NIH call for candidates

Yale Autism Center of Excellence: Postdoctoral Associate in Child Psychopathology

Application Deadline: January 15, 2021

Start Date: July 1, 2021

Term of Position: 2 years

 We are seeking an exceptional, motivated and creative postdoctoral associate to be involved in prospective studies of infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as toddlers and preschoolers with ASD. The postdoctoral associate will join an interdisciplinary research team consisting of experts in developmental neuroscience at the Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism Program and will have an opportunity to work as part of the Yale Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) Program(ace.yale.edu) project team at the Yale Child Study Center (CSC), led by Prof. Katarzyna Chawarska. The Yale NIH ACE project, which aims to identify prenatal and neonatal precursors of later core symptoms of ASD, represents a joint effort across child psychiatry, pediatrics, radiology, and statistics departments at Yale.

During the two-year program, the postdoctoral associate will be expected to lead and participate in the development and implementation of novel eye-tracking and behavioral protocols targeting early markers of core and comorbid features in autism. The postdoctoral associate will also take a leadership role in data analysis and manuscript preparation; assist with behavioral, physiological and neuroimaging studies; train and supervise research staff and students; and assist in grant writing.

The Yale CSC is a leading institution for clinical diagnostic services and multidisciplinary research on ASD involving behavioral neuroscience, physiology, neuroimaging, molecular genetics, and treatment. The CSC, and more broadly, the Yale School of Medicine is a vibrant and exciting training environment for young researchers with extensive opportunities for networking and career development.

To be eligible for a postdoctoral appointment, candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent from a program in developmental, clinical, or cognitive psychology, computer science, neuroscience, or a related field. A complete application includes a Curriculum Vitae (CV); a 2-page personal statement containing biographic material, relevant experience, and career goals; and 2 letters of recommendation which speak directly to the candidate’s research potential. Electronic applications (with scanned documents and separate letters of recommendation emailed directly from referees) are preferred and can be sent directly to sanalab@yale.edu.

For more information, please visit: https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/chawarska/jobs/psychology/

• Creating Peaceful, Just, and Prosperous Societies. This area invites rigorous scholarship that promotes social justice, active engagement in the world and economic prosperity domestically and internationally.
• Exploring Human Experience. This area seeks to develop a robust environment for the study of human experience in all its diversity throughout history and around the world by learning from the historical record, analyzing present conditions, and comprehending future possibilities.
• Cultivating Creative Expression. This area focuses on scholarship that can foster an environment in which artists are operating at the highest levels of their crafts and learn from and inform scholars in disciplines across the campus.
• Understanding the Human Brain. This area focuses on efforts to understand the functions of the brain, discover treatments for disorders that diminish our capacities, and create technologies that improve lives.
• Sustaining Life on Earth. This area focuses on the relationship of the environment to human societies combining the efforts of natural, physical, and social scientists, together with humanists, to understand the determinants of environmental change, alter norms of human behavior, consider ethical issues related to sustainability, and develop sound environmental policies.
• Using Science and Technology to Improve Lives. This area emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to innovation in areas like bioengineering, neuroscience, and computing, grounded in a broad understanding of local and global needs and concerns.
• Deciphering Disease and Improving Population Health. This area focuses on improving human health through an integrated approach to understanding the causes of disease and translating that knowledge into new modes of diagnosis, treatment, and ultimately prevention.

Program Overview: Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellows teach one undergraduate course per year as part of the appointment and receive funds to support their research activities during the fellowship. To learn more about current and former Fellows visit this page.

Postdoctoral Position: Cognitive Development Laboratory at the University of Rochester

The Cognitive Development Lab (PI: Karl S. Rosengren) at the University of Rochester is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on an NSF-funded research project investigating the role of visual representations in children’s learning about biological variability. Dr. Rosengren has joint appointments in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Science and the Department of Psychology at the University of Rochester. This research is in collaboration with Dr. Martha W. Alibali and Dr. Chuck Kalish at the University of Wisconsin and the postdoctoral researcher will be collaborating with all three investigators.

