[visionlist] [postdoc position] “Visual factors underlying aesthetic image preferences”

[Johan Wagemans]

A postdoctoral position is available to work on the GRAPPA project, funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, awarded to Johan Wagemans at KU Leuven (Belgium). The GRAPPA project (acronym for “Gestalts Relate Aesthetic Preferences to Perceptual Analysis”) aims to develop and test a model to predict, explain and understand aesthetic preferences for natural images and pictures of artworks on the basis of mid-level vision factors. The central working hypothesis is that these factors (e.g., figure-ground segmentation, symmetry, composition, color harmony, perceptual ambiguity) provide a bridge between supposedly universal principles of low-level perceptual analysis based on image statistics and high-level style and content preferences that may vary between different cultural groups and individuals (“the eye of the beholder”). The GRAPPA project combines large-scale online testing of aesthetic preferences for images and psychophysical experiments on specific perceptual organization principles with gradually more sophisticated modelling based on machine learning and computer vision. The validation stage goes beyond mere preference and beyond images to include more general measures of aesthetic appreciation, mobile eye-tracking studies in museums, and collaborations with contemporary artists. For more information on the project, see here<https://research.kuleuven.be/EU/p/he/p1/erc/GRAPPA>.

Responsibilities
We seek to complement our current team, consisting of five PhD students and one postdoc, with an additional postdoc who can help to form a bridge between the research on perceptual organization in human vision and its role in aesthetic appreciation by the psychologists in the group, on the one hand, and the machine learning models developed by the computer scientists on the project, on the other hand. In particular, the postdoc we are recruiting now will need to have a strong background in human vision and/or empirical or computational aesthetics, with specific required expertise in one or more of the following areas: (1) psychophysics or experimental psychology of perceptual organization, (2) eye-tracking experiments and its data-analysis pipeline, (3) sophisticated statistics for behavioral data analysis (e.g., linear mixed models, hierarchical Bayesian regression models, cluster analysis, PCA, SEM), (4) computational models of human vision, (5) machine learning models of vision and/or image aesthetic analysis.

Profile
Eligible candidates have research experience and a PhD in a relevant area, preferably demonstrated with first-author peer-reviewed publications in the domain of interest. In addition to the expertise described in the 5 areas above, further assets are experience with interdisciplinary research, experience in visual neuroscience or computational neuroscience, a creative mind, good problem solving skills, international and interdisciplinary mobility, and a collaborative, open-minded, and collegial attitude.

Offer
We currently have funding for up to three years, starting with a one-year contract. We have a good track record helping postdocs to obtain their own personal prestigious fellowships afterwards, allowing them to extend their stay and broaden the range of research questions and skill development. The net amount of the salary will be competitive and in accordance with the university fellowship scales for postdoctoral researchers. The position is research-only, without teaching obligations, but teaching opportunities can be arranged if wanted.

KU Leuven is one of the best European universities according to international rankings (#43 world-wide in the 2025 THE ranking). KU Leuven has expertise in all relevant areas of research for these positions, and co-supervision from relevant neighboring disciplines can easily be arranged. Our research group belongs to the department of Brain & Cognition, located in the center of Leuven, a vibrant university town which is only a 25-minute commute from the center of Brussels and its international airport.

Interested?
For more information please contact Prof. dr. Johan Wagemans, tel.: +32 16 32 59 69, mail: johan.wagemans at kuleuven.be<mailto:johan.wagemans at kuleuven.be>. You can apply for this job no later than January 31, 2025 via the online application tool<http://www.kuleuven.be/eapplyingforjobs/light/60419383>

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