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PhD Research Opportunities in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
Auditory cognitive neuroscience research is on the rise in Pittsburgh, PA! The Pittsburgh Cognitive Auditory Neuroscience (PCAN) group is a network of faculty, research scientists, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduates, and research staff from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) . PCAN meets weekly to interconnect research efforts and training across the laboratories of Prof Lori Holt (CMU), Prof Barbara Shinn-Cunningham (CMU), and Prof Bharath Chandrasekaran (Pitt), with deep engagement from fellow auditory researchers in the community including Drs. Christopher Brown (Pitt), Richard Randall (CMU), Laurie Heller (CMU), and Richard Stern (CMU). Our goal is to further understanding of human auditory cognitive neuroscience.
We are seeking curious, motivated trainees to pursue PhD research at CMU or Pitt. The two institutions are adjacent, compounding training and research opportunities with easy movement across labs, departments, centers, and universities. Trainees can take advantage and contribute to a vibrant interdisciplinary auditory research community spread across several departments and programs. Our trainees are diverse in their interests and backgrounds, with students and post-docs arriving with educational backgrounds in Neuroscience, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Engineering, Linguistics, and Communication Sciences and Disorders and with cultural backgrounds from around the world.
Adventurous, collaborative and adaptable personalities with a sense of humor will fit into our community well. We welcome you to find out more about our graduate programs. Our trainees can (and do) pursue PhDs in Psychology (CMU), Cognitive Neuroscience (CMU), the Program in Neural Computation (CMU), Electrical and Computer Engineering (CMU), Biomedical Engineering (CMU), Communication Sciences and Disorders (Pitt), Psychology (Pitt) and Neuroscience (Pitt). Additionally, trainees can undertake cross-cutting neuroscience training that complements home PhD programs through the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Training is complemented by opportunities to take coursework in Neuroscience, Machine Learning, Statistics, Signal Processing and other topics relevant to auditory cognitive neuroscience. We have close connections with Pittsburgh researchers working with clinical populations and animal models whose work informs our understanding of human auditory processing, for example through the Pittsburgh Hearing Research Center. Excellent resources and facilities are available (including fMRI, EEG, fNIRS, MEG, and access to developmental and clinical populations). Our trainees are fully funded, with a stipend and tuition support as well as health insurance, public transportation, and a research travel allowance.
Pittsburgh is an affordable and fun city in which to pursue graduate training. But, don’t just take our word for it. Pittsburgh is rated among the most livable cities in the country.
Our PCAN website provides more information on the many PhD training opportunities that are available. Please also feel free to reach out to us with questions. We’re looking forward to meeting you!