Required/Preferred Experience: A PhD in Science Education, Developmental Psychology or a related field is required. Knowledge of human subjects research and experience conducting research with children is required, with a preference for individuals with experience working with school-aged children. Expertise in biological education is also preferred. The ideal candidate will have experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods and analysis approaches, and experience (or an interest in) in conducting research in schools and/or museum settings.

Job Duties:

The postdoctoral researcher will be involved in the design and implementation of research studies examining how different types of visual representations influence school-aged children’s learning and generalization about biological variability. The individual will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of aspects of the project and will be involved in training graduate and undergraduate research assistants who will be helping on the project. One of the primary goals of this position is to work closely with a number of local museums to collect data, design displays (in the museums and online) to test the impact of different visual representations, and to help develop workshops related to cognitive development and biological education for teachers and museums.

This postdoc position is available to begin immediately with an initial appointment for 1 year, with possibility of renewal depending on performance.Currently, COVID-19 rates are quite low in Rochester and the surrounding community, so it is expected that the postdoctoral researcher would live in the Rochester area and collect data in person when safe and appropriate.

The University of Rochester is strongly committed to creating and supporting a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status or status as an individual with disability and are encouraged to apply.

To apply, please email a cover letter, CV, and contact information for three references to Dr. Karl S. Rosengren at Karl.Rosengren@rochester.edu.

If you have any questions regarding this position you may contact Dr. Rosengren directly.

Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Karl S. Rosengren

Professor

Department of Brain & Cognitive Science

Department of Psychology

University of Rochester

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

 The Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago seeks a postdoctoral researcher to design and implement research projects to test the effectiveness of teaching methods that incorporate gesture or spatial highlighting tools for math learning in hearing and deaf children and adults from diverse backgrounds. The research also includes the development and testing of an online tool that incorporates gesture for teaching mathematics. The postdoctoral researcher will work with the institutional principal investigator and co-principal investigators from University of Chicago and other universities. The postdoctoral researcher will participate in all aspects of research management, development, and implementation.  He/she will oversee design, data collection, coding, and analysis for this NSF funded project. He/she will prepare manuscripts for publication, collaborate on the writing of annual grant reports, and present research findings at scientific conferences.

A doctoral degree is required in psychology, cognitive science, or a relevant field with research interests in development and learning, preferably mathematical development. Expertise in online education and website design preferred. ASL knowledge, experience supervising, and coordinating the work of others, and strong project management skills are preferred.  Must be able to represent the project to diverse audiences. Start date is flexible. 

Interested candidates should send a CV, a research statement, preprints/reprints of papers, and two letters of recommendation to: 

Markie Theophile

Lab Manager, Goldin-Meadow Lab

Department of Psychology

5848 S University Ave.

Chicago, IL 60637

773-702-1562

mtheophile@uchicago.edu

The Parents Promoting Early Learning (PPEL) project at the University of Pittsburgh directed by Drs. Heather Bachman, Melissa Libertus, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal is currently looking for a post-doctoral fellow to support our interdisciplinary research on home environment influences on children’s early math skills across the SES continuum. The PPEL project is housed in Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, an interdisciplinary center that brings together researchers in the cognitive, social, and educational sciences.

The position involves working collaboratively with a research team and assisting with the data management, analysis, and manuscript preparation for two large, federally funded longitudinal studies of toddlers and preschoolers. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong skills in generating and testing hypotheses regarding cognitive, social, and parenting influences on math skill acquisition during early childhood. The position entails a leadership role in authorship of research manuscripts, posing and testing key questions, and conducting quantitative analyses using a range of analytic approaches, such as mixed linear modeling, latent growth modeling, and econometric approaches. Additionally, this post-doctoral fellow will assist the PIs in managing a team of Research Assistants in data collection and processing efforts.

