In This Issue    

Job Postings and Announcements

Scientific Meetings & Calls for Papers

The 8th Morphological Processing Meeting:  June 20th - June 22nd 2013

Dear colleagues,

The 8th Morphological Processing Meeting will be held at the University of Cambridge, UK, from June 20th to June 22nd 2013. We are pleased to announce that registration is open: http://morphologicalprocessing2013.webs.com/.

The meeting aims to bring together scientists that work on all aspects of morphological processing. It is intended to provide an opportunity to discuss and explore different aspects of morphological processing, across several languages, language modalities and experimental paradigms.

Please circulate this message to any colleagues who you think might be interested.

We look forward to welcoming you to Cambridge!

Best wishes,

The Organising Committee

William Marslen-Wilson                         

Lorraine K Tyler                                

Mirjana Bozic

Francesca Carota                                   

Elisabeth Fonteneau                     

Caroline Whiting

Marie Dixon                                              

Jaya Hillman

51st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia, Lucerne, Switzerland

This year marks the 51st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Aphasia which will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland from October 20-22, 2013.

We are pleased to announce that Stanislas Dehaene will be this year's luncheon speaker. Dr. Dehaene is Professor and Chair of Experimental Cognitive Psychology at the College dè France and Director of the INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit in France.  Further information about Dr. Dehaene can be found at: http://www.college-de-france.fr/site/en-stanislas-dehaene/

The meeting will be held at Hotel Continental Park in Lucerne, Switzerland.

For more information about the conference location, please refer to the Academy website:

http://www.academyofaphasia.org/.  Information will be posted as it becomes available. 

Workshop on Infant Language Development (WILD), organized by the BCBL - Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language

Faculty Positions

A Research Assistant Professor position is available in the newly established Laboratory for Language, Learning, and the Brain at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (PI: Patrick Wong).  We welcome individuals from any disciplines whose research addresses aspects of speech, hearing, language, and communication broadly defined.  This is a three-year, non-tenure-track research faculty position subject to final University approval.  Candidates with experience in basic and clinical research across the lifespan are all encouraged to apply.  We are particularly interested in broad thinkers with good quantitative skills to join our team.  Candidates with experience in behavioral, neural, and genetic research will all be considered.  The anticipated start date is Sept. 1, 2013, but can be flexible

The Chinese University of Hong Kong ranks among top 40 in the world according to QS World University Rankings.  Hong Kong offers a multitude of living possibilities that include rural living in the New Territories where the University is located.  For inquiries, candidates should email CV to Patrick Wong (p.wong@cuhk.edu.hk).  

Visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/lin/llb/ for more information about our work.

Review of applications will begin immediately.  For formal application procedures, see the University advertisement:

http://www.per.cuhk.edu.hk/JobVacancies/TeachingAdministrativeandProfessiona

lPosts/tabid/202/Default.aspx

Postdoctoral Positions

The MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (CBSU<http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/>) is an internationally renowned research institute with state-of-the-art cognitive neuroscience facilities, including a research dedicated 3T Siemens Trio MRI scanner and 306-channel Elekta Neuromag MEG system.

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral position to work within a research programme led by Dr Matthew Davis<http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/> investigating neural systems for perceiving, understanding and learning spoken language. The research will use advanced functional imaging methods (fMRI, MEG/EEG) to explore speech processing in healthy, adult participants. Additional opportunities may arise to work with children or adults with language impairment.

You should have, or be in the final stages of obtaining, a PhD in cognitive neuroscience or related field, including experience of one or more neuroimaging methods. A strong computational or statistical background is desirable and experience of speech signal processing or psycholinguistics.

This is a three year training and development postdoctoral position. The starting salary will be in the range of £

For informal enquiries, contact Matt Davis by email: matt.davis@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk.

