Assistant Professor in Predictive Brain Processes

1000scholars; Maastricht; On-site; EUR 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

12-month contract

8% holiday allowance

8.3% year-end bonus

Vacation days & extra days off

Home office allowance

Flexible working hours

Pension ABP

Job summary

Maastricht University seeks an Assistant Professor in Predictive Brain Processes to develop an independent, internationally visible research programme on predictive and inferential brain mechanisms in perception and decision-making. The role spans experimental, computational, or theoretical work across modalities with a focus on uncertainty and cognition.

The successful candidate will teach within the interdisciplinary Brain Science programs, supervise theses, and contribute to departmental

Qualifications

• PhD in (Cognitive) Psychology, (Computational) Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences or Engineering, AI or related discipline.
• Postdoctoral or equivalent research experience with publications.
• Strong theory, computational or experimental expertise in perception and cognition.
• Ability to secure competitive research funding, individually or collaboratively.
• Teaching experience and enthusiasm for supervision.

Responsibilities

• Establish an independent, internationally visible research programme.
• Contribute to BSc Brain Science teaching and supervision.
• Develop collaborative projects and pursue external funding.
• Engage in open, inclusive research culture and cross-disciplinary work.

Skills

Postdoctoral experience

Computational expertise

Theoretical neuroscience

Excellent English communication

Education

PhD in Cognitive Psychology / Neuroscience / AI

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Neuroimaging tools

Job description

Assistant Professor in Predictive Brain Processes

Welcome to Maastricht University! How does the brain construct an adaptive interpretation of the world? How do sensory information, prior knowledge, expectations, goals and internal states interact to shape perception, learning and decision-making? At the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience of Maastricht University, we are looking for an Assistant Professor in Predictive Brain Processes who wants to develop an ambitious and independent research programme that advances our mechanistic understanding of how the brain anticipates, infers, learns and acts under uncertainty.

Our goal

You will establish an independent and internationally visible research programme in predictive brain processes and contribute to the education programmes of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

What you do

You will have the intellectual freedom to build an independent and internationally visible research programme in predictive and inferential brain processes. Your research may take an experimental, computational or theoretical approach. We are not committed to a single theoretical framework: we welcome research that develops, tests, compares, refines or challenges existing theories. Contributing to a deeper understanding of the computations and mechanisms underlying adaptive cognition, your research may focus on areas such as:

• Perception, learning and working memory
• Statistical and sequence learning
• Conscious experience
• Abstract and compositional representations
• Decision-making and sensorimotor control

You may work in any sensory modality, across multiple modalities or in modality-general domains, using approaches such as psychophysics, eye-tracking, neuroimaging, non-invasive electrophysiology and computational modelling. We are particularly interested in formal, computational, biologically inspired, generative or neural-network models that advance theories of brain function.

Alongside developing your research programme, you will:

• Develop collaborative research projects and pursue external research funding.
• Contribute to an open, supportive and inclusive research culture.
• Divide your time approximately 50/50 between research and teaching.

Teach within the interdisciplinary BSc Brain Science, particularly in areas related to your expertise, such as cognitive and computational neuroscience, perception and cognition, mathematics, programming, modelling, artificial intelligence and data analysis. Contribute to the FPN Psychology bachelor’s and master’s programmes and, occasionally, programmes outside FPN. Supervise bachelor’s and master’s theses. Contribute to administrative responsibilities or committee work once you are settled in your role.

What you bring

• Have a PhD in (Cognitive) Psychology, (Computational) Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences or Engineering, Artificial Intelligence or a related discipline.
• Have postdoctoral or equivalent research experience, with demonstrated research quality and a competitive publication record.
• Have strong theoretical, computational and/or experimental expertise relevant to the interplay between sensation and cognition and to predictive and inferential brain processes.
• Have demonstrated the ability, or clear potential, to acquire competitive research funding, individually or collaboratively.
• Have the potential to develop an independent and internationally visible research programme that complements and strengthens the department. We welcome research spanning behaviour and cognition, representations, algorithms, neural populations and circuits. Expertise in a particular sensory modality or research method is not required.
• Have relevant teaching experience and enthusiasm for further developing your teaching and thesis supervision.
• Are a collegial researcher who enjoys interdisciplinary team science.
• Have excellent English communication skills. Knowledge of Dutch is not required.

What we offer

• A 12-month contract (1,0 fte) with the prospect of a permanent contract based on mutual satisfaction.
• A gross monthly salary between €4925,00 and €6682,00 (based on full-time employment of 38 hours per week). 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
• 29 vacation days (based on full-time), four additional days off (Carnival Monday and Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day), and the possibility to accrue up to 12 extra days through compensation hours.
• Flexible working hours, a home office allowance, and the option to work from home.
• Freedom and space to shape your work independently and develop your ideas.
• A close-knit community of colleagues to collaborate and grow with.
• A solid pension plan via ABP, company fitness schemes, and access to various university sports facilities.
• An inspiring work environment in the heart of Europe.

About the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN)

At FPN, we share a curiosity about the human brain and behaviour. Together with our students, we explore how our brains function and learn why we do what we do. We connect perspectives and contribute to living together in society.

Interested?

Want to know more about this position or what it’s like to work at our university? Reach out to Prof. dr. Federico De Martino at [e-mail].

Additional information

Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students.

Note on applications

The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.