Post-doctoral position at McGill University

[Stephen McAdams <smc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A post-doctoral researcher (within 5 years of obtaining the PhD) is 
sought to participate in a project concerning the perception of object, 
event and source behaviors in complex environments. The project will 
study the perception and recognition of sound events that are created 
by interactions between real mechanical objects, simulations of such 
interactions with physical-modeling digital synthesis, or simplified 
sounds that are meant to capture the basic acoustic cues that specify 
such objects and their interactions (collisions, friction, rolling, 
sloshing, blowing, etc.). This purely auditory work will be 
supplemented with audiovisual presentations in which perception and 
recognition of objects and the events specifying their interactions are 
recorded from real-life events or simulated by video synthesis. 
Finally, with real-time synthesis and synchronization of audio and 
video stimulation, the real or virtual manipulation of objects to 
create interactions among them will be included. The aims are to 
characterize event and object perception and recognition, as well as 
the processes by which humans recognize new kinds of events or object 
behaviors in a virtual reality environment. The project is funded by 
the Natural Sciences and Engineering Rearch Council and the Canada 
Research Chairs program.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in experimental psychology with 
skills in experimental design, matlab programming, data analysis, and 
sound analysis and synthesis. He or she will serve as project manager 
under the supervision of the principal investigator and will be willing 
and able to co-supervise graduate students on aspects of the project 
with him. The environment is Macintosh based and the candidate will be 
willing to adapt to this environment and to help develop it during the 
period of the post-doctoral fellowship. The candidate will also be 
expected to contribute significantly to the everyday functioning of the 
laboratory.

The Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory (MPCL) is part of the 
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media & Technology 
(CIRMMT) and the Music Technology Area of the Theory Department in the 
Faculty of Music at McGill University. CIRMMT has strong ties with the 
psychology department, the engineering faculty and the Montreal 
Neurological Institute at McGill University, the psychology and music 
departments at the Université de Montréal, and the Acoustics Group at 
the Université de Sherbrooke. The MPCL will soon be equipped with IAC 
sound isolation booths (to be installed in June 2005), state-of-the-art 
computer and audio equipment, laboratory workstations and a virtual 
reality system for interactive multimodal work (to be acquired in the 
Fall of 2005).

Applicants should send a CV and letter describing how their skills 
could best be employed within the context of the proposed project to 
Stephen McAdams. The post-doctoral rate scale is $35,000-$40,000 
depending on qualifications. There is a possibility of obtaining 
exemption from Québec provincial taxes for non-Canadian applicants. The 
position is for one year, renewable according to performance during the 
initial year. In the case of internatinal applicants, final acceptance 
for the post-doctoral position is conditional upon obtaining necessary 
documents for entry into Canada and returning to the home country at 
the end of the contract period.

Stephen McAdams, Professor
Director, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media & 
Technology (CIRMMT)
Faculty of Music, McGill University
555 Sherbrooke St. W.
Montréal, Québec, Canada  H3A 1E3
Email: smc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.music.mcgill.ca/cirmmt/
tel: +1-514-398-2464
fax: +1-514-398-8061