Applications are handled by the RCUK Shared Services Centre; for further information and to apply please visit our job board, by following this <http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AGD786/career-development-fellow-postdoctoral-position/> link<http://www.topcareer.jobs/Vacancy/irc87470_2879.aspx>, including the IRC86470 reference. Closing date: 9th April 2013

Seven Postdoctoral Positions in the Dutch Research Consortium "Language in Interaction" 

The Netherlands has an outstanding track record in the language sciences. This research consortium sponsored by a large grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific research (NWO)  brings together many of the excellent research groups in the Netherlands with a research programme on the foundations of language. Our consortium counts four Spinoza Prize winners (van Benthem, Muysken, Cutler, Hagoort; the Spinoza Prize is the highest science prize in the Netherlands), three ERC Advanced Grant winners (Muysken, Levinson, Fernández), 17 VICI/Pioneer grant holders (these are the most prestigious personal grants that the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research provides; grant holders are: Bod, Ernestus, Majid, Desain, Van den Bosch, van Lambalgen, Roelofs, Bekkering, Fernández, Jensen, Medendorp, Toni, van Opstal, Murre, Ramsey, Schiller, Formisano), and numerous VIDIs and ERC starting grants. The proposal has representatives from eight universities and one research institute within the Netherlands. These are Radboud University Nijmegen (RUN), University of Amsterdam (UvA), University of Maastricht (UM), Leiden University (LU), Utrecht University (UU), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), University of Twente (UT), Tilburg University (TiU), and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (MPI). The applicant and co-applicants are internationally highly visible scientists in their respective fields. Moreover they are from institutes which are highly ranked internationally, such as the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (University of Amsterdam), the Centre for Language Studies (Radboud University Nijmegen) and the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (Radboud University Nijmegen). In addition, the consortium provides state-of-the-art research facilities. Together, this consortium realizes both quality and critical mass for studying human language at a scale not easily found anywhere else in the world.  In addition to the excellence in the domain of language and related relevant fields of cognition, the research team consists of researchers with excellence in the complex research methods that will be invoked to address the scientific questions at the highest level of methodological sophistication. These include methods from genetics, neuroimaging, computational modelling, and patient-related research. Moreover, experts in utilization of knowledge acquired in the relevant fields are part of our team as well. Next to the applicant and the co-applicants, our research team consists of 36 Principal Investigators. These Principal Investigators are distributed over seven so-called Work Packages (WPs).

Each of the 7 WPs hereby advertised one postdoctoral position. This postdoctoral position will be for three years in the first instance, with a possible extension for two more years.  Duties will include coordination of Work Package activities (together with the WP leaders) and development of an independent research programme within the framework of the WP, and may include supervision of PhD students.  The position provides the opportunity for doing world-class research as a key member of an interdisciplinary team, and for acquiring experience in the management of a research group.  

Requirements for the postdoctoral positions are:

               - a PhD in any relevant field

               - excellent scientific track record

               - excellent organizational and communicative skills

               - strong motivation

               - excellent skills in written and spoken English

Each WP postdoctoral position has its own requirements and profile, which are specified below. The appointment will be in one of the home institutions of the consortium, depending on the research profile of the postdoctoral researcher. In all participating institutions the research is conducted in an international environment by researchers from a large number of countries.

WP 1: Speech perception and production in interaction.

 We seek a postdoctoral fellow with an established research profile that fits the main goals of WP1.  These goals are (i) to understand the interplay between perceptual and motor processes in speech through innovative linkage of neural, psychological and linguistic levels of analysis and (ii) to specify the balance between what is language universal and what is language specific in speech processing.  Key questions include (a) Are our auditory and motor cortices speech ready? (b) How does feedback support processing in speaking and in listening? (c) How do perception and production interact?

WP1 will bring together expertise in the neurobiological foundations of perceptual and motor processes with psycholinguistic expertise in the perception and production of speech.  The postdoctoral fellow would ideally have prior experience in bridging across these domains and should certainly be willing and able to engage in and stimulate interdisciplinary integration.  The candidate should have as many as possible of the following: training in speech science, psycholinguistics and/or cognitive neuroscience; expertise in behavioural, computational and/or neuroscientific methods; and interests in linking speech perception to speech production.

