<div dir="ltr">Applications are invited for two 3-year postdoctoral positions in the
Kelly lab in University College Dublin, to work on a project examining
the task-adaptive role of evidence accumulation in perceptual decision
making using human neurophysiology combined with computational
modelling. This project is funded under a Wellcome Trust Investigator
Award, by the SFI-HRB-Wellcome Research Partnership.<br><br>The extent
to which evidence accumulation underpins decision formation in some or
all perceptual tasks is still widely debated. Accordingly, there now
exist many distinct, alternative mathematical decision models that limit
the role of evidence accumulation in various ways, most notably through
leaky integration or "collapsing" decision bounds. The trouble is,
these alternative models can often be made to fit behavioral data
equally well but lead to fundamentally different inferences. With the
rapidly growing use of these models across many basic and clinical
research domains, it is past time that we knew whether, why and how
these alternative mechanisms are invoked across different task
scenarios, including ones representative of real life. This project will
draw on novel neurally-informed modelling approaches developed by our
lab (see, e.g. [1-3]) and others, to uncover core principles governing
how neurocomputational decision processes are flexibly adapted to
diverse task demands.<br><br>The Kelly lab is based in the School of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering in University College Dublin,
Ireland, and is affiliated with the Trinity College Institute of
Neuroscience. It has strong collaborative links to basic and clinical
cognitive neuroscience research groups employing a range of methods,
both locally and internationally. The successful candidate will have
ample opportunities for wider collaborations and the learning of new
skills.<br><br>Interested candidates should submit their CV and a brief
research statement describing their background and research interests
and how they align with the project and the broader interests of the
Kelly lab. Please submit these materials through the UCD job vacancies
site (<a href="https://www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs/" target="_blank">https://www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs/</a> - search for job ref number <b>012812</b>), before the <b>deadline of Jan 11 2021</b>. The positions are intended to start in April/May 2021, with some flexibility.<br><br>[1]
Afacan-Seref K, Steinemann NA, Blangero A, Kelly SP. Dynamic interplay
of value and sensory information in high-speed decision making. Current
Biology. 2018. 28(5):795-802.e6.<br>[2] Kelly SP, Corbett EA, O'Connell
RG. Neurocomputational mechanisms of prior-informed perceptual decision
making in humans. Nature Human Behaviour. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00967-9">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00967-9</a>.<br>[3] O'Connell RG,
Shadlen MN, Wong-Lin K, Kelly SP. Bridging Neural and Computational
Viewpoints on Perceptual Decision-Making. Trends Neurosci.
2018;41(11):838‐852. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2018.06.005<br><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>Simon Kelly, Ph.D.<br>Associate Professor<br>School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering<br>University College Dublin<br>t: +353 (1) 716 1803<br>e: <a href="mailto:simon.kelly@ucd.ie" target="_blank">simon.kelly@ucd.ie</a><br>-----------------------------------------------------------</div>