8 Cog Science PhD and research positions at Warwick

[Nick Chater]

The Institute for Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Warwick
is pleased to announce 5 research positions and 3 funded PhD
studentships. 

The Institute has recently been set up with a $1.5M grant from the
Wellcome Trust and Economic and Social Research Council, and has
received a similar amount of funding from government, commercial and
charitable sources. It has first class computational and experimental
facilities, including 128 channel ERP, 3 eye-trackers, and virtual
reality and movement monitoring. The Institute for Applied Cognitive
Science has links with internationally known faculty in the Department
of Psychology, Department of Computer Science, Warwick Business School,
Mathematics Institute, and Institute of Education. 

The positions are: 
(a) 2 PhD studentships on corpus analysis and experimental language
research
(b) 1 PhD studentship on basic processes of learning and memory
(c) 2 four-year research positions on early reading
(d) 3 two-year research positions on financial decision making

All projects are directed by Prof Nick Chater and colleagues at the
Institute. Please contact Nick Chater (nick.chater at warwick.ac.uk) if you
are interested in any of these positions. 

Further details appear below: 

(a) 2 PhD studentships on corpus analyis and experimental language
research
(b) 1 PhD studentship on basic processes of learning and memory
(c) 2 four-year research positions on early reading
(d) two-year research positions on financial decision making

(a) 2 PhD studentships on corpus analysis and experimental language
research

This project is funded by the Human Frontiers Science Program, and links
Warwick with laboratories in the US, France and Japan, to study the
interaction of multiple cues to syntactic category identity across
languages. The Warwick research theme will focus on corpus analysis and
some experimental research with adults. An ideal candidate would have a
strong background (good undergraduate degree and preferably Masters
level research experience) in corpus analysis, computation, linguistics,
cognitive science or psycholinguistics. The successful applicants will
work alongside a further 3 PhD students currently work on related
topics. The project will be directed in Warwick by Nick Chater, and the
whole research network is coordinated by Morten Christiansen, at
Cornell. The studentships are open to people of any nationality, and are
available with immediate effect. 

(b) 1 PhD studentship on basic processes of learning and memory

This project is funded by a European Training Network on "Basic
processes of learning and memory", and links Warwick with laboratories
in London, France and Belgium. An ideal candidate would have a strong
background (good undergraduate degree and preferably Masters level
research experience) in cognitive psychology, cognitive science,
computation, linguistics, or related discipline. The project will be
directed in Warwick by Nick Chater, and the whole research network is
coordinated by Robert French, at the University of Liege. There are
various eligibility requirements attached to this funding, the most
important of which is that applicants must be from an EU state (or
affiliated state), but not from the UK. The studentship is available
with immediate effect. 

(c) 2 four-year researchpositions on early reading

This project represents a new stage in a long-term on-going research
project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust (a charitable foundation) and
Essex Local Educational Authority. The goal of the research is to
develop instructional principles based on cognitive science that
substantially enhance children's ability to learn to read. The project
has already shown some dramatic gains in large scale classroom studies.
One post with be primarily concerned with laboratory experimental
research on basic principles of learning, with adults and children, and
would be based at Warwick University. The second post will be based in
Essex, and will involve designing and implementing classroom based
studies. The researchers will work as part of a large interdisciplinary
team of researchers and educators. Ideal applicants would have graduate
level or beyond experience in research in cognitive psychology,
cognitive science or education, and preferable, though not necessarily,
prior knowledge of reading research. The project will be directed Nick
Chater, Jonathan Solity and Gordon Brown. The positions are open to
people of any nationality, and the project is likely to start around Jan
1, 2002 (although precise timing and funding details are still to be
confirmed). 

(d) 3 two-year research positions on financial decision making

Three two year positions for two postdoctoral researchers and a research
associate are opening up at the newly founded research group, based at
the Institute for Applied Cognitive Science, University of Warwick.  The
group will pursue fundamental and applied research on human decision
making with relevance to the finance industry. Ideal candidates would
have strong backgrounds in cognitive psychology, experimental economics,
cognitive science, and IT skills would also be advantageous. Successful
applicants will work in a research with several other post-doctoral and
post-graduate researchers. The positions are open to people of any
nationality, and the project is likely to tart around Jan 1, 2002
(although precise timing and funding details are still to be confirmed).