Post-Doctoral Research Assistant

Background

City University London is a global University committed to academic excellence with a focus on business and the professions and an enviable central London location. Research is at the heart of City’s academic activities, with a renowned reputation for fostering interdisciplinary activity, innovation and creativity. Through research, our academic staff seek to advance knowledge in our areas of specialism and to bring value to society. For REF 2014, City submitted 1,592 academic outputs and 49 impact case studies from 378 staff. Some 75% of City’s submission was rated as being of world leading 4* (23%) and internationally excellent 3* (52%) quality.

This 16 month postdoctoral research assistant position is funded by the Baily Thomas Charitable Fund in support of a project entitled “Learning and Reward processing in Autism: A systematic computational approach”. The project will take place in the Autism Research Group of the Department of Psychology, under the supervision of Dr. Sebastian Gaigg (Dept. of Psychology, City) and collaborators Dr. Eduardo Alonso (Dept. of Computer Science, City), Dr. Jennifer Cook (Dept. of Psychology Birmingham University) and Dr. Elliot Ludvig (Dept. of Psychology, University of Warwick).

The research aims to develop new experimental protocols to test basic learning and reward processes across the entire autism spectrum, emphasizing particularly those individuals with severe intellectual disabilities who are significantly underrepresented in the literature. The methodology will be to build new behavioural tests using touch screen technology that will be specifically tailored to individuals with intellectual disabilities and be informed by formal computational models of reward learning processes. In the early stages of the project, a series of pilot studies involving adults with and without a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will develop experimental procedures that are sensitive to a number of basic learning processes of interest while also being suitable for implementation with younger children of varying degrees of intellectual impairment. In a final study, the calibrated protocols will then be used to examine reward based learning processes in such younger children.

Person Specification

We seek a proactive and enthusiastic researcher, with a PhD in a relevant subject area and experience working with individuals with ASD and/or intellectual impairments. We particularly seek candidates who are familiar with the literature on basic learning processes and who also have an understanding of computational models of learning. Technical skills to implement behavioural tasks and analyse data through software packages such as E-Prime and MATLAB are strongly desired, however, candidates who can show clear potential to develop relevant skills in these areas are also encouraged to apply.

Additional Information

City offers a sector-leading salary, pension scheme and benefits including a comprehensive package of staff training and development.

Actively working to promote equal opportunity and diversity.

Academic excellence for business and the professions.