Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Translational Neuroscience and Neurorehabilitation

Three year NIH-funded fellowships are available at the Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI), in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), for research training in cognitive and motor neuroscience and neurorehabilitation. This program is designed specifically to prepare young investigators to adapt emerging theoretical advances to the development of rehabilitation treatments. To that end, we invite applications from (1) individuals with relevant basic science training who wish to learn to apply basic science principles to the study and treatment of neurological deficits and (2) individuals with relevant clinical training who wish to learn cutting-edge neuroscience and neurorehabilitation research methods. Fellows will train with a primary mentor at either MRRI or Penn and will interact with peers and mentors with diverse clinical and experimental backgrounds. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until all of the available positions are filled.

Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Both MRRI and Penn are Equal Opportunity Employers and welcome and encourages all qualified candidates to apply including, but not limited to, minorities and individuals with disabilities. A complete list of available mentors and instructions for application are available athttp://mrri.org/T32.html.

Applications should be submitted to Kevin Whelihan, Research Administrator (whelihak@einstein.edu) and must include:

- current CV

- cover letter describing research interests and career goals. Given the translational focus of the training program, applicants should indicate a preferred primary mentor and, if possible, one or more secondary mentors who appear to offer the best fit in balancing basic and applied aspects of the candidate’s interests.

- 2-3 letters of reference

University of Queensland, School of Psychology -- Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Experimental Psychology

University of Queensland, School of Psychology

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Experimental Psychology

Hours

The appointment will be made on a full-time, continuing basis at Academic level B or C (depending on experience and qualifications).

Salary

The remuneration package of an Academic Level B appointment will be in the range of $81,857 - $97,205 p.a., plus employer superannuation contributions of up to 17% (total package will be in the range of $95,774 - $113,731 p.a.).

The remuneration package of an Academic Level C appointment will be in the range of $100,275 - $115,623 p.a., plus employer superannuation contributions of up to 17% (total package will be in the range of $117,322 - $135,279 p.a.).

Duties and Responsibilities

The School of Psychology is currently seeking a full-time lecturer in the field of Experimental Psychology.  The successful applicant will carry out an independent program of research, contribute to undergraduate teaching in the areas of cognition and learning, engage in Honours and higher degree research supervision. Course coordination and administrative service within the School will also be required.

Applicants with experience in all areas of experimental psychology including psycholinguistics and human learning and memory are encouraged to apply.

The ideal candidate has some years of postdoctoral experience and a record of high-quality publications commensurate with the stage of their career; success in obtaining research funding is a plus. Duties beyond research and teaching include supervising and training undergraduate and graduate students and a share of administrative duties.

Key Requirements

Applicants will hold, or be demonstrably close to completing, a PhD in an area relevant to Experimental Psychology, have a competitive research track record, experience and ability in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate programs in experimental psychology, and capacity to supervise honours and postgraduate students.

Further Details

Further Particulars including a job description and person specification can be accessed at http://uqjobs.uq.edu.au/jobDetails.asp?sJobIDs=495390&lCategoryID=670&stp=AW&sLanguage=en

Application closing date

2 Feb 2014 11:55pm E. Australia Standard Time

Adaptive control during speech recognition in noise

Guest Post from Kenny Vaden:

During the holiday season, many of us will experience difficulty having conversations in noisy settings (e.g., family gatherings, restaurants, and airports). Word recognition errors and reduced signal to noise ratios (SNR) during effortful listening have been shown to elicit elevated activity in frontal regions that include the bilateral dorsal cingulate, anterior insulae, and frontal operculum (Wild et al., 2012). In an article entitled, The Cingulo-Opercular Network Provides Word-Recognition Benefit (Vaden et al., 2013), we demonstrate that this cingulo-opercular network supports speech recognition in noise on a trial-by-trial basis. This pattern of cingulo-opercular activity is thought to reflect a domain general network, which responds to task difficulty and errors for a variety of perceptual and cognitive tasks (Dosenbach et al., 2006).

