Job ID: 122530

Postdoctoral Position. The Geometry of Temporal Cognitive Maps

Position: Post-doctoral Position

Deadline: 30 June 2025

Employment Start Date: 1 September 2025

City: Gif sur Yvette

Country: France

Institution: CEA/INSERM

Department:

Description:

Postdoctoral position to study the neural basis of temporal cognition in humans.

The Cognition & Brain Dynamics lab studies temporal cognition, how the brain represents time, measures and stores durations, builds temporal expectations, orient attention in past or future, and more generally, structure events in temporal cognitive maps. Applications are invited for a full-time postdoctoral scholar funded by the ERC Synergy Grant “Chronology: the geometry of temporal cognitive maps” whose main goal is to assess the geometry of temporal cognitive maps.

The candidate should have a Ph.D. with a record of accomplishment in cognitive neuroscience research, as evidenced by first author international peer-reviewed publications. Expertise in human experimentation, neuroimaging methods (MEG, EEG, and/or fMRI) and machine learning is highly desirable. Cognition & Brain Dynamics offers an energetic, collaborative, and rigorous research environment with a strong commitment to training and career development. The successful candidate will benefit from being part of a large and vibrant neuroscience community that fosters excellence in research.

Requirements:

  • hold a Ph.D. in cognitive neurosciences, neurosciences, psychology or related fields
  • solid record of internationally peer-reviewed published work
  • strong to expert interest in temporal cognition, cognitive maps, memory
  • mastery of English language (fluent oral and written communication)

Hard skills:

  • neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and/or computational neuroscience
  • human neuroimaging (MEG, EEG, and/or fMRI)
  • programming (python preferred)
  • analysis of multivariate neuroimaging data, dimensionality reduction techniques, machine-learning, decoding

Soft skills:

  • scientific integrity
  • autonomy in problem-solving and learning new skills
  • organized and pro-active
  • collegial, good lab citizen

 

Application package

  • CV (incl. a list of publications)
  • A reprint of what you consider to be your best work
  • A letter of intent with a statement of research interests
  • Three letters of recommendation (or contacts from which those could be obtained)

Salary will be commensurate with the level of experience. Interested candidates should send their application package and informal inquiries with the header “SyG Postdoc” to Virginie.van-Wassenhove@cea.fr and Virginie.van.Wassenhove@gmail.com. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

General description of postdoctoral position:  The selected candidate will work directly with Virginie van Wassenhove and will contribute to the development, consolidation, and validation of experimental protocols dedicated to the understanding on how the human brain represents time.  The work will take place at NeuroSpin. The selected postdoctoral fellow will actively coordinate with members of the SyG team as frequently and as necessary as needed for the advancement of the project. The selected candidate will be responsible for the development and transfer of knowledge within the project. S/he will setup neuroimaging experiments (MEG, EEG, fMRI) and help supervise Master and PhD students. The successful candidate will benefit from, and contribute to, the interdisciplinary collaboration. Involvement in the organizational and managerial aspects are also expected, including the organization of meetings, journal clubs, and the contribution to reporting activities. The scientific contribution to the health of the research group will include contributing to weekly meetings and taking part in informal discussions with members of the team and of the consortium.