Connectionists: Open Post Doc Position on Bayesian Computational Modelling for multimodal social interaction - Deadline 16th Jan

[Citi, Luca]

Dear Colleagues,

I would be grateful if you could help us spread the word about the 
following position in the Essex Brain-Computer Interface and Neural 
Engineering (BCI-NE) Laboratory.

Thank you very much,
Luca

====================

We are looking for a Post Doctoral Research Associate to collaborate at 
the development of Bayesian (DCM and Active Inference) computational 
models of multimodal social interaction taking into account the role of 
human chemosignals perception. This will involve also the development of 
robust algorithms for signal processing, statistical inference and 
extraction of information from EEG and other physiological signals, as 
well as the design and implementation of software for the execution of 
experiments with adaptive VR stimulation.

====================

Application closing date 16/01/2019

Application Links

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BPI782/senior-research-officer
http://www.essex.ac.uk/hr-jobpacks/science_health-csee/REQ02121_Jobpack.pdf

Job reference REQ02121

This post is initially for 2.5 years and there is a possibility that it 
may be extended for a further 2.5 years.

====================

#Job Details

The School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, the 
Department of Psychology, and the Essex Brain-Computer Interfaces and 
Neural Engineering Lab are pleased to announce this postdoctoral 
position in the Horizon 2020 project "POTION: Promoting social 
interaction through emotional body odours". The project will last five 
years and start in January 2019 and includes partners from the 
Universities of Pisa (Italy), Padova (Italy), and Essex (UK), the 
Universitat Politecnica De Valencia (Spain), the Katholieke Universiteit 
Leuven (Belgium), and the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden), and three 
companies ISPA CRL (Portougal), SRA Instruments (France) and Feel-Ing 
s.r.l. (Italy). POTION proposes a novel technological paradigm to delve 
deeper into understanding meaningful social interaction, combining new 
knowledge about the chemical composition of human social chemosignals 
together with a novel olfactory-based technology designed to drive 
social behaviour.


#Duties of the Role

The Essex team's work on the project focuses on the development of 
Bayesian (DCM and Active Inference) computational models of multimodal 
social interaction. This models will be applied to evaluate socially 
relevant variables, such as trust, presence and inclusion as well as to 
generate optimal stimuli in artificially mediated social interactions. 
In particular, the models will cover the role of human chemosignal 
perception in social interactions. The models will be identified and 
tested using neurophysiological data (e.g. EEG), peripheral 
physiological activation (i.e., ECG, RESP, EDA) and behavioural changes 
(i.e., f-EMG) collected using VR scenarios of increasing complexity.

The successful applicant will research and develop Bayesian (DCM and 
Active Inference) computational models of multimodal social interaction 
with an emphasis on the role of human chemosignals. They will also 
develop robust algorithms for signal processing, statistical inference 
and extraction of information from EEG and other physiological signals, 
design and implement software for the execution of experiments with VR 
stimulation, and contribute to the reporting and dissemination of the 
project.


#Skills and qualifications required

Applicants are expected to hold a PhD (or be close to completion) in 
Computational Neuroscience, Brain-computer Interfaces, Neural 
Engineering, Psychology, Machine Learning, Statistics, Physics, 
Mathematics, Computer Science or a closely related discipline, or 
equivalent professional experience or practice. The ideal candidate will 
have significant experience in computational modelling of social 
interaction, signal processing, statistical modelling of neural signals 
and processes, brain-computer interfaces, and virtual reality 
interfaces. Applicants are also expected to have a strong publication 
record (relative to their career stage) as first author, ideally 
including publications in 1st quartile journals in relevant areas.

We strongly encourage women to apply as they are currently 
under-represented in the School of Computer Science and Electronic 
Engineering.

At the University of Essex internationalism is central to who we are and 
what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, 
internationally-oriented university that is welcoming to staff and 
students from all countries and a university where you can find the 
world in one place.


#Who we are

University of Essex has just been awarded the prestigious title of 
"University of the Year" by the Times Higher Education for "transforming 
the lives of a growing student body" and " putting both staff and 
students first".

The School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering (CSEE) at the 
University of Essex has an outstanding reputation for teaching and 
high-quality research in artificial intelligence, biomedical 
engineering, brain-computer interfaces, computer games, evolutionary 
computation, human language technology, robotics, networks and 
optoelectronics. Particularly relevant to this application is our 
research in artificial intelligence and in life and medical sciences 
applications, which was judged as world-leading in the recent Research 
Excellence Framework, the system for assessing the quality of research 
in UK higher education institutions. An important centre spanning both 
areas is the Essex Brain-Computer Interface and Neural Engineering 
(BCI-NE) Laboratory.

The successful applicant will work in collaboration with the Department 
of Psychology at the University of Essex. This department was ranked 
13th out of more than 100 in the UK in the most recent Research 
Excellence Framework (REF 2014 <http://www.essex.ac.uk/research/ref>), 
with 90% of our research rated as world-leading or internationally 
excellent. Academic staff in the department have wide-ranging and 
world-leading expertise in vision, cognition, cognitive neuroscience, 
health and social psychology. Students and staff make use of facilities 
in the Centre for Brain Science, a purpose-built facility dedicated to 
research and with considerable resources for understanding brain and 
behaviour.

The research facilities are located on our Colchester Campus, which is 
set within 200 acres of beautiful parkland 
<https://www.essex.ac.uk/about/wivenhoe-park>, located two miles from 
the historic town centre of Colchester 
<https://www.essex.ac.uk/life/colchester-campus/local-area> England's 
oldest recorded town. Our Colchester Campus is also easily reached from 
London and Stansted Airport in under one hour. Home to over 13,000 
students from more than 130 countries, our Colchester Campus is the 
largest of our three sites, making us one of the most internationally 
diverse campuses on the planet - we like to think of ourselves as the 
world in one place. Colchester has a relatively low cost of living, 
while being well connected to London, the coast, and areas of natural 
beauty in East Anglia.

Please see the link above for a full job description and person 
specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and 
experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the 
post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an 
application.  Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like 
advice or help in making an application, or need information in a 
different format, please telephone the Resourcing Team (+44 1206 876559 
<tel:+44-1206-876559>).

Feel free to  contact us (Dr Citi, (CSEE) lciti at essex.ac.uk 
<lciti at essex.ac.uk> (PI), Dr Ognibene (CSEE) 
dimitri.ognibene at essex.ac.uk <dimitri.ognibene at essex.ac.uk>, Dr Foulsham 
(PSYCH) <foulsham at essex.ac.uk> ) for an informal discussion about this post.