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Junior Specialist Bowman Lab

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Position description

Full-time Junior Specialist Position
Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis

Dr. Lindsay Bowman, Director of the Brain and Social Cognition Lab at the Center for Mind and Brain at University of California Davis, seeks to fill a 100% position (40hrs/week) at the Junior Specialist level 1 starting the beginning of Summer 2020. Ideally the start date would be between May 30th and June 15th 2020, but other start dates will be considered (please indicate if you would require an alternative start date, and what that date would be, in your cover letter). This position is for 1 year with opportunity to extend to 2-3 years (contingent on adequate performance, mutual fit, and available funds). The successful candidate will work on multiple research studies, in the lab, but a main focus will be work on a longitudinal project examining the impact of social experience on the infant brain through maternal interactions.
Responsibilities are described in further detail below, but in general, the person will be hired to process electroencephalographic (EEG) data (both ERD and ERP analyses), develop behavioral coding schemes and code infant and child behaviors alone and in interactions, help develop and program research studies, and assist with data collection. The person hired will be involved in additional publishable research activities, including reviewing journal articles, engaging in discussions on research and the interpretation of research results, independent analysis of data, interpretation