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The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development (Western Sydney University, Australia) invites applications from highly motivated Australian or overseas graduates seeking to undertake a PhD supervised by Dr Andrew Milne and Prof Roger Dean. The PhD research will support a project entitled “Uncovering universal mechanisms for the communication of musical emotion”, which is funded by the Australian Research Council and Western Sydney University. The compatibility of two or more sounds – their perceived fit – is an essential component of musical communication and music-induced emotion. This project aims to reveal universal mechanisms of musical fit: mechanisms related to time, pitch, and timbre that are able to transcend individual and cultural differences. The mechanisms will be investigated with interdisciplinary methods from psychology, computing and musicology: theoretically informed computational predictors will model participants’ psychological and physiological responses to familiar musical, unfamiliar musical (e.g. microtonal, ametrical, inharmonic) and non-musical sonic stimuli. Applicants should hold an Australian First Class Bachelor Honours degree, OR equivalent qualifications and/or research experience (including research publications) in a field such as cognitive science, computing, musicology or experimental psychology. Interest or experience in two or more of these would be desirable. International applicants must also demonstrate a high level of proficiency in the English language. The successful candidate will receive a tax free stipend of up to $26,288 per annum for up to 3 years, and support for international conference attendance. Applications close on 15th February 2017, but later applications may be considered until the position is filled. Potential applicants should first contact Dr Andrew Milne (a.milne@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) to discuss their interests and to shape a research proposal that is relevant to the project. Andrew Milne | Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Music Cognition and Computation |