Postdoc in the project ‘Improving psychological assessment of face processing across the lifespan’ at the Department ...

Applications are invited for a 30 months postdoc in the project ‘Improving psychological assessment of face processing across the lifespan’ at the Department of Psychology. The project is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The position starting date is 1 October 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Introduction
‘Improving psychological assessment of face processing across the lifespan’ is a collaborative project’ based in the Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab at Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen. The main aim of the project is to develop clinically applicable tests of face recognition for children, the adult population, and the elderly, respectively. The project is a collaboration between PI, Professor in neuropsychology Randi Starrfelt, and researchers at the Danish Dementia Research Center and Center for Clinical Neuropsychology: children and adolescents, both at the National Hospital. There is also international collaboration with University of Bath, UK. The project is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The full project description is available from [email protected] on request. We recommend that you request and read the project description before submitting your application.

Project summary: Recognizing people’s faces is of vital importance for social interaction. However, face recognition can be impaired by e.g., acquired brain injury, neurodevelopmental conditions and neurodegenerative diseases. At present, few well validated neuropsychological tests of face recognition are available. This makes it challenging to detect and diagnose impairment in face recognition, and to characterize the typical development across the life span. The overall question in this project is: What are the best ways to assess face recognition at different points across the life-span, and how do face recognition abilities change with development and ageing? In three subprojects, we focus on a) children and development; b) the adult population and self report, and c) ageing effects on face recognition. The project will contribute well validated neuropsychological diagnostic tools for a Danish context, and to the international literature on the development of face recognition across the lifespan. The postdoc will be involved in all three projects.

Qualifications
Applicants should have a Ph.D. in neuropsychology, psychometrics, cognitive (neuro)science, or closely related fields, and have an interest in face recognition and development of assessment methods. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of and interest in neuropsychology, life span cognitive development and assessment, as well as development and validation of psychometric tools. The tests to be developed will be for the Danish population, and candidates fluent in oral and written Danish (corresponding to CEFR level C1) will be preferred. In addition, excellent communication skills in English are essential and applicants must speak and write academic English. The administration may ask applicants to document their proficiency in Danish and English at any time in the recruitment process, if considered necessary.

Applicants must send pre-approval of their PhD, including planned date for submission of the thesis, if it is not completed at the time of the application deadline.

The applicant’s qualifications for the postdoc are evaluated by the applicant’s general educational and academic background. Reflection paper, grade average, thesis evaluation, language competencies, publications, and other academic activities will be taken into account.

Job description
The specific focus of the postdoc position is to develop tests of face recognition suitable in a clinical setting in (Danish) populations of children, adults, and the elderly, respectively. This will involve scrutinizing the literature for existing tests and analyzing their qualities; development, piloting and finalizing test materials; collection and analysis of normative data, and recruitment of participants (aided by collaborators at the National Hospital), as well as manuscript preparation and publication. In addition to the clinical aims of test development, the project also includes a number of theoretical questions to which the empirical data can speak.

The successful candidate will be working in close cooperation with the PI and collaborators. A student assistant will assist with recruitment and participant testing. The postdoc will benefit from being part of the Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, and the Cognition and Clinical Neuropsychology Section at the Department of Psychology, UCPH, and will participate in common research meetings and daily interaction with other researchers in the section. The postdoc will also collaborate closely with researchers at the Danish Dementia Research Centre and Center for Clinical Neuropsychology: children and adolescents, both at the National Hospital.

An international stay at Bath University (with ass. Prof Punit Shah) is planned as part of the postdoc. Postdocs at the department typically also have some teaching obligations, and around 20% of the time will be set aside for teaching.

Applications
Submit a complete application at our online portal. Click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of the page to apply. The documents must be in Adobe PDF or Word.

Your application must be written in English and include the following documents:

• Cover letter, detailing your motivation and background for applying for this specific position

• A short paper including reflections on test development and the neuropsychology of face recognition: preferably with specific reference to prosopagnosia. This may contain one or more relevant research questions and methodological considerations. This paper must not exceed 4,000 characters (including title, punctuation, figures, footnotes and references, but excluding bibliography). A substantial breach of this will result in the application being excluded from consideration.

• CV including a complete list of publications must be submitted with the application. Experience with neuropsychological assessment, test development or validation, psychometrics, and face recognition research should be highlighted.

• Diploma and transcript of records

The following documentation must be submitted:

• A copy of the applicant's Master's degree diploma
• A copy of the applicant's Master’s degree transcript of records (an official description of the grading scale must be included)
• A copy of the applicant's PhD diploma, or official confirmation of the planned submission date.
• A copy of the applicant's PhD-assessment report.
• Two published scientific articles on which the applicant is a main author.

If these records are in another language than English, German, Danish, Norwegian or Swedish, please include a translation into either of these languages in your application.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding society, and invites all qualified applicants, regardless of personal background, to apply for the positions.

Application process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, applicants are selected for assessment on the advice of the Appointment Committee. All applicants will be notified whether they are passed on to assessment or not. Whereafter, the Assessment Committee is appointed by the Dean and the selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee. Each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment which relates to their own application.

Afterwards selected qualified candidates will be invited for an interview. Please be advised that a positive assessment does not necessarily mean that you will be invited for an interview.

Strategy of the Faculty of the Social Sciences
The Department of Psychologyis part of the Faculty of the Social Sciences. The Faculty is a successful academic community that strives to put knowledge into action by:

• Engaging partners in the co-creation of knowledge, learning and social change.
• Empowering our students to become reflective and responsible citizens who have the vision, the knowledge and the competences to change society for the better.
• Energising global, European and Danish communities of knowledge by innovating research methodologies and by research findings with impact.

For more on the Faculty strategy, see: https://samf.ku.dk/fakultetet/strategi/.

Terms of Employment

• Further information on qualification requirements as postdoc can be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities 2019 here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit/dokumenter/Ministerial_Order_no._1443_of_11_December_2019_on_Job_Structure_for_Academic_Staff_at_Universities.pdf
• Terms of appointment and salary is in accordance with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
• The salary range starts at DKK 38,500 per month + a 17.1 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

Since the work might involve direct contact with children under the age of 15, it will be a prerequisite for employment that a clean children’s certificate can be obtained.

The recruitment process
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/

Contact information
Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, e-mail: [email protected], please refer to ID number: 211-1826/24-2I.

Additional information about the position can be obtained from Randi Starrfelt, e-mail: [email protected].

The closing date for applications is 26 June 2024 23:59 [CEST].

Job interviews will be conducted on 14 and 15 August 2024

Applications or enclosures received thereafter will not be considered.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk