2 Pre-doctoral Research Assistants 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) invites prospective applications from rising and enthusiastic researchers in Cognitive Science and Cognitive Neuroscience for 2 Pre-doctoral Research Assistant positions 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 pre-doctoral research assistant applicants with expertise related to the following areas:

• 1 position in anyone of the following areas: lexical processing, visual object recognition, reading, or action recognition.

• 1 position on 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 potentially BA) diploma recognized in Portugal at the time of the signing of the contract (diploma recognition could be requested here). The start date is negotiable (but should be no later than fall 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;

Offer:

The salary is competitive for Portuguese standards – 1250 euro per month net value. The position will be for a maximum of 1 year, potentially renewable.

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 31, 2024.

If you are interested in applying for one of the positions 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).