Cingulo-opercular network activity is thought to reflect adaptive control functions that guide behavior. Consistent with this  premise, physiological evidence for adaptive control is found in activity that precedes behavior. Importantly, elevated cingulo-opercular activity has been associated with behavioral adjustments on the next trial for visuo-spatial tasks (Carter et al., 2000; Kerns et al., 2004; Weissman, Roberts, Visscher, & Woldorff, 2006). We asked whether similar results would be observed for word recognition in noise. In each trial of our fMRI experiment, participants were instructed to repeat a CVC word that was presented in a background of multitalker babble (energetic masking with ten voices; blocks consisted of 4-6 trials with +3 or +10 dB SNR). Word recognition was more likely for trials that immediately followed high cingulo-opercular activity compared to low activity. This effect was not specific to the magnitude of dorsal cingulate activity, as a word was more likely to be recognized when all of the cingulo-opercular regions exhibited elevated activity (Vaden et al., 2013).

One implication of our findings is that limited engagement of the cingulo-opercular network could account for word recognition difficulties, especially in challenging listening conditions. For example, Brownsett and colleagues (2013) demonstrated that cingulo-opercular activity across noisy speech recognition conditions was strongly related to individual differences in post-stroke picture naming abilities for patients with aphasia. We agree with the authors’ conclusion that there is potential value in developing methods that would enhance the function of a domain general cingulo-opercular network as part of a multi-pronged approach to addressing communication impairments. More broadly, these types of adaptive control results should direct our attention to the role of domain general systems in language studies.

References:

Brownsett, S. L. E., Warren, J. E., Geranmayeh, F., Woodhead, Z., Leech, R., & Wise, R. J. S. (2013). Cognitive control and its impact on recovery from aphasic stroke. Brain. doi:10.1093/brain/awt289
Carter, C. S., Macdonald, A. M., Botvinick, M., Ross, L. L., Stenger, V. A., Noll, D., & Cohen, J. D. (2000). Parsing executive processes: strategic vs. evaluative functions of the anterior cingulate cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 97(4), 1944–8.
Dosenbach, N. U. F., Visscher, K. M., Palmer, E. D., Miezin, F. M., Wenger, K. K., Kang, H. C., … Petersen, S. E. (2006). A core system for the implementation of task sets. Neuron, 50(5), 799–812.
Kerns, J. G., Cohen, J. D., MacDonald, A. W., Cho, R. Y., Stenger, V. A., & Carter, C. S. (2004). Anterior cingulate conflict monitoring and adjustments in control. Science, 303, 1023–1026.
Vaden, K., Kuchinsky, S., Cute, S., Ahlstrom, J., Dubno, J., & Eckert, M. (2013). The Cingulo-Opercular Network Provides Word-Recognition Benefit. J Neurosci, 33(48), 18979–18986.
Weissman, D. H., Roberts, K. C., Visscher, K. M., & Woldorff, M. G. (2006). The neural bases of momentary lapses in attention. Nat Neuro, 9(7), 971–978.
Wild, C. J., Yusuf, A., Wilson, D. E., Peelle, J. E., Davis, M. H., & Johnsrude, I. S. (2012). Effortful listening: the processing of degraded speech depends critically on attention. J Neurosci, 32(40), 14010–14021.

Audiovisual speech integration does not rely on the motor system

It has been claimed that audiovisual (AV) speech integration, such as in the McGurk-MacDonald effect, is driven by the motor speech system.  For example, Skipper et al. (2007) write,

AV speech elicits in the listener a motor plan for the production of the phoneme that the speaker might have been attempting to produce, and that feedback in the form of efference copy from the motor system ultimately influences the phonetic interpretation. 

I mentioned in a previous post that this claim is dubious based on the observation that infants, who can't generate speech, nonetheless exhibit McGurk-MacDonald effects.  William Matchin in my lab recently followed up on this issue in two experiments, reported in JoCN.

Experiment 1 was a behavioral study in which participants viewed AV mismatched stimuli that give rise to fused McGurk perceptions. They view these stimuli either under typical conditions or during articulatory suppression (silent syllable articulation).  The idea is that if the motor system is important in driving McGurk effects, then distracting the motor speech system with an articulatory task should affect the perception of AV mismatched stimuli, e.g., by reducing the strength of the McGurk effect.

Results: Articulatory suppression had no impact on the McGurk effect. 

