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EURAXESS

Pre-doctoral contract FPI / Psychology-Neurosciences (PID2022-137368)

The Human Resources Strategy for Researchers
27 Jul 2023

Job Information

Organisation/Company
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Research Field
Neurosciences
Researcher Profile
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country
Spain
Application Deadline
Type of Contract
Temporary
Job Status
Full-time
Hours Per Week
37,5
Offer Starting Date
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by an EU programme
Reference Number
PID2022-137368
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No

Offer Description

UIC Barcelona offers a pre-doctoral FPI contract (4 years) associated with the project "Study of the relationship between perceptual speech flexibility and phonological skills in dyslexic and bilingual population: electroencephalographic evidence" (project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, call for Knowledge Generation 2022, reference: PID2022-137368NB-I00, PI: Dr. Begoña Díaz, grant: 125,625 euros).

UIC Barcelona is a prestigious university and home to over 9,000 students. We have 16 bachelor’s degrees, 30 double bachelor’s degrees in addition to a wide range of master’s degree programmes, postgraduate degree programmes and continuing education courses.

UIC Barcelona has a research and knowledge transfer plan to contribute to the development of science, technology and improve quality of life. UIC Barcelona has 24 recognised research groups in the areas of Art and Humanities, Social and Legal Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering and Architecture.

The predoctoral researcher will develop their doctoral thesis in the Multilingual Acquisition research group (funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya https://www.uic.es/es/investigacion/investigacion/grupos-de-investigaci…), in the line of research “Brain bases of language processing and learning” under the direction of Dr Begoña Díaz (https://www.uic.es/es/teacher/bdiaz).

The project in which the predoctoral researcher will participate aims to investigate (i) the origin of the phonological deficit associated with dyslexia and (ii) the cause of individual differences in phoneme learning in the bilingual population. The research will combine brain electrical activity analysis (electroencephalography) with computational learning techniques (Machine Learning). Using experimental procedures specific to Cognitive Neuroscience, the brain response associated with the ability to adapt speech processing to the characteristics present in the sensory signal in a dyslexic and bilingual population will be evaluated. The predictive ability of brain activity related to phonological processing skills will be evaluated using the Supervised Machine Learning technique. The project aims to advance our current knowledge on dyslexia and second language learning and provide tools for early detection of difficulties in these areas. 

Requirements

Research Field
Neurosciences
Education Level
Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications

Responsibilities:

  • Participate in the design of experimental protocols (behavioural and electroencephalography)
  • Participate in collection and analysis of behavioural and electroencephalographic data: linear mixed-models, evoked potential analyses and Supervised Machine Learning
  • Participate in dissemination activities (manuscript preparation and conference presentations)
Specific Requirements
  • Candidate must have a master’s degree in Cognitive Science, Neurosciences or related areas
  • Candidate cannot have a PhD qualification
  • Candidate cannot have had an EPIF contract for more than 12 months 
  • Once the contract is effective, be enrolled in the doctoral programme at UIC Barcelona
  • Previous experience in the electroencephalography technique or other neuroimaging techniques will be considered
Languages
ENGLISH

Additional Information

Benefits
  • Full-time contract as research staff in training with a maximum duration of 4 years.
  • Possibility of postdoctoral guidance once the qualification is obtained, for a maximum of 12 months and with a maximum contract duration not to exceed 4 years.
  • Annual gross salary stipulated in Royal Decree 103/2019.
  • Additional aid of €6,860 to cover expenses derived from the stays at R+D centres and doctoral programme enrolment costs.
Eligibility criteria

Criteria 1. Candidate’s academic and/or scientific-technical career (up to 50 points).

  • Sub criterion 1.a): Scientific and technical contributions (up to 45 points). The candidate’s academic record and other curricular merits will be assessed, as well as their suitability to the tasks to be performed based on training and professional experience.
  • Sub criterion 1.b): Mobility and internationalisation (up to 5 points). Relevance and impact on the candidate’s research career of their stays in national and international centres and/or industrial sector will be assessed, taking into account the prestige of the receiving entity and the activity carried out during the stay.

Criteria 2. Candidate’s suitability to the research activities to be conducted (up to 50 points). The candidate’s suitability to the programme, project or research activities to be conducted based on their previous training and experience will be assessed. To do this, we will take into account the added value that this project will represent for the candidate’s research career, as well as the added value the candidate represents to the centre and the receiving team.

 

Selection process

Required documentation (applications must be submitted in a single pdf):

  • Brief letter of motivation
  • Full CV
  • Optional: Name and contact email of one or two academics from whom letters of reference can be requested.

Send an email with PhD MINECO Ref. PID2022-137368NB-I00 on subject line, with attached documentation to: bdiaz@uic.es

Additional comments

Decision

  • Deadline: 14/09/2023
  • Accepted/not accepted list: 15/09/2023
  • Interviews: 20/09/2023 - 22/09/2023
  • Provisional decision: 24/09/2023
  • Final decision: 27/09/2023
  • Contract start date: 01/11/2023 (Provisional date and subject to the mobility needs of the selected candidate(s).

 

For more information: vrecerca@uic.es 

 

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available
1
Company/Institute
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Country
Spain
State/Province
Barcelona
City
Sant Cugat del Vallès
Postal Code
08195
Street
Carrer Josep Trueta, s/n

Where to apply

E-mail
bdiaz@uic.es

Contact

State/Province
Barcelona
City
Sant Cugat del Vallès
Website
Street
Carrer Josep Trueta, s/n
Postal Code
08195
Phone
935042020