Required qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, Applied Developmental Psychology, Human Development, or a related field
• Training in one of more of the following areas including cognition, mathematics development, spatial development, executive functioning, parenting practices, and community-based research
• Experience working with diverse children/families in research settings
• Experience with managing and cleaning large data sets
• Strong analytical skills for quantitative data, including proficiency with SPSS, Mplus, and/or R
• Excellent scientific writing and communication skills
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team in a research environment
• Desired, but not required: Ability to travel to off-site locations that may not be accessible by public transportation

Application Instructions

Please email a letter of interest including a statement of research, a curriculum vita, three representative publications, and names and contact information for three individuals who can be contacted for a reference to Juliana Kammerzell, Project Coordinator for the PPEL project (juk83@pitt.edu). Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled, with an anticipated start date of January 1, 2021. The position is for one year initially with the possibility of renewal. Salary is commensurate with experience. Only candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted. Questions can be directed to Heather Bachman (hbachman@pitt.edu) or Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal (evotruba@pitt.edu).

The University of Pittsburgh is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Child Abuse Clearance, Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check, and FBI Criminal Record Check will be required for employment in this position.

Postdoctoral (Scholar or Fellow) Position Open at the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health.

 Area of expertise: Developmental Psychology

We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work on a project that aims to create the next iteration of a tool, the Scale of Parent/Provider Expectations And Knowledge (SPEAK), that has been developed and validated at the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. The SPEAK is a clinical and research tool that fills a critical, previously unmet need in the early childhood field. Given the pivotal role that parents and caregivers play in shaping young children’s cognitive and language development, it is necessary to assess what they know and believe about that process. As part of the TMW Center’s commitment to investing in cutting-edge R&D to develop scalable, evidence-based interventions and tools, the TMW Center is developing a version of the SPEAK that uses computer-adaptive testing, called the SPEAK CAT. This version will streamline assessment by adapting to the individual responding to the questions and issuing new questions based on the level of knowledge they’ve displayed. The results of the SPEAK CAT will provide a more complete and useful picture of respondents’ knowledge and beliefs about child language and cognitive development, which can be used to more precisely target information and interventions for maximal individual and population-level impact.

The postdoc will, in close collaboration with the Principal Investigator, Dr. Dana Suskind, and the Principal SPEAK Researcher, Dr. Dani Levine, as well as internal and external research partners, support all aspects of research development for the SPEAK CAT project. This position will build and expand on literature reviews for the SPEAK CAT test domains and write and develop survey items. The postdoc will also contribute to the cognitive interviews of new survey items, plan for and test the item bank, perform statistical analysis of testing data, and define feature specifications for the technology of the SPEAK CAT. The postdoc may contribute to publications and presentations, and present results from the SPEAK CAT at early childhood, education, and public health conferences and symposiums.

A PhD is required in psychology, child development, or a related field, and 0-2 years of postdoctoral experience. The ideal candidate will have familiarity with survey research methods, experience supervising research assistants, and research experience in one or more of the following domains: language development, socioemotional development, cognitive development, early literacy, math/spatial development, dual language learning, screen media use, and neurodevelopment.

This postdoc position is available to begin immediately in a remote capacity, and the appointment is initially for 1 year with possibility of annual renewal, depending on needs and performance.

Interested candidates should submit a curriculum vitae and a statement of research goals to Dr. Dani Levine at danilevine@bsd.uchicago.edu. Compensation in the Biological Sciences Division follows the NIH NRSA Stipend scale. Additional information on benefits and being a postdoc in the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division can be found at bsdpostdoc.uchicago.edu.

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Disabled / Veterans Employer.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status or status as an individual with disability. Job seekers with a disability in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should contact the Employment Office by calling 773-702-8900 or by emailing employment@uchicago.edu with their request.

Dani Levine, Ph.D.