Experiment 2 was an fMRI study that explored whether motor speech areas, such as Broca's area exhibited activation profiles characteristic of cross-sensory integration, namely that the response to the AV stimulus is greater than the response to the auditory or visual stimuli alone.

Results: Motor speech areas do not exhibit a response pattern characteristic of AV integration.  Instead, the STS exhibited such a profile (as previous work had shown).

Conclusion: The motor system is not the source of AV integration effects.  All signs currently point to the STS.  If you're interested in the evidence regarding the role of the STS, Michael Beauchamp's work is a good place to start.

Post-doctoral position - MUSC Hearing Research Program, Charleston, S.C. USA

The MUSC Hearing Research Program, in Charleston, S.C., is accepting applications for a Post-doctoral Scholar on age-related changes in hearing and speech recognition. This is a training opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary group of auditory scientists who use neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and psychoacoustic methods. The successful applicant will contribute to a neuroimaging study on speech recognition in older adults. There are also opportunities to interact with members of the MUSC Center for Biomedical Imaging that oversees the research-dedicated 3T Siemens Trio MRI scanner facility, as well as with members of our large neuroscience community. We seek applicants with expertise in audition, language, or attention. The successful candidate will have skills in at least one of the following areas: neuroimaging, programming, and statistics.

Please email Dr. Mark Eckert for additional information (eckert at musc.edu). Applicants should include a CV and a statement of interests. MUSC is located on the coastline, in the heart of historic Charleston.

Post-doctoral position, Department of Applied Neurocognitive Psychology at Oldenburg University, Germany

The Department of Applied Neurocognitive Psychology at Oldenburg University, Germany, offers a

Post-doctoral position (salary level E13 TVL, 3 years)

with a focus on signal processing / statistical learning for analysis of speech coding in the human brain. 

The position is linked to the collaborative research center "The Active Auditory System" SFB-TR 31. The research center aims to characterize and model mechanism of auditory object formation and scene analysis by combining psychophysical, neurophysiological, and quantitative modelling. It complements the Excellence Cluster "Hearing 4 All" which was recently awarded to the University of Oldenburg. The combined effort of these centers will establish a strong link between neurophysiological models of auditory object representation and subjective perception.

The post-doctoral position is situated in a project that applies statistical learning methods to human intracranial recordings (ECoG) and fMRI to derive and test quantitative statistical models of speech coding in the human brain. The experiments are performed in a highly interdisciplinary lab environment and in close collaboration with the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University.

The quantitative nature of the research project will require highly motivated candidates with strong quantitative and experimental skills. Successful candidates will perform cutting edge research and should have a background in one or more of the following fields: signal processing, statistical learning, brain-machine-interfacing, non-invasive or invasive human neurophysiology of the auditory system. Applicants must have an academic university degree (Master or equivalent) and a PhD (or equivalent).

Successful candidates will work in an interdisciplinary network with opportunities for international exchange.

The post-doctoral position is initially limited to three years, with an option for extension, and can be split.

Applications should include your CV, a list of most recent publications, two recommendation letters, and a research statement (max. 3 pages). The University of Oldenburg is an equal opportunity employer. The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increasing the percentage of women in science. Therefore, equally qualified female candidates will be given preference. Applicants with disabilities will be preferentially considered in case of equal qualification.

Please send inquiries and electronic applications per email (preferred) to Professor Dr. Jochem Rieger: Jochem.rieger(at)uni-oldenburg.de

or paper applications per regular mail to:

Margrit Jung
Dept. of Applied Neurocognitive Psychology
Institute of Psychology
Oldenburg University
26111 Oldenburg
Germany

Application deadline is December 16th, 2013.

UCL Linguistics -- Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Experimental Linguistics, - Ref:1374569

UCL Department / Division

Division of Psychology and Language Science

Specific unit / Sub department

Linguistics

Grades

7-8-9

Hours

Full Time

Salary
(inclusive of London allowance)

Grade 7: £36,064 - £39,132 per annum; Grade 8: £40,216 - £47,441 per annum; Grade 9: £51, 563 - £56,067 per annum

Duties and Responsibilities

The UCL Linguistics Department wishes to appoint a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Experimental Linguistics (comparable to Assistant Professor/Associate Professor) per September 2014. Specializations in all areas of Experimental Linguistics will be considered, including Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics, and Neurolinguistics. The ideal candidate has some years of postdoctoral experience and a record of high-quality publications commensurate with the stage of their career; success in obtaining research funding is a plus. Duties beyond research and teaching include supervising and training undergraduate and graduate students and a share of administrative duties.

