PhD Position: Neurocognitive Mechanisms of Learning in Infancy at the Donders Centre for Cognition

Babies have so much to learn in such a short period, but how does learning itself develop? Join our research team to follow infants from 5 and 10 months to 2 ½ years to answer this pressing question.

You will use a novel neuroscience tool, optically-pumped magnetometers, to understand how early learning develops. You will address how caregivers’ behaviour influences infants’ learning and how early differences in learning predict language and social skills later. Insights from this project can provide knowledge for early interventions to foster learning in infancy, with potential to support later skill acquisition. This research is located at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology.

We are looking for a PhD candidate to join the BabyBRAIN lab. In this position, you will conduct cross-sectional and longitudinal research to investigate how learning unfolds in early childhood. You will acquire and analyse behavioural and electrophysiological data of infants and young children under the supervision of Marlene Meyer, Robert Oostenveld and Sabine Hunnius. You will be a member of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and the Baby and Child Research Center.

Your teaching load may be up to 10% of your working time.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate.

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (0.8 FTE 5- year contract - 1.0 FTE 4- year contract) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €3,059 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,881 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions
Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

Faculty of Social Sciences
At the Faculty of Social Sciences, humanity and society are our focus; we study how people behave, think and feel. Within this context, we look at themes such as human behaviour and the human psyche, education and upbringing, communication, society and culture. The faculty provides education to 6,000 students and employs 700 staff. Education is organised into six programme clusters: Psychology; Artificial Intelligence; Pedagogical Sciences and Educational Sciences; Communication Science; Sociology; and Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology, and the Radboud Centre Social Sciences as an institute for post-master education have been merged into the Social Sciences Education Institute. Our research is carried out within three research institutes: the Donders Centre for Cognition, the Behavioural Science Institute, and Radboud Social Cultural Research.

Radboud University
At Radboud University, we aim to make an impact through our work. We achieve this by conducting groundbreaking research, providing high-quality education, offering excellent support, and fostering collaborations within and outside the university. In doing so, we contribute indispensably to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. To accomplish this, we need even more colleagues who, based on their expertise, are willing to search for answers. We advocate for an inclusive community and welcome employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Will you also contribute to making the world a little better? You have a part to play.

If you want to learn more about working at Radboud University, follow our Instagram account and read stories from our colleagues.

The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre, that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Research at the Donders Institute is focused around four themes:

1. Language and communication
2. Perception, action and decision-making
3. Development and lifelong plasticity
4. Natural computing & neurotechnology

Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Donders Institute has been assessed by an international evaluation committee as ‘excellent’ and recognised as a ‘very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent’. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.

The Baby and Child Research Center (BRC) at Radboud University is a leading cross-disciplinary research initiative on early development. We study children's social and cognitive development as well as their language acquisition and health during the first six years of life. BRC features state-of-the art facilities, such as eye-tracking, motion-tracking and neuroimaging techniques. It fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary and supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. You will be an integral member of the lively BRC community.