ESCoP: The European Society for Cognitive Psychology

The department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, is looking for a lecturer (docent) or senior lecturer (hoofddocent) in the field of Memory and Cognition, starting from 1 October 2010 (see official vacancy below or at http://www.ugent.be/en/news/vacancies/autonomous/BC2010-pp01)

As of next academic year, the department will have 8 full-time faculty members, as well as many post-doctoral researchers and PhD-students. The Department offers a stimulating research environment in which the main topics include cognitive control, working memory, cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, computational modeling, and numerical cognition. The department has facilities for behavioral research (RT-labs, studio), eye-tracking (Eye-Link 1000), and neurocognitive research (ERP, fMRI, TMS). The department is highly ambitious, internationally oriented, and has expanded greatly during the last years. For more information see: http://expsy.ugent.be/

Official Profile

The faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences has a vacancy for a professorship, starting from October 1, 2010. It concerns a position as full-time Professor in the rank of Lecturer (docent) or Senior Lecturer (hoofddocent) in the Department of Experimental Psychology, charged with academic teaching (in Dutch), scientific research and carrying out scientific duties in the field of memory and cognition.

Profile:

candidates should hold a PhD or a degree with a doctoral thesis or a degree recognized as equivalent and have at least two years of postdoctoral experience on October 1, 2010;
candidates are required to have research experience in the field of study concerned, proved by active participation in international and national scientific meetings and by recent publications in national and international peer reviewed journals;
having proved experience in international mobility, amongst others through participation in research programmes at research institutions not linked to the university where the highest degree was obtained, is recommended;
candidates are required to possess the necessary didactic, organizational and communicative skills for teaching at an academic level.

The governing language at Ghent University is Dutch. However, persons who do not speak Dutch as a native language are welcome to apply. More detailed information on this vacancy and on the way this job fits in the department's strategy can be obtained from prof. Rob Hartsuiker, head of the department (phone: +32 (9) 264 64 36, Robert.Hartsuiker@UGent.be

Depending on the specific profile of the selected candidate, the degree of lecturer or senior lecturer will be granted. A full-time position at the entry level of Lecturer implies a five-year temporary appointment in a tenure track system. If the university board positively evaluates the performance of the person involved, the position lead to a permanent position in the rank of Senior Lecturer. A full-time position at the entry level of Senior Lecturer will lead to a tenured position. However, in the case of a first appointment as professor, the Board of Governors of Ghent University may decide to appoint the candidate for a maximum period of three years, after which he/she may be eligible for tenure following a positive evaluation. As teaching at Ghent University is mostly in Dutch, such evaluation may include the acquired ability to teach in Dutch. Applications must be sent in duplicate by registered mail to the rector of Ghent University, Rectorate building, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25, 9000 Ghent, using the specific application forms Autonomous Academic Staff ("ZAP"), including the necessary attestations of competence (copies of degrees), the 5th of March, 2010 at the latest.

The application forms for Autonomous Academic Staff (ZAP)

can be obtained at Ghent University, Department of Personnel and Organization, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 25, 9000 Gent.
can be requested by phone: +32 (0) 9 264 31 29 or + 32 (0) 9 264 31 30.
can be downloaded from the internet: http://www.ugent.be/nl/werken/aanwerving/formulieren/zap

Doctoral position

Doctoral position within the Marie Curie Initial Training Network
Language, Cognition, and Gender
School of Psychology, University of Sussex

Doctoral Project: Strategies for overcoming gender stereotypes in cognitive representations

Abstract: People expect surgeons to be male and nurses to be female. We have previously shown that if someone described as a surgeon is later referred to as "she" (or a nurse as "he") people’s reading slows down. More recently we have shown that people cannot help succumbing to these violations of stereotypical gender. Even when their attention is drawn to the fact that nurses and surgeons can be either male or female, and are encouraged to respond to questions accordingly, they are still more error prone and slower when decisions about gender conflict with gender stereotypes (Oakhill, Garnham & Reynolds, Memory & Cognition, 2005). However, in the studies we have conducted so far, the readers’ attention was only briefly drawn to the flexibility of gender roles in different occupations, and this was done by instructions prior to the experiment. We have not yet tried more extensive means of reducing stereotyped responses. For instance, social psychological work on prejudice and stereotyping shows that making people aware of potential sources of prejudice considerably enhances the chance of controlling them. We intend to explore such training possibilities and to assess their effects using the experimental assessments we have used previously to measure extent of stereotype response.

Supervisors: Professors Jane Oakhill and Alan Garnham

Starting Date: 1st April 2010, duration 3 years

The Marie Curie Initial Training Network on Language, Cognition, and Gender (ITN LCG), funded by the European Commission, comprises 15 Doctoral and 3 Postdoctoral projects at 10 Universities in 7 European countries. ITN LCG aims at investigating the interplay of language, cognition, and gender, for the first time from cross-language and cross-cultural perspectives.

We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a strong background in Psychology and an excellent command of English to work on the above project within the Network. We expect candidates to have a strong interest in and motivation to work on the interplay of language, cognition, and gender, a willingness to invest in interdisciplinary collaboration, and the ability to work as part of a team. ITN LCG fellows’ individual projects will be integrated into one comprehensive research and training network. They will be offered an innovative training in a unique combination of scientific methods that span from neuroimaging and electrophysiology through experimental techniques of cognitive and social psychology to linguistic methods of language analysis and scientific training strategies. The network is strongly based on the exchange and transfer of knowledge between academia and public and private organisations and will provide its fellows with network-wide training activities (4 workshops, 3 summer schools, 1 scientific symposium) and training in collaborative contexts (working visits and secondments).

The eligibility conditions for recruitment are the following:

Candidates can be nationals of any country other than the UK. Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc) in the UK for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Candidates must be in the first five years (or full-time equivalent) of their careers in research PhD students in the Network enjoy full salary employment contracts with all standard benefits. Supplements, such as travel allowance and career exploratory allowance may be paid.

How to apply

Applicants should make a formal application for a doctoral place at The University of Sussex. Please see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/publications/pgrad2010 for details.

This application (in English) should include:

a letter of motivation detailing the candidate's particular scientific experience,knowledge, competencies and interests;
a detailed curriculum vitae (including a list of Bachelor's courses attended and certificates of the examination grades)
two academic letters of recommendation.

Closing date for applications 26th February, 2010.

Further details of the partners and projects that comprise the Network are available from either Jane Oakhill or Alan Garnham.

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