The Department is part of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, which offers opportunities for cross-disciplinary research and the infrastructure required to build up a research team.

Key Requirements

Applicants must have a PhD in Linguistics, Psychology, or a related area. The successful applicant will have an outstanding track record of research, as demonstrated by a record of high-quality publications commensurate to the stage of their academic career.

We seek candidates that have a combined expertise in theoretical linguistics and empirical or computational methods and techniques. Preference will be given to candidates whose research interfaces with one or more of the three established research groupings in the department: Pragmatics/Semantics, Syntax, and Phonology. Previous teaching experience with relevant courses is also an asset.

Further Details

Further Particulars including a job description and person specification can be accessed at the bottom of this page. To apply for this vacancy please click on the "Apply now" button below.

Informal enquiries can be made to the Head of Department, Prof. Ad Neeleman (+ 44 (0) 20 7679 4045, a.neeleman@ucl.ac.uk). If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Molly Bennett (m.bennett@ucl.ac.uk).

The successful applicant will start work at UCL on 15 September 2014, or as soon thereafter as possible.

We particularly welcome female applicants and those from an ethnic minority, as they are under-represented within UCL at this level.

UCL Taking Action for Equality

Closing Date

1 Feb 2014

Latest time for the submission of applications

5pm

Interview date

between 10th and 28th March 2014

This appointment is subject to UCL Terms and Conditions of Service for Academic Staff.

Please use these links to find out more about the UCL Terms and Conditions related to this job, employee benefits that we offer and further information about UCL.

Further particulars, job description and person specification

Open Rank faculty position in cognition and learning -- UC Irvine

University of California, Irvine 

School of Education 

Cognition and Learning in Education (Open Rank) 

The School of Education at the University of California, Irvine invites applications for an open rank tenure-track position in the area of cognition and learning. Successful candidates must possess a Ph.D. (or equivalent) by the summer of 2014 and have demonstrated excellence in research and teaching. Applications will be considered at the Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor levels. 

We are seeking outstanding candidates whose research examines learning and cognition. Scholars in all areas of human cognition and learning relevant to education in and out of school are encouraged to apply. We are particularly interested in applicants with backgrounds and training in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, learning sciences, or related fields. 

The selected candidate is expected to contribute to our graduate and undergraduate programs, and particularly to our Ph.D. in Education program, which offers specializations in Learning, Cognition and Development; Educational Policy and Social Context; and Language, Literacy, and Technology. We are a dynamic and fast growing School of Education. A more complete description of the School of Education can be found at http://www.gse.uci.edu/. 

Applications should be submitted online at https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF02152 and must include a cover letter indicating research and teaching interests, curriculum vitae, and one or more relevant publications/papers. Letters of recommendations will be requested at a later date from referees of semi-finalists for the position; however, applicants at the Assistant Professor level are encouraged to have three letters of recommendation submitted through the online system at the time of their application. Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2013 and will continue until the position is filled. Inquiries about the position may be directed to Search Committee Chair Mark Warschauer (markw@uci.edu) or Operations Manager Jennifer Vickrey (jvickrey@uci.edu). 

UCI is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity and strongly encourages applications from women, minorities, and other under-represented groups. UCI is responsive to the needs of dual career couples and is dedicated to work-life balance through an array of family-friendly policies, and is the recipient of an NSF Advance Award for gender equity. 

Penn State: Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders (tenure-track)

Title: Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders (tenure-track)

Vacancy#: 39996
Department: Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD)
Campus Location: UP
Number of Jobs: 1
Affirmative Action Search Number:  023-126
Announce Start Date: 07/16/2013
Closing End Date: Until Filled

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) ( http://csd.hhdev.psu.edu/), College of Health and Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University seeks candidates for a full-time continuing (36-week) tenure-track position of Assistant Professor to begin Spring 2014 or Fall 2014.