Contact information:  Prof. James McQueen, james.mcqueen@mpi.nl

WP2:  Semantic and conceptual basis of language

Memory structures underlie semantic content and conceptual knowledge of language users. The language system builds on existing memory structures, which co-determine the organization of linguistic knowledge. This work package plans to investigate interactions between the linguistic and mnemonic domains, with a special emphasis on the development of memory in its entanglement with linguistic behaviour.  We are looking for an outgoing, interdisciplinary postdoctoral researcher who can bridge the gap between semantic modelling, computational paradigms for cognition, and functional neuroimaging. Knowledge of cross-linguistic differences in semantic systems or behavioural studies of language users would be an advantage. The ideal candidate has expertise in applying state of the art semantic and/or computational models to functional neuroimaging data. Working with our group of logical semanticists, cognitive psychologists, and neuroscientists, he/she will investigate and develop state of the art semantic-computational models with a view to neurobiological plausibility, which will generate predictions that can be used to analyse neuroimaging data.

Contact information: Prof. Guillén Fernández, guillen.fernandez@donders.ru.nl

WP 3: Compositionality and contextuality

One of the major challenges in understanding the language system is to unify abstract computational level descriptions and neurobiologically plausible network implementations of the combinatorial aspects of language processing. The postdoctoral researcher in this workpackage is expected to bridge the gap between computational modelling and experimental neuroscience. We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher in formal and computational modelling at the level of sentence processing (and beyond) who has also experimental skills and neurobiological expertise. You will develop and investigate computational models with neurobiological plausibility (e.g., spiking recurrent networks), which are used to generate specific predictions about the processing steps involved in sentence processing and about their neurobiological instantiation in the brain. The successful candidate will connect formal analysis and computational accounts with empirical studies on binding in the language domain. Current computational approaches (e.g., data-oriented parsing, logic programming or unification-based models) will have to be translated into accounts with a stronger connection to the brain and should be unified with current theories on neural processing.

Contact information: Prof. Rens Bod, rens.bod@gmail.com

WP4: Language in action

Language interacts with other cognitive functions such as perception, action, and cognitive control. Moreover, language is situated in a highly dynamic context provided by multimodal sources of information. The objective of this WP is to understand language processing and its variability during social interactions in its multimodal settings. We aim to achieve a better understanding of the cognitive and neural infrastructures involved in language use in social context, which requires establishing common ground and action coordination. We look for a postdoctoral researcher whose main interests and expertise include topics such as multi-modal integration, simulations of action and goals and/or cognitive control. Methodological expertise should include computational, experimental, observational, neurobiological and/or developmental approaches preferably within the language and/or action domain.

Contact information: Prof. Asli Ozyurek,  asli.ozyurek@mpi.nl

WP5: Language evolution and diversity

The goal of this WP is to contribute to a better understanding of the biological underpinnings of linguistic universality as well as diversity, both at the population level (between languages and between species) and at the individual level (within a language). We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher in this area. The preferred area of specialization is evolutionary modelling of language with respect to diversity in communication. Other possible areas of expertise may include language diversity, individual differences in language abilities, animal communication, and genetic influences on speech and language.

Contact information: Prof. Pieter Muysken, p.muysken@let.ru.nl

WP6: Toolkit

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a strong technical background, ideally in developing Neuroimaging Analysis Methods for integrating genetics with brain imaging approaches (e.g. MRI, fMRI, and MEG). The main task of the post-doctoral position is to develop and apply innovative analysis methods for linking complex genome-wide association data and neuroimaging data within a statistical framework. The successful candidate will have experience in relevant research areas, a track record of high-quality reviewed journal publications, strong experience in programming,  ability to work in a team, and in sharing technical know-how and ideas. It would be desirable if the candidate has experience in Medical Imaging (e.g. NeuroImaging) technical research, in computational modelling of the brain, in machine learning and/or statistical methods.

Contact information: Prof. Jan Buitelaar, j.buitelaar@psy.umc.nl

WP7: Utilization

We seek an enthusiastic, multi-disciplinary researcher with a keen interest to help translate scientific discoveries into practical applications and to generate different kinds of value for society. Within the university environment you will help to build ICT and other services needed to speed and ease this process. You are required to help build awareness, translate ideas into demos and apps, therapies or services.  The job entails project management of developers and coaching and advising of fellow scientists. Preferably you have experience with public-private co-operations, national and European grant schemes, clinical applications of neuroscience, and hopefully you bring a network of industry contacts. Next to managing the wide range of utilization activities in the project, there is a possibility to actively take part in a few of the developments, preferably around mobile applications (Apps) or web services. The candidate has a backgound in computer science, e-science, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, computational modelling, or experience in programming languages and practices for mobile platforms and/or web.

