretation of the results as well as presentation of the results at international conferences and publication of the results in international peer-reviewed journals. Requirements - very good Master in relevant field (Cognitive Sciences, Cognitive Neurosciences, Psychology, etc.) - experience with and interest in neuroscientific methods (preferably EEG) - solid statistical skills - good programming skills (e.e., MATLAB, Python, R,…) - excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills (in English) - strong interest in several aspects of the lab’s research focus, i.e., cognitive neurosciences, prediction, adaptation, language, meaning, event-related brain potentials - high motivation and commitment In addition, the ideal candidate has - excellent skills in advanced statistical analyses - experience in research on language, prediction and/ or implicit memory The University strives to maintain gender balance among its staff. Severely disabled applicants shall receive preference in case of equal qualifications. We expressly invite applications from people with migration backgrounds. Please send your application (including letter of motivation, CV, at least 1 [PhD position] or 2 [Postdoc position] names of potential referees, copies of academic certificates) as a single pdf file to bewerbung@uni-potsdam.de until August 31 for full consideration (late applications may be considered until the position is filled). Please direct informal inquiries to Milena Rabovsky at milena.rabovsky@gmail.com. The official ads can be downloaded here (there are some aspects that relate to German laws and may be confusing for potential international applicants - please get in touch if you have questions!) Postdoc position: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/fileadmin01/projects/verwaltung/docs/Dezernat3/Au... PhD student position: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/fileadmin01/projects/verwaltung/docs/Dezernat3/Au...