The responsibilities of this position will be to establish or continue a line of research in a specialty area(s) related to adult speech and language or phonology. Specialty interests in aphasia, apraxia, neuroscience, neurogenics, neuromotor disorders and/or aging considered a plus. In addition, will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in area of specialty; supervise undergraduate and graduate (M.S./Ph.D.) research; be actively involved in enhancing and building the Ph.D. program; provide service to the Department, College, and University; and contribute to the clinical aspects of the program. Opportunities exist for interdisciplinary collaborations across the University Park and Hershey Medical Center campuses. These collaborations include the Penn State Social Science Research Institute, the Center for Healthy Aging, the Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (which houses a human electrophysiology facility and a 3 Tesla fMR unit), the Penn State Center for Language Science, the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, and numerous departments including Biobehavioral Health, Psychology, Kinesiology, Bioengineering, and departments in the College of Medicine.

Candidates must have an earned Ph.D., with an active research and scholarship plan. Previous teaching experience and/or post-doctoral experience desired. CCC-SLP is highly desirable. Review of credentials will begin immediately and continue to be accepted until the position is filled.

Interested candidates should submit a letter of application including a personal statement addressing vision and interests regarding research and teaching, current curriculum vitae, copies of relevant research articles or presentations, 

Ingrid M. Blood, Ph.D., ASHA Fellow
Chair of the Search Committee
Communication Sciences and Disorders;
c/o Sharon Nyman, Administrative Assistant;
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders;
The Pennsylvania State University;
308 Ford Building;
University Park, PA 16802.

Materials may be submitted electronically to: SAN5@psu.edu Please indicate “Assistant Professor position” in subject line of email correspondence.

Employment will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce.

Tenure-Line Position in Linguistics at Northwestern University

The Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University seeks to fill a tenure-line Assistant Professor position with a start date of September 1, 2014. We are looking for candidates who will enhance Northwestern’s interdisciplinary language science research community. The ideal candidate will have a research program grounded in computational linguistics, psycholinguistics, and/or language variation and change. Although we expect to hire at the rank of assistant professor, more senior candidates will also be considered.

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics, Psychology, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, or a related field by the start date. To receive fullest consideration, applications should arrive by December 1, 2013. Please include a CV (including contact information), statements of research and teaching interests, reprints or other written work, teaching evaluations (if available), and the names of three references (with their contact information). Please visit http://www.linguistics.northwestern.edu/ for instructions to apply online.

E-mail inquiries should be directed to search@ling.northwestern.edu. Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. Applications from minority and women candidates are especially welcome.

The neuroscience of politics

I normally try not to think about government or politics much.  It just frustrates me.  But with the U.S. government shut down, I'm kind of forced to think about it.  I'm in the middle of a batch of National Institutes of Health grant proposal reviews.  I'm a sitting member of a study section in the Deafness and Communication Disorders Institute (NIDCD).  Reviews are due this Friday.  Study section meeting is next Friday in Washington DC.  Being a responsible citizen of the scientific community, I carried on with my reviews today.  But of course when I went to log on to the NIH Internet Assisted Review website I found this message:

Due to the lapse in government funding, the system on this web site may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the web site may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. If you are a grantee or grant applicant looking for guidance, see NOT-OD-13-126. 

And NIH staff are not permitted to work from home or office so there is no communication about how to proceed.   The National Institutes of Health: Sorry, we're closed.  It's weird.

At first I was mildly amused.  Politicians are playing games again and shut down the government, I thought. THAT is kind of amusing, right? But now after living with it for day, it's sinking in and I find it absolutely absurd.  The land of the free: closed.

If the government ever does re-open, I think I might put together a proposal under Obama's $100 million dollar BRAIN Initiative to figure out what neurological disorder is affecting U.S. politicians.  I'll title it, The Disconnectome: The Neuropathogenesis of Political "Thinking" in the United States.  A major question that I will propose to address is whether the disorder is congenital, thus causing diseased individuals to seek government office, or whether it is acquired once they are sworn in.  My a priori hypothesis is that it is congenital.  My evidence, of course, comes from campaign data--speeches, sound bites, ads, debates--clearly it is a pre-existing condition.

