Job offers from members of the EEG-Research Hub:
JUNIOR RESEARCH POSITION AT THE UT (posted 5-4-2022)
At the moment there is the possibility to apply for a junior research position for about 1.5 year on a project (EFRO_Alert) that focuses on the development of brain computer interfaces (BCI) with the help of EEG and fNIRS. Interest in this project is focused on mental workload, which for example may be assessed with medial-frontal theta activity, and reduced attention or vigilance, which might be reflected in changes in alpha activity. A description of the project is indicated below. If you are interested in doing more research after your MA-project and apply BCI techniques with physiological measures then please send us (r.h.j.vanderlubbe@utwente.nl m.poel@utwente.nl) your CV plus an application letter. We look forward to your response.
1.2 Project Summary
It is of great importance to understand the mental states of operators in complex system environments such as Control Rooms. Previous research has shown that mental states such as workload and alertness of operators have an impact on performance and can lead to human error with all its consequences. But at present, no sensors are deployed that measure human performance when interacting with high-tech systems. A light goes on when the system is not functioning but not yet when the human or the team is not functioning properly and is in danger of failing, for example because an operator is overloaded, bored and therefore perhaps less alert or focused with all the possible consequences. One promising innovation is to base the workload and alertness of a team of operators on brain activity measured with a wearable Brain Computer Interface (BCI). Another application involves (online) learning situations where the BCIs are used to interpret the mental state of students in order to improve education.
The goal of the project is to design a plug & play BCI system that can measure the workload and alertness of multiple operators (use case: Control Rooms) and multiple students (use case: On-line Learning Environment) simultaneously. This system will collect neurophysiological data through sensors, process this data using smart algorithms to determine characteristics of workload/alertness from it. Per specific application, these characteristics can be selected.
The system to be designed will be integrated into:
1. Thales' HARMONY2 system for real-time measurement of workload of multiple operators within a Control Room setting; and validated at TenneT and the Twente Safety Region.
2. In the Noldus Hub from Noldus Information Technologies with the application to gain insight into the level of workload/alertness of students during (online) learning environments and should contribute to improving education within both physical and digital learning environments; and will be validated at the University of Twente.
Applications are invited for the following positions at the Functional Neuroimaging Lab., IRCCS Santa Lucia, Rome:
* Postdoctoral Research Fellow to conduct fMRI and EEG studies on human memory, with a specific focus on individuals with highly superior autobiographical memory.
* Postdoctoral Research Fellow to conduct fMRI studies to investigate the effect of cannabinoids on amygdala-hippocampal communication.
Both positions are available starting from January 2022. The positions are renewable up to three years.
Features of a successful candidate:
- PhD in cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, or related disciplines;
- Experience with fMRI and/or EEG data analyses;
- Proficiency in programming experiments (e.g., Psychtoolbox, PsychoPy, Presentation);
- Proficiency in statistics and statistical analysis tools (e.g., R, MATLAB, SPSS);
- Ability to properly report, organize and publish research reports;
- Ability to conduct research independently;
- Strong publication record.
To apply for either position, please submit a CV and contact information of two referees to Prof. Valerio Santangelo, valerio.santangelo@unipg.it