Postdoctoral Researcher – Quantum and Classical Dynamics of Decision Making

Posting Details

Position Details

Postdoctoral Researcher – Quantum and Classical Dynamics of Decision Making

Non-Tenure Track

IU Bloomington Psychological & Brain Sciences

Bloomington

The Postdoctoral Researcher will join an NSF
-funded projectdeveloping and testing computational models of how decisions evolveover time. The project integrates quantum and classical (Markov) approaches within an open-systems framework to investigate whendecision dynamics exhibit interference, coherence, decoherence, andmore classical stochastic accumulation. The position will bejointly mentored by Dr. Tim Pleskac and Dr. Jerome Busemeyer, withthe postdoc taking a leading role in theory development,computational modeling, and experimental tests of the models.

The position is based at Indiana University Bloomington, with opportunities to collaborate across IU’s strong communities in mathematical psychology, judgment and decision making, cognitivescience, and quantitative modeling.

This postdoctoral appointment is full-time and on-campus.

• Develop computational models of dynamic judgment and decision making using quantum probability, open-system dynamics, andclassical Markov processes.
• Derive and test behavioral predictions that distinguishquantum, classical, and intermediate open-system dynamics,including predictions about the time course of evidence and preference evolution.
• Design and analyze behavioral experiments that probe dynamicdecision processes, including interference, oscillation,response-time, and evidence-accumulation phenomena.
• Implement simulation, parameter-estimation, andmodel-comparison methods in Python, MATLAB, R, or relatedcomputational environments.
• Lead and co-author manuscripts, conference presentations, andother dissemination of project findings.

• Work directly with the PIs to ensure efficient progress towardproject objectives.
• Coordinate research tasks across graduate students,undergraduate research assistants, and collaboratingresearchers.
• Maintain reproducible modeling, simulation, data-analysis, and documentation workflows.

• Participate in lab meetings, mentoring of junior researchers,grant-related activities, and other project duties as needed.

The postdoc will be embedded in the rich cognitive and mathematicalpsychology research communities at Indiana University. The researcher will work closely with Drs. Pleskac and Busemeyer and benefit from Indiana University’s long-standing strengths in mathematical psychology, decision science, and quantumcognition.

• Anticipated
  
  Start Date:
  
  January 1, 2027 (negotiable)
• Salary: $60,000 + benefits
• Work Schedule:
  
  Full-time, on-campus
• Supervisors:
  Dr. Tim Pleskac and Dr. Jerome Busemeyer
• Initial Appointment: 1 year, with expectation of renewal for asecond year based on performance and funding

• Ph.D. preferably in Psychology or Cognitive Science, but wewill also consider strong candidates in Computer Science, Physics,or a related quantitative fields by the start date.
• Demonstrated expertise in mathematical or computationalmodeling and dynamical systems.
• Proficiency in either Python, MATLAB, R, or a comparablescientific programming environment.
• Strong quantitative, analytic, and scientific writing skills.

Questions may be sent to:
Dr. Tim Pleskac(tpleskac)

• Experience or strong interest in quantum cognition.
• Background in stochastic processes, Markov models, dynamicalsystems, quantum walks, or related mathematical approaches.
• Experience with computational model fitting, Bayesian inference, simulation, or formal model comparison.
• Experience designing or analyzing experiments in judgment and decision making, evidence accumulation, or response-timedynamics.
• Ability to move between mathematical theory, computationalimplementation, and empirical testing.
• Interest in interdisciplinary work at the intersection of cognitive science, mathematical psychology, decision theory, andquantum-inspired modeling.

IU-