I have some theories about mechanisms as well.  I suspect it is an auditory feedback deficit.  Listening to some of the talking heads, I'm convinced they can't hear what they are saying.  One may wonder whether it is a generalized perceptual deficit because it seems that they don't hear what others are saying either.  But in fact they DO understand what others are saying.  The evidence for this clear: they selectively avoid direct responses to questions. If they didn't understand the questions, statistically they should actually answer one, at least once in a while.

I have a plan for eradication and prevention of the disease too.  Stage 1 is to ban any U.S. politician who holds office during a government shut down.  This is a clear sign of an epidemic and quarantine is the only viable option.  So please don't re-elect anyone.  It is for their own good.  Stage 2 is a simple screening questionnaire. It only has one question:

1. Are you interested in running for U.S. government office?  Yes/No.

If they answer yes, they probably have the disease and should not run.  We need to nominate individuals with absolutely no interest in governing.  It is our only hope for electing a competent official.

Research Assistantships, Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI), Philadelphia/Elkins Park, PA.

The language labs at MRRI —  Language and Aphasia (Dir.: Dr. Myrna Schwartz); Language and Learning (Dir.: Dr. Erica Middleton) — are recruiting for two BA/BS-level research assistant positions, for Fall 2013 or Spring 2014. Research assistants will engage in NIH-funded research on language processing in typical speakers and those with post-stroke aphasia.  We seek in our research to understand how words are learned and retrieved in speech, how these processes are affected by stroke, and how word production deficits can be ameliorated by treatment. Our RAs gain valuable experience with language-impaired patients. They are trained to administer clinical measures of aphasia and to design, run, and analyze experiments with patients as participants. Learning opportunities also include state-of-the art lesion analysis and applications of computational modeling. 

Applicants should have strong academic backgrounds in psychology, neuroscience or linguistics, with coursework in statistics and research methods. Preference will be given to applicants with prior research experience, particularly in cognitive psychology or neuroscience, speech and hearing sciences, or linguistics. MRRI and MossRehab are part of the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. The position offers competitive salary and benefits (medical, dental, vision, tuition reimbursement). Send cover letter, C.V. (which includes a list of relevant coursework) and contact information for three references to Dr. Erica Middleton: email: middleer@einstein.edu; fax: 215-663-6783; mail: Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, 60 Township Line Rd., Elkins Park, PA, 19027.

CMU - Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) in Human Developmental Neuroscience

Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) in

Human Developmental Neuroscience

The Department of Psychology and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) at

Carnegie Mellon University seek to fill the Ronald J. and Mary Ann Zdrojkowski Career

Development Chair in  human developmental neuroscience at the assistant professor, tenuretrack,

level. A successful candidate will be committed to high-quality teaching and should have

a background that includes core areas within cognitive neuroscience, developmental

neuroscience, or social neuroscience, a strong grounding in theory, cutting-edge methods, and

experience fostering collaborations with other areas in psychology, development, cognitive

science, and neuroscience. Carnegie Mellon is committed to an expansion of its faculty and

facilities in the area of mind and brain research and is particularly seeking scientists who span

multiple disciplines and employ multiple methodologies in their research. Facilities include a

state-of-the-art MRI facility (http://www.sibr.cmu.edu), EEG, NIRS, and MEG systems, and several

large-scale, high-performance computing clusters.

The appointment will be joint between the Department of Psychology and the CNBC. The

candidate will join a growing and highly interactive computational, cognitive, and

neuroscience community and is expected to be an active participant in the CNBC – an

interdisciplinary and collaborative research and training center jointly administered across the

Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon offers highly competitive

salaries and start-up packages in an attractive and highly livable urban environment.

Applications will be reviewed on a  rolling basis beginning immediately and will continue until a

suitable applicant is found or until January 31st, 2014. Applications, including a cover letter, a

curriculum vitae, research and teaching statements, copies of no more than 3 relevant papers,

and the contact information for at least three individuals who have been asked to provide

letters of reference should be submitted electronically – in PDF format – to the following email

address: faculty-search@cnbc.cmu.edu . Applications should indicate citizenship and, for non-

US citizens, current visa status. Only complete applications in PDF format will be considered.

