PhD positions for joint applications at the Faculty of Psychology, University of Coimbra, Portugal, to work with Alfonso Caramazza and Jorge Almeida

The Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra Portugal (FPCE-UC) seeks rising and enthusiastic researchers in Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuroscience for a joint application to a doctoral fellowship funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal to work with Alfonso Caramazza and Jorge Almeida.

These positions are part of a transformative ERA Chair grant CogBooster from the European Union to FPCE-UC led by Alfonso Caramazza. The goal of CogBooster is to implement a strong and international line of research in Basic Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuroscience to contribute to the ongoing renewal of the Psychological Sciences in Portugal over the next decade.

Positions:

As part of this expansion and renewal, we are searching for doctoral students with expertise related to the following areas:

• Lexical processing, visual object recognition, reading, or action recognition.

• Visual object recognition, in particular on how object knowledge is organized and represented neurally and cognitively, using fMRI (potentially with ultra-high field MRI), and population receptive field analysis/connective field modeling (or other more computational methods) to work on topics related to the following preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.29.568856v1

The selected applicants will work directly with Alfonso Caramazza and Jorge Almeida. They will be based in Coimbra.

Qualifications:

Applicants should have a Master’s degree in Cognitive Science, Psychology or related field. They should also have their Master’s and BA diploma recognized in Portugal at the time of application (diploma recognition could be requested here). The start date is September 2024.

The successful applicant should have a record of research for their career level, and meet, or show promise of meeting, the following qualifications:

• Research potential and experience within the areas mentioned;
• Proficiency in English, both written and spoken (speaking Portuguese is not necessary);
• Good written and spoken communication skills;

Joint Application and funding:

Applications will first be evaluated by Alfonso Caramazza and Jorge Almeida. The selected applicants will joint apply with Alfonso Caramazza and Jorge Almeida to a doctoral fellowship from FCT, Portugal. This includes co-writing a project. We have been extremely successful in the past in getting these FCT doctoral fellowships.

The salary is competitive for Portuguese standards – 1250 euro per month net value. The fellowship will also include tuition, and will be for 4 years.

About FPCE-UC and Coimbra:

The University of Coimbra is a 700-year-old University and is a UNESCO world Heritage site. Coimbra is one of the liveliest university cities in the world, and it is a beautiful city with easy access to beaches and mountains. The Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences has been consistently ranked as the best, or one of the best Psychology Departments in Portugal. In the last decade it has become the leading department in Portugal on Psychological research, holding, for instance the only ERC grants in Psychology in Portugal. FPCE-UC has a major laboratory for Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuroscience research – the Proaction Lab. We have access locally to two 3T MRI scanners, and access to one 7T MRI remotely, to tDCS, to a 256 channel EEG, and to a fully set behavioral lab.

Application Instructions:

All candidates should submit the following documents in English: (1) a curriculum vitae; (2) a motivation letter describing their interest in the position, and their track record; (3) at least two letters of reference submitted before the application deadline.

Full consideration will be given to applications received by March 18, 2024 (but please contact us ASAP).

If you are interested in jointly applying for a doctoral fellowship with us, or know of any suitable applicants in your network of colleagues and former students who may be suitable for any of the positions, please direct them to the advertisement.  
 

Equal Employment Opportunity statement:

The University of Coimbra is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a Gender Equality Plan in place. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive academic global community at the University. We particularly encourage applications from women, and from other under-represented groups in the University of Coimbra’s workforce and in the cognitive and brain sciences.   

Further information:

If you want to know more about the positions you can informally contact Alfonso Caramazza (caram@wjh.harvard.edu) and Jorge Almeida (jorgecbalmeida@gmail.com).