[visionlist] Open PhD position in project SHIFT: A Shift towards Dynamic Perception Analysis with Continuous Psychophysics

[Constantin Rothkopf]

We have a fully funded open PhD position in the lab of Constantin 
Rothkopf (https://www.pip.tu-darmstadt.de/) at the Centre for Cognitive 
Science @ TU Darmstadt in a joint DFG-AEI project in collaboration with 
Joan López-Moliner (U. Barcelona) on continuous psychophysics.  This 
exciting new experimental paradigm abandons the rigid trial structure 
involving binary responses and replaces it with continuous behavioral 
adjustments to dynamic stimuli:
Bonnen, K., Burge, J., Yates, J., Pillow, J., & Cormack, L. K. (2015). 
Continuous psychophysics: Target-tracking to measure visual sensitivity. 
Journal of vision, 15(3), 14-14.
https://jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2301260
Together with a computational analysis framework based on Bayesian 
inverse optimal control it is possible to not only recover the 
perceptual sensitivity but additionally estimate participants’ action 
variability, internal behavioral costs, and subjective beliefs about the 
experimental stimulus dynamics:
Straub, D., & Rothkopf, C. A. (2022). Putting perception into action 
with inverse optimal control for continuous psychophysics. Elife, 11, 
e76635.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/76635
In SHIFT, we want to validate, refine, and extend our analysis method 
for continuous psychophysics.

Our group is part of the Centre for Cognitive Science and the AI Center 
at TU Darmstadt, which are home to an internationally outstanding group 
of PIs and junior researchers working in the areas of computational 
cognitive science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. We are 
part of several research consortia including two recently awarded 
Excellence Clusters (The Adaptive Mind & Reasonable AI), we are part of 
the Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience, and engage in 
multiple fruitful research collaborations. The lab has state of the art 
equipment for eye and body tracking, VR, naturalistic task monitoring, 
psychophysics and access to one of the most generous computing 
infrastructures in Germany. We foster an inclusive, supportive, and 
collaborative environment driven by scientific curiosity and mutual 
respect and we maintain close interactions with other research groups 
including joint lab meetings.

Applicants may have a background in cognitive science, computer science, 
neuroscience, psychology, engineering, or related fields. Don’t hesitate 
to contact me informally for more details if you have any questions.

Please send an application including a CV, a two page cover letter 
explaining your research interests, motivation for joining the project, 
and contact information for 2-3 references in a single pdf file. Please 
include "SHIFT" in the subject of your mail. Applications will be 
reviewed on a continuing basis.

The Frankfurt-Darmstadt metropolitan area is located in the heart of 
Europe and is one of the most international regions in Germany with a 
diverse community and rich culture repeatedly earning high rankings in 
worldwide surveys of quality of living. Frankfurt recently reached 7th 
place worldwide in a ranking of attractiveness by the Economist and 
Darmstadt has repeatedly ranked among the top innovation driving cities 
in Germany.

All the best,
Constantin Rothkopf

-- 
Prof. Constantin A. Rothkopf, PhD
Technical University of Darmstadt, Alexanderstr. 10, 64283 Darmstadt
phone: +49 6151 16-23367                                 https://tu-darmstadt.zoom-x.de/my/crothkopf
Psychology of Information Processing Group               https://www.pip.tu-darmstadt.de/
Centre for Cognitive Science                             http://www.cogsci.tu-darmstadt.de/
Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence               https://hessian.ai/
Institute of Psychology                                  https://www.psychologie.tu-darmstadt.de/