Concurrent with the submission of their application, applicants should also arrange for at least

three reference letters – in PDF format – to be sent directly to: faculty-search@cnbc.cmu.edu.

If you encounter technical problems, please write to: faculty-search@cnbc.cmu.edu.

Carnegie Mellon University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer; we invite and

encourage applications from women and minorities.

Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its

programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, age, sexual

orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information.

Furthermore, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and is required not to discriminate in

violation of federal, state, or local laws or executive orders.

Inquiries concerning the application of and compliance with this statement should be directed to the vice

president for campus affairs, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213,

telephone 412-268-2056.

Two faculty positions - San Diego State University

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING SCIENCES

1. FACULTY POSITION IN EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENT
[VPAA 2014-15 044]

Evidence-based treatment (Rank Assistant/Associate): San Diego State University invites
applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the School of Speech, Language, and Hearing
Sciences. A Ph.D., excellence in teaching, strong research abilities, and a commitment to working
in a multi-cultural environment with students from diverse backgrounds are required. Clinical
experience, certification (CCC-SLP), and/or eligibility for state licensure are preferred. Primary
responsibilities include teaching at the undergraduate and graduate (MA and Ph.D.) levels,
supervising theses/dissertations and pursuing a research program in the area of evidence-based
treatment.

The position is offered in the context of our newly approved Area of Excellence in Clinical and
Cognitive Neuroscience at San Diego State University which is designed to enhance existing
research strengths through cluster hires. This new program currently involves the School of
Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) and the Department of Psychology; the home
department for this position will be in SLHS.

We are seeking a person with expertise in treatment research with language impaired child and/or
adult populations. Additional areas of expertise or focus may include cognitive neuroscience of
language, neurogenic language and cognitive disorders, developmental language disorders.
Salary and rank will be dependent on candidate’s qualifications and budget considerations.

Join 18 other full-time faculty and over 200 students in a stimulating work environment, excellent
lab/clinical facilities, and a beautiful place to live (see more information at http://slhs.sdsu.edu).
Review of completed applications will begin December 1, 2013 and will continue until the
position is filled; employment to begin Fall semester 2014.

Applicants should submit a letter of interest to include a description of research program and
relevant reprints; evidence of teaching excellence; a current vita; and 3 letters of recommendation.

Application materials should be sent electronically to Dr. Tracy Love, Treatment Search
Committee Chair, School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego State
University, San Diego, CA (tracy.love@sdsu.edu).

San Diego State University is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against
persons on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity
and expression, marital status, age, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, or covered veteran
status.

The person holding this position is considered a "mandated reporter" under the California Child
Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in
CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

2. FACULTY POSITION IN SPEECH SCIENCE

Speech Science, emphasis in voice, fluency, or resonance disorders (Rank Open):
San Diego State University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the
School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. A Ph.D., excellence in teaching,
strong research abilities, and a commitment to working in a multi-cultural environment
with students from diverse backgrounds are required. Clinical experience, certification
(CCC-SLP), and/or eligibility for state licensure are preferred. Primary responsibilities
include teaching at the undergraduate and graduate (MA and Ph.D.) levels, pursuing a
research program in the area of speech science, with a focus on voice, fluency, or
resonance disorders, and supervising theses/dissertations.

We are seeking a person with skills in voice, fluency, or resonance disorders. Additional
areas of expertise or focus may include speech perception, the cognitive neuroscience of
speech, neurogenic speech and swallowing disorders, and augmentative and alternative
communication.

Salary and rank will be dependent on candidate’s qualifications and budget
considerations.

Join 18 other full-time faculty and over 200 students in a stimulating work environment,
excellent lab/clinical facilities, and a beautiful place to live (see more information at
http://slhs.sdsu.edu). Review of completed applications will begin December 1, 2013 and
will continue until the position is filled; employment to begin Fall semester 2014.

Applicants should submit a letter of interest to include a description of research program
and relevant reprints; evidence of teaching excellence; a current vita; and 3 letters of
recommendation. Application materials should be sent electronically to Dr. Ignatius Nip,
Search Committee Chair, School of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, San Diego
State University, San Diego,CA (inip@mail.sdsu.edu).

