Post-Doctoral Associate - Human Decision-Making Research Postdoctoral Opening

The Herman-Darrow and Hayden Labs in the University of Minnesota departments of Psychiatry, Neurosurgery and Neuroscience are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to conduct and analyze human decision-making research with intracranial electrophysiology. 

Required Qualifications:

• A doctoral degree in a relevant field (neuroscience, psychology, engineering, physics, computer science) with publications in high quality peer-reviewed journals.
•  Experience with neurophysiology (human or animal), psychophysics and/or brain stimulation.
• Strong programming and/or data analysis skills. MATLAB or Python is essential. C/C++ (and derivatives), LabVIEW, and scripting languages could be useful. Prior experience with data acquisition hardware and/or creating real-time systems would be helpful
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with specific documentation of those skills through published work and oral scientific presentations.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, to supervise others, and to independently overcome complex technical and/or interpersonal challenges.
• Interpersonal skills appropriate for collaboration in a very multidisciplinary and highly diverse environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous experience with epilepsy, movement disorder and/or psychiatric patient populations, the biological mechanisms of mental illness, or medical device development.
• Signal processing, control engineering, software and/or electrical engineering background.
• Previous experience with non-human primate electrophysiology.

About the Job

The Herman-Darrow lab investigates the neural dynamics of decision making in humans and translates findings into novel approaches for therapeutic neuromodulation in addiction, depression and chronic pain. The Hayden lab studies the neural basis of naturalistic decision making in non-human primates, with a particular interest in foraging, self-control, curiosity and risk.  Our labs seek a postdoctoral fellow to investigate the overlap and separation between human and non-human primate decision making.

Lab methods: Intracranial electrophysiology, invasive brain stimulation, non-invasive brain stimulation (transcranial magnetic stimulation), signal processing, psychophysics, neuroeconomics, clinical research, computational modelling. Over time, you will be expected to become familiar with these methods at both a conceptual and technical level.

Academic Environment: The University of Minnesota is a vibrant and thriving academic community, with domain experts and multiple seminar series in all of these areas. Our labs form parts of the MnDrive Neuromodulation program, the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction and the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research. We also participate in a growing Computational Psychiatry community on campus. We collaborate with labs in the Neuroscience, Neurology and Bioengineering departments.

Job requirements will include:

• Independent analysis and interpretation of complex, multi-dimensional data
• Computer programming of tasks and analysis methods
• Computational modelling of behavior and electrophysiology
• Complex technical communication in the English language
• Professional interactions with a diverse body of colleagues and research participants
• Acquisition and maintenance of all necessary requirements (e.g., background checks, immunizations, institutional trainings) for work with human subjects
• Transportation of bulky or heavy objects on carts
• Standing or sitting for extended periods
• Training and teaching of adult learners from a variety of technical and personal backgrounds