Post Doctoral Research Assistant

We are looking for a Post Doctoral Research Assistant to join the Perception, Cognition and Neuroscience (PCN) group at the School of Psychology and Humanities. This is a fixed term contract due limited term external funding (Academy of Medical Sciences).

The School of Psychology is located in the purpose-built Darwin Building. The School is well resourced, with an extensive range of state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment, including a non-invasive Brain Stimulation laboratory, an established Co-Registration Laboratory for eye movement and EEG recordings, and a Human Factors Laboratory. The School has a thriving community of PhD and MSc students.

The post-holder will work with Dr Philipp Ruhnau and contribute to ongoing research activity related to the development of new non-invasive brains stimulation (NIBS) approaches. This will include assistance in the development and conduct of high-quality research, preparation of experiments within the EEG and brain stimulation laboratories, analysis of EEG signals and behavioural responses and the production of high-quality journal articles and conference presentations.

Project summary: This project aims to investigate how communication is established across different brain regions and how this communication can be influenced using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Specifically, experiments will be run that require communication between the right and left auditory cortex (AC). In one experiment, communication delays of the neural representation of speech in the right and then the left AC will be measured using EEG. It will be established how long, but also how stable this delay is within and across participants. Based on these findings, in a second experiment a phase-adjusted tACS approach will be evaluated, with the aim to influence behaviour using optimally phase-adjusted tACS. Understanding delays involved in communication of cortical networks will help us understand how communication is typically established in the brain, allowing us to increase tACS efficacy in future work.

The successful applicant will hold a PhD (or one that is close to completion) in Cognitive Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, or related field. They should have the proven ability to produce high quality research outputs (peer-reviewed publications in international leading psychology or neuroscience journals). Some experience with human EEG data collection and analysis is expected, knowledge of other methods to measure human cognition will be a plus. 

The successful applicant will have collaboration and networking skills as well as planning and organisational skills and be able to produce high quality research outputs of 3* (international quality) or 4* (world-leading level) that have significant impact in the field, for publication in recognised high-quality journals. 

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