San Diego State University is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate
against persons on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender,
gender identity and expression, marital status, age, disability, pregnancy, medical
condition, or covered veteran status.

The person holding this position is considered a "mandated reporter" under the California
Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements
set forth in CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.

Faculty position: University of California, Irvine -- Assistant Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience

University of California, Irvine 

Assistant Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience 

The Department of Cognitive Sciences (www.cogsci.uci.edu) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor faculty position. Of particular interest are cognitive neuroscientists who combine experimental research with innovative quantitative analysis and modeling. 

The successful candidate will interact with a dynamic and growing community in cognitive, computational, and neural sciences within the department and in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. 

Interested candidates should apply online at: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF02097 with a cover letter indicating primary research and teaching interests, CV, three recent publications, and three letters of recommendation. 

Application review will commence on November 1, 2013, and continue until the position is filled. 

The University of California has an active career partners program, is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to excellence through diversity, and has an Advance (NSF) program for gender equity. 

DEPARTMENT CHAIR OPENING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY AT RICE UNIVERSITY

The Department of Psychology at Rice University invites applications and nominations for Chair of the department to begin July 1, 2014. In addition to being at the rank of Full Professor with a PhD in Psychology, candidates should exhibit a strong history of research and external funding, as well as a commitment to the highest standards of scholarship, professional activity, faculty engagement and mentorship, and graduate and undergraduate education. Candidates may represent any area of psychology (e.g., cognitive, developmental, social, human factors, industrial-organizational). Previous academic administrative experience is preferred. Over the next several years, the new chair will build the department both through recruitment and ties to other units on campus and off-campus (e.g., Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center).

Open until filled; applications sent by December 1, 2013, will assure full consideration.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter and curriculum vitae to Lyn Ragsdale, Dean of Social Sciences, Rice University, 6100 Main St. MS-27, Houston TX, 77005-1827.

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and strongly encourages applications from minorities and women.

Tribute to Ken Stevens -- Guest post by Sheila Blumstein

            Ken Stevens passed away last week. He was without question one of the giants in the field of speech. His contributions are legion – he is best known for the quantal theory of speech, a theoretical framework that ‘explains’ the mapping between acoustic and articulatory events and the basis for the finite inventory of speech sounds found in natural language. Ken proposed that there are regions in articulatory space which give rise to small acoustic changes and other regions which give rise to large acoustic changes. These areas of change define the finite inventory of possible speech sounds. That there are regions of acoustic stability suggests that there is acoustic invariance in speech. Namely, there are acoustic properties corresponding to phonetic features that remain stable across phonetic context, position, and speaker. Ken’s work provided an empirical basis for the distinctive features proposed by Roman Jakobson, Gunnar Fant, and Morris Halle in their 1951 monograph Preliminaries to Speech Analysis. Distinctive features have been considered to be the representational units underlying the phonological inventories of natural language.  Throughout his work, Ken emphasized the importance of acoustic landmarks which define natural boundaries used by the perceptual and ultimately the linguistic system for characterizing the phonetic/phonological properties of speech. Ken, in collaborative work with Morris Halle in the 1960’s, also proposed a model of speech, analysis by synthesis. Here, the input signal matches to internally generated representations and ultimately selects the ‘best match’. This theory has modern day applications and implications for current Bayesian and predictive coding approaches to perceptual processing. 

            I had the good fortune to work with Ken over a period of 18 years. I first approached Ken in 1974 on the advice of Roman Jakobson to see if I could learn acoustics while on leave from Brown. I spent that semester at MIT and Ken and I worked on our first project examining the acoustic and perceptual properties of retroflex consonants. That was the start of a collaboration that resulted in a series of papers and chapters on acoustic invariance in speech and the acoustic properties of a number of phonetic parameters.

            Ken’s working style was and is something to emulate. Low-key, focused, collegial, his lab was a bevy of activity. He was a fantastic leader of the Speech Group at MIT welcoming students and colleagues from all over the world. The only requirement was an interest and a commitment to research in speech. No one would have known he had won the National Medical of Science, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, or had been the President of the Acoustical Society of America. He was just Ken, a great researcher, mentor, collaborator, colleague, and friend!

Sheila Blumstein

Brown University