Postdoc - Building Blocks of Cognition Laboratory - Psychology

Position overview

Salary range: The UC postdoc salary scales set the minimum pay determined by experience level  the current salary scale for this position: T23. The current minimum salary range for this position is $71,491-$85,736. Salaries above the minimum may be offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: January 2027

Position duration: 2 year appointment, with a possibility of renewal

Open date: July 15, 2026

Next review date: Thursday, Jul 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Monday, Dec 14, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

The Department of Psychology at the University of California Berkeley invites applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar Employee, specifically in the area of cognitive neuroscience.

The Building Blocks of Cognition Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, headed by Professor Silvia Bunge, studies the cognitive and neural processes that support reasoning, memory, and goal-directed behavior in humans.

The postdoctoral employee will work on a National Institute of Mental Health project titled "Narrowing the mechanistic gap for anterior prefrontal cortex function". This project targets the lateral aspect of anterior PFC, a brain region whose anatomy in humans is not clearly defined and whose fundamental role in cognition is poorly understood. At a descriptive level, aLPFC is involved in higher-level cognitive abilities such as planning, multi-tasking, reasoning, memory retrieval monitoring, and decision-making.

Seeking to investigate its function at a more granular level via fMRI, structural MRI, and diffusion-weighted imaging on the 3 Tesla and 7 Tesla scanners at the Brain Imaging Center at UC Berkeley. Close collaborators on the project include Associate Professor Kevin Weiner (functional neuroanatomist), staff in the lab of Professor David Feinberg (MR physicist) at UC Berkeley, and collaborators at other sites.

Specific duties include the following:

• Analyze fMRI data and integrate it with structural MRI and/or DTI data
• Take the lead on writing and revising manuscripts, and present results locally and at conferences.
• Provide mentorship to lab trainees.

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

PhD or equivalent international degree or enrolled in a PhD program or equivalent international degree program

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

• Ph.D. (or equivalent international degree) is required by the appointment start date
• No more than 3 years of post PhD research experience

Preferred qualifications

• A Ph.D. or equivalent international degree in Neuroscience or Psychology
• Established publication record in human cognitive neuroscience
• Experience with fMRI data collection and up-to-date analysis methods
• Coding experience (ideally Python)
• Ability to carry out a variety of statistical analyses (ideally in Python, R)
• Strong writing skills and ability to write up results for publication in a timely manner
• Strong initiative and organizational and interpersonal skills
• Experience with open science data practices (e.g., preregistration on OSF; sharing code to Github, etc.)

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 3-6 required (contact information only)

Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF
05454

Help contact: dreamartinez

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