Postdoc Position in Decision Neuroscience

We are recruiting for the position of a Postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus Centre for Neuroeconomics at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). We seek outstanding applicants whose research interests lay at the intersection of psychology, economics, marketing, and neuroscience. The particular interests of our centre are the neural underpinnings of the social and emotional influences on choice, value representation, persuasive messaging, and the neural forecasting of real-world behaviour.

We are particularly looking for applicants who have experience with innovative fMRI methods and analyses for our current project; activities include the application of multivariate approaches and machine learning for prediction. Applicants should also be interested in applying these techniques to study real-world choice behaviour.

We seek to understand and predict choice from observing neural activity in a wide range of domains, including financial decisions, charitable giving, crowdfunding, consumer decisions, and persuasive messaging. In particular, we focus on linking neural measurements obtained from individuals to data obtained from real population-level choices.

Your main tasks
The successful candidate will use a combination of behavioural and fMRI data to explore questions related to human decision making, and specifically how neural data collected in the laboratory might be related to population-level behaviours in the real world. The candidate will have the opportunity to analyse existing data sets as well as conduct new experiments and data collection.

Successful candidates must have a relevant PhD degree, with a background in cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology or biological psychology, with an interest in applying their knowledge to the field of decision-making. Strong coding skills (Matlab, Python, or R) is required.

Candidates with a background in statistics or computer science with an interest in decision-making and neuroscience are also strongly invited to apply.

Your required competences
For the current project, we are particularly looking for applicants with experience with innovative fMRI methods and analyses, including the application of multivariate approaches and machine learning for prediction. Applicants should also be interested in applying these techniques to study real-world choice behaviour.

We primarily use fMRI methods, applying techniques including multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), representational similarity analysis (RSA), and machine learning classifiers. Experience with and interest in applying these techniques is highly desired.

The conditions of employment correspond with the collective labour agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU). We offer a 1.0 FTE contract, initially for two years.

Salary is subject to training and experience with a minimum of €52,279 gross per year (€3,746 per month, 14x), based on a full-time contract of 38 hours (scale 11 CAO NU). Non-Dutch candidates are additionally eligible for very favourable tax status via the 30 per cent ruling.

Erasmus University Rotterdam has attractive employment conditions, which include a holiday allowance of 8 per cent, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3 per cent (included in the figures above), and a generous number of vacation days.

This position will be jointly supervised by Dr Alex Genevsky, Prof. Ale Smidts, and Dr Maarten Boksem.

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe's top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam - a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM's primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. Study information and activities for future students, executives and alumni are also organised from the RSM office in Chengdu, China. www.rsm.nl

RSM is an equal opportunity employer and explicitly encourages applications from candidates of all genders, ethnicities, and nationalities.