Principal SPEAK Researcher

danilevine@bsd.uchicago.edu

TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health

The Centre for Lifelong Learning and Individualised Cognition (CLIC)​, funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in Singapore and coordinated through the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES), is a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the University of Cambridge. CLIC is a flagship programme in the Science of Learning to harness advancements in neuroscience to develop cognitive training programmes for the improvement of lifelong flexible learning, focusing initially on adolescents and young adults, but also envisaging work with infants and older adults. This is a strategic global initiative for the Universities of Cambridge and NTU that brings together multidisciplinary expertise from over 30 investigators in the areas of Neuroscience, Psychology, Linguistics and Education across the two universities. ​

Nanyang Technological University is a research intensive university currently ranked 13th globally and placed 1st amongst the world’s best young universities. The University has Colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and an Interdisciplinary Graduate School. Further, the new Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine benefits from a dual campus located at Novena, in close proximity to the Singapore city centre. The Cognitive Neuroimaging Centre (CoNiC) houses state-of-the-art neuroimaging facilities including a newly installed 3T MRI scanner and MEG, as well as new EEG, NIRS, TMS and tDCS equipment.

The first phase of the CLIC program will initially be housed at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. As the programme progresses, other sites will be developed to meet the needs of the experimental programme. The new CLIC research centre will provide a vibrant, fast-paced, international and interdisciplinary environment with excellent opportunities for skills development and knowledge exchange between partner Principal Investigator labs in Singapore and Cambridge.  

The Principal Investigators involved in the first phase of the research programme include:
From Cambridge: Director Professor Zoe Kourtzi (Psychology), Senior Scientific Advisor Professor Trevor Robbins (Psychology), Deputy Directors Professor Henriette Hendriks (Linguistics), Professor Anna Vignoles (Education), and Imaging Lead – Professor John Suckling (Psychiatry); supported by co-Investigators Prof Barbara Sahakian (Psychiatry) and Dr Michelle Ellefson (Education). 
From NTU:  Director Professor Annabel Chen (Psychology), Deputy Director Asst Prof Victoria Leong (Psychology), Imaging Lead – Professor Balázs Gulyas (LKCMedicine), and Principal Investigators Professor David Hung (NIE), Asst Prof Bobby Cheon (Psychology) and Assoc Prof Georgios Christopoulos (Nanyang Business School); supported by co-Investigator Dr Teo Chew Lee (NIE).

Please visit https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cares.cam.ac.uk%2Fresearch%2Fclic%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cletitia.naigles%40uconn.edu%7C6b9aca772f9f4aa62a1108d873eac750%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C1%7C637386799494025508%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=hxxEw%2BVjNcJmv%2FIqOJQ9cCQZERxW2eckrHurA%2BSCWqw%3D&reserved=0 for details about the positions.

One postdoc position is available starting in February 2021, to work on an Academy of Medical Sciences project looking at the developmental mechanisms underlying emotional eating. The postdoc will work on a novel approach that combines developmental cognitive neuroscience and embodied psychology to study emotional eating in the first years of life (please see job pack for details). The position is available for 2 years and applications should be submitted online (deadline 25 October).

The project is supervised by Dr Maria Laura Filippetti. The position will be based at the Department of Psychology, University of Essex. The department provides a stimulating and vibrant research environment designed to encourage and support individuals in crossing conventional disciplinary boundaries to collaborate in research. The postdoc will join the growing research team of the Essex Babylab, which is part of our Centre for Brain Science (CBS). The CBS is purpose-built to house state-of-the-art equipment that allows staff to directly measure and modulate brain activity, as well as a range of equipment to measure physiological response (e.g. EMG, EEG, heart rate, etc.).

Informal enquiries can be sent to Dr Maria Laura Filippetti via email on m.filippetti@essex.ac.uk.

Best wishes,

Maria Laura

Maria Laura Filippetti, PhD

Lecturer

Department of Psychology

University of Essex

T +44 (0)1206 873780

E m.filippetti@essex.ac.uk

► https://www.essex.ac.uk/babylab

► https://mlfilippetti.netlify.com