CALL FOR THE SELECTION OF POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR THE 2024-2025 PERIOD
The National Institute of Science and Technology on Social and Affective Neuroscience - INCT-SANI (CNPq, Brazil) is seeking candidates for FOUR investigator-funded Postdoctoral Fellowships. The selected candidates will work primarily on the following CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) INCT-SANI funded studies examining:
A) Cognitive distortions related to biases of body weight and gender, among others. This study aims to investigate if these biases can be reduced through interaction with and modeling of very realistic virtual humans - in Porto Alegre, RS. [Filled]
B) Study of neural functioning of basic social psychological processes such as morality, cooperation, social identity, prejudice, political polarization, and conspiracy mentality to increase and improve cooperation in human interactions. This project will use neuroscientific approaches through fNIRS (Nirsport 1 with hyperscanning), behavioral, and psychometric measures - in Brasília, DF. [Filled]
C) Students’ mental health and social relations throughout undergraduate studies. This will be a longitudinal project with surveys that will be repeated periodically - in São Paulo, SP. [Filled]
D) Undergraduate students’ social networks throughout their courses, along with their moral beliefs. This project will involve surveys every 6 months to evaluate if and how interpersonal relations relate to one’s morality - in São Paulo, SP. [Filled]
The successful candidates will be expected to oversee data acquisition with different instruments and interventions; conduct data analyses; and prepare scientific manuscripts. Candidates with expertise in fNIRS techniques are particularly encouraged to apply, and we strongly recommend candidates to have experience with programming languages, such as R, Python, Julia, and/or Matlab.
For Study A, the successful candidate is expected to be knowledgeable about Unreal and Unity graphics engines and familiar with modeling virtual humans (Metahuman Creator, Blender, among others). In addition, the candidate should possess skills in user questionnaire modeling, advanced statistical analysis, data science, and analytics using Python and R programming languages, and/or statistical software such as SAS, RStudio, and SPSS. The candidate should also be capable of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses.
For Study C, we are seeking a candidate with previous experience in data collection, database management, and scientific writing focused on longitudinal studies; the ability to model and conduct statistical analyses with longitudinal data, such as latent class analysis, developmental trajectory analysis, mediation and moderation analysis; and training or professional experience in epidemiology, public health, mental health across the lifespan, or related areas. The candidate is expected to work independently in conducting studies, suggesting possible research questions and new methods that can be applied.
For Study D, the successful candidate is expected to have initiative, experience with report and article production, experience with conducting surveys and data collection, basic knowledge in R and/or Python; not required, but advanced experience in Python or R, prior experience with network analysis, and experience with designing longitudinal surveys in Qualtrics will be considered an asset.
The current INCT-SANI’s postdoctoral call seeks candidates to conduct studies at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, RS - Study A), University of Brasília (Brasília, DF - Study B), and Mackenzie Presbyterian University (São Paulo, SP - Studies C and D). Each fellowship's activities will be supervised by:
Professor Soraia Raupp Musse, PhD, and Professor Angelo Brandelli Costa, PhD (Porto Alegre, RS) for Study A;
Professor Ronaldo Pilati, PhD, or Tiago de Lima, PhD (Brasília, DF) for Study B;
Professor Paulo Boggio, PhD; Professor Gabriel Rêgo, PhD; and Professor Jessica Maruyama for Studies C and D.
The selected candidates will benefit from being involved in the research activities of a highly innovative institute conducting cutting-edge research.
For more information on CNPq Postdoctoral Fellowships, visit CNPq Fellowships.
Applications must be sent by email to inct.sani@gmail.com and should include a cover letter detailing the candidate's research interests, CV, and contact details of two potential references.
The positions will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.
Start date is flexible, beginning from July 2024.
São Paulo, June 7th, 2024
For more information, contact us through email (inct.sani@gmail.com).