Contact information: Prof. Peter Desain, p.desain@donders.ru.nl

What we offer:

               - full-time postdoctoral research positions

               - salary dependent on experience, gross salary between € 3.227 and € 4.778

               - starting date preferably September 2013

               - the primary workplace will be determined in agreement with your profile

Applications should include:

            - a cover letter specifying the specific WP to which you are applying, your motivation, research experience, interests & plans

            - a curriculum vitae

            - a list of publications

            - the names of two persons who can provide references

The deadline for applications:  May 15, 2013

Applications should be sent electronically to:

Prof. Peter Hagoort

Radboud University Nijmegen

vacatures@dpo.ru.nl

Postdoctoral Positions--Department of Neurology, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York

Two NIH-funded postdoctoral positions are available in the laboratory of Dr. Kristina Simonyan in the Department of Neurology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. The research emphases of the laboratory is on understanding the brain mechanisms of normal and disordered voice and speech production as well as identifying the neurological correlates of primary focal dystonias using a multi-modal neuroimaging approach (fMRI, DTI, high-resolution MRI, PET). The specific project will involve understanding of brain abnormalities associated with genetic risk factors in patients with spasmodic dysphonia (or laryngeal dystonia) using a combination of structural and functional neuroimaging techniques, genetic analysis, clinico-behavioral testing, and genetic testing. The postdoctoral fellow will function as part of a multi-disciplinary team of neuroscientists, geneticists and clinicians.

Minimal qualifications include PhD or MD/PhD in Neuroscience, Communication Sciences or other relevant areas of biomedical research. Solid knowledge of image processing using computational (e.g., Linux, MATLAB) and statistical (e.g., AFNI, FSL, SPM) methods is a plus. The candidate should be independent, self-motivated, have excellent verbal and written communication skills, related publication records, and sufficient experience in neuroimaging, neurological and/or communication disorders.

Mount Sinai Medical Center is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. We recognize the power and importance of a diverse employee population and strongly encourage applicants with various experiences and backgrounds.

Inquires, including candidate's CV and brief description of research experience and interests, should be sent to Dr. Kristina Simonyan at kristina.simonyan@mssm.edu

Two Postdoctoral Fellowships, Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina

Postdoctoral Fellow: Cognitive Neuroscience of Language

The Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery and the laboratory of Professor Elissa Newport, director, are seeking a postdoctoral fellow capable of taking a leadership role in a new line of research focused on language, cognitive, and motor development after perinatal stroke, as compared with recovery of the same functions in adults after stroke to similar cortical areas.  The research involves longitudinal research, observing and testing infants and young children who have suffered a perinatal stroke to the left or right hemisphere; and cross-sectional research, observing and testing older children and young adults who have grown up after the same type of stroke, or adults who have experienced a comparable stroke during adulthood.  Our aim is understand how reorganization of cortical functions occurs after stroke early versus late in life.  The research will involve both behavioral and fMRI tasks, with a particular focus on fMRI and DTI analyses in both children and adults.  Our research team includes developmental cognitive scientists and cognitive neuroscientists, adult and pediatric stroke neurologists, and experts in fMRI with children and adults.  Candidates with experience in both language/cognitive development and fMRI research are preferred.  The research will take place at Georgetown University Medical Center, Children's National Medical Center, and the National Rehabilitation Hospital, all in Washington DC and all affiliated within the Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery.  Start date is anytime from January through July 2013, whenever a top candidate is identified.

Interested applicants should submit a CV and statement of research interests and background, and request 3 letters of recommendation, sent to Professor Elissa L. Newport, Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery, Georgetown University, at eln10@georgetown.edu.

Program Coordinator Position

Research Program Coordinator--The Neuroplasticity and Development Lab at Johns Hopkins

The Neuroplasticity and Development Lab at Johns Hopkins invites applicants for the position of Research Program Coordinator to start July 2013.  

