[FieldTrip] postdoc @ Univ Trento (Language Interaction and Computation Lab)

[Nathan Weisz]

POST-DOCTORAL POSITION IN USING BRAIN DATA TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT
OF EMOTIONALLY PLAUSIBLE VIRTUAL AGENTS AT CIMEC/CLIC, UNIVERSITY OF TRENTO

A postdoctoral position will soon become available at the CLIC
laboratory of the Center for Mind / Brain Sciences, University of
Trento (http://clic.cimec.unitn.it/) starting as soon as possible from
June 2013. 

The successful candidate will join a team of computational linguists
and computational neuroscientists whose research is focused on using
machine learning methods to analyze recordings of neural activity
(EEG, MEG and fMRI) to gain insights about conceptual knowledge and
other aspects of the cognitive models of agents involved in language
use and interaction. This particular position will be in the PRESTO
project, a collaboration between CIMEC, Delta Informatica, the
University's Computer Science Department, and Fondazione Bruno Kessler
(FBK). The objective of the project is the development of training
environments based on immersion in virtual reality situations in which
the trainee interacts with artificial agents (avatars). The role of
the postdoc in the project will be to run experiments testing the
emotional plausibility of the artificial agents, and studying the
interaction between emotions and decision making in the trainees. 

The ideal candidate for the position is a cognitive neuroscientist
with a strong research curriculum in the use of fMRI and/or EEG to
study emotions and interaction. Familiarity with machine learning
methods to analyze such data (eg MVPA) a plus. 

The fellowship has a duration of 1 year with the possibility of
renewal for a second year if the results of the first year are
satisfactory.

The Language Interaction and Computation Lab (CLIC) is a unit of the
University of Trento's Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMEC)
(www.cimec.unitn.it): an interdisciplinary Centre for the research in
brain and cognition including neuroscientists, psychologists,
(computational) linguists, computational neuroscientists, and
physicists. CLIC consists of researchers from the Departments of
Computer Science and Cognitive Science carrying out research on a
range of topics, including concept acquisition and information
extraction from very large multi-modal corpora, combining brain data
and data from corpora to study cognition, and theoretical linguistics.

The official call for the position can be found at:

http://www.unitn.it/en/cimec/11882/study-and-job-opportunities

Deadline for the application is April 30th.

For additional information please contact Massimo Poesio
(massimo.poesio at unitn.it), attaching your CV.