Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition / Psychology
Carnegie Mellon University
Postdoctoral Position: Encoding of Objects and Faces in Human IT
Supervisor: Michael Tarr

Soliciting applications - to be considered on a rolling basis - for a postdoctoral researcher working with Michael Tarr at Carnegie Mellon in beautiful Pittsburgh PA, USA. The goal of this project is to collaborate with lab members on studies using non-invasive neuroimaging (fMRI, DSI, MEG) to explore how objects and faces are encoded within the human ventral pathway. A successful candidate should have experience in the design and analysis of neuroimaging experiments - particularly fMRI - as well as some experience using computational tools for both data analysis (e.g., linear classifiers) and modeling/simulation.

More on Carnegie Mellon and the CNBC.

We have particular interests in face, object, scene, and event recognition and the role of experience in shaping our perceptual systems. Methodologies we use include neuroimaging (ERPs, MEG, fMRI, and DSI/HDFT), the study of atypical populations (neuropsychological case studies, autism, and dyslexia), neurophysiology, eyetracking, behavioral psychophysics combined with advanced stimulus generation and manipulation, computational modeling, and machine learning for data understanding, all applied across the lifespan (infancy through older adulthood). Core faculty span the departments of Psychology, Statistics, Biological Sciences, Machine Learning, and Robotics, as well as the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Our facilities include a new campus-based 3T Siemens Verio MRI scanner, a MEG facility, and a new high-performance computing cluster for modeling, simulation, and data analysis.

More on Pittsburgh.

The academic community in Pittsburgh is uniquely interdisciplinary and collaborative. Through the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition and our physical proximity to Pitt, we have strong ties to the University of Pittsburgh Center for Neuroscience, Psychology, and medical school. Within CMU trainees often work across units, pursuing multidisciplinary research. The city of Pittsburgh is also a highly supportive and vibrant community. Over the past two decades, Pittsburgh, one of the greenest cities in America, has reinvented itself as an educational and medical hub, but has retained much of the infrastructure from its industrial past, including a wide variety of museums, a world-class symphony, professional sports teams, and an extensive urban park system. With Pittsburgh's renaissance the city has grown to include an eclectic restaurant scene and a variety of funky neighborhoods. CMU’s strength in the fine arts has also fostered an active arts scene, including many theaters, film festivals, music venues, and galleries. Reflecting this, in May of 2010 Pittsburgh was on ranked as the most livable city in America by Forbes magazine.

The position is for one year, and renewable for one additional year based on first year evaluation. Salary will be based on NIH postdoctoral scales. Applicants should send a cover letter (with potential starting date), a CV, a research statement, and the names of at least three references to info@tarrlab.org