The Grossman Lab at the University of Pennsylvania is seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Research Fellow to contribute to a range of research projects investigating the neurobiology of language. Applicants should have completed a PhD in neuroscience, psychology, or an equivalent field, and have proven technical ability in image analysis and a demonstrated publication record. This position is funded in part through a collaborative grant looking at aging and speech comprehension with Jonathan Peelle (Washington University in Saint Louis) and Art Wingfield (Brandeis University). We are interested in the neurobiologic basis of the interaction of acoustic challenges (such as background noise or hearing loss) and linguistic factors (such as syntactic complexity or semantic predictability).
The University of Pennsylvania is a leading center in human brain imaging, with access to advanced MRI and PET imaging. The lab studies language and cognitive processing in healthy adults, normal aging, and neurodegenerative disease using converging evidence from multiple methods. There may also be opportunity for outstanding candidates to develop new projects and obtain competitive funding based on their own research interests, in alignment with the goals and interests of the lab. Philadelphia is an outstanding city with extraordinary cultural resources.
Primary responsibilities in this position include the analysis, interpretation, and writing up of functional and structural MRI data relating to the neural systems supporting speech processing in young and older adults. Previous experience in all of these areas is helpful, and the successful candidate will benefit from demonstrated independence in conducting analyses and interpreting results. Thus essential skills are motivation, critical thinking, and a strong record of scientific communication (papers, posters, and talks). Background knowledge in speech or aging, fMRI data analysis, experience with scripting languages (such as Matlab), and familiarity with behavioral statistical analyses (e.g., in R) are highly desirable. The anticipated start date is August 2016.