The Neuroplasticity and Development Lab in the Johns Hopkins Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences uses cognitive neuroscience (e.g. fMRI, TMS) and behavioral methods to investigate how developmental experience shapes the human mind and brain. For more information about our lab please visit: 

http://pbs.jhu.edu/research/bedny/

Responsibilities: The Research Program Coordinator will have ample opportunity to participate in all elements of the scientific process. Key responsibilities will include: coding of stimulus presentation, behavioral and fMRI data collection, neuroimaging data analysis, construction and maintenance of fMRI analysis infrastructure, preparation of IRB protocols, as general lab management. 

Requirements: A bachelors degree and an interest in cognitive neuroscience and/or cognitive psychology. Strong computer programming skills (knowledge of Matlab, shell scripting and/or python preferred). Familiarity with any of the following tools is a plus: FSL, Freesurfer, SPSS, JPM, and/or R. Previous research experience is strongly preferred. 

To Apply: For more information and to apply please contact the lab director Dr. Marina Bedny at 

mbedny@mit.edu. Applications should include a cover letter specifying experience and names and emails of references.

Applicants can also visit http://jobs.jhu.edu/ to use the Find Your New Job feature to review the complete job description and the Career Cart feature to apply for position # 56165.  The Johns Hopkins University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to recruiting, supporting, and fostering a diverse community of outstanding faculty, staff, and students.  All applicants who share this goal are encouraged to apply.

Advanced Degree Programs

Doctoral Training--The Erasmus Mundus Program "International Doctorate for Experimental Approaches to Language And Brain" (IDEALAB) 

The Erasmus Mundus Program has been established as an outstanding 3-year doctoral training. Its primary focus is on language acquisition and disorders integrating interdisciplinary approaches.

PhD Position--The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI-CBS)

The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI-CBS) in Leipzig and its newly established Otto Hahn Group on the "Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech", led by Daniela Sammler, are now offering a PhD position for 3 years in a research project on social aspects of prosody perception in speech using fMRI, MEG and/or TMS.

There is much more to human communication than the (de)coding of the explicit, propositional meaning of a vocal speech signal. Between the lines, the vocal output reveals a lot about the speakers' believes, attitudes (e.g., sympathy, dominance), and communicative intentions (e.g., to warn, to request, to command, to tease). Much of such implicit, illocutionary meaning is conveyed by the "manner of saying", i.e. the speech prosody, and the interpretation of those subtleties involves a lot of pragmatic inference. There is growing evidence that this latter faculty is distinct from our language abilities such as phonology, syntax and semantics, making it reasonable to assume the involvement of brain areas beyond the well-known fronto-temporal language network in human vocal communication. The goal of the PhD project is to investigate the neural bases of decoding communicative intentions conveyed by prosody (i.e. HOW something is said) in contrast to and in interaction with the decoding of propositional meaning (i.e. WHAT is said).

Applicants must have a master degree (or equivalent) in psychology, cognitive sciences, neuroscience, medicine, linguistics, or a related field. Proficiency in oral and written English is necessary. A solid methods background (statistics and programming) as well as prior experience with either fMRI or EEG/MEG are highly desirable. Most importantly, the successful applicant will share our enthusiasm in research questions on prosody and the social brain in vocal communication.

Preferable starting date is July 2013. Salary is dependent on experience and based on MPI stipends or equivalent salary according to German Public service regulations.

The research will be conducted at the MPI-CBS in Leipzig, Germany, an internationally leading center for cognitive and imaging neuroscience equipped with a 7T MRI scanner, three 3T MRI scanners, a 306 channels MEG system, a TMS system and several EEG suites. All facilities are supported by experienced IT and physicist staff. Our institute (just 190 km or 70 minutes by train, south of Berlin) offers a very international environment, with English and German being the languages spoken in the laboratory. It offers a friendly and generous environment of researchers with diverse backgrounds and with an excellent infrastructure.

In order to increase the proportion of female staff members, applications from female scientists are particularly encouraged. Preference will be given to disabled persons with the same qualification.

Applications should be sent to the email below as a single, appropriately named pdf email attachment. It should enclose a cover letter (max. 2 pages) that also specifies your future research interests; a CV; up to three representative reprints; and contact details of two personal references. This call remains open until the position is filled. The application should be kindly sent to personal@cbs.mpg.de using the code "PhD 3/13" in the subject.

For further details please contact Dr Daniela Sammler, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany, sammler@cbs.mpg.de

Master in Cognitive Neuroscience of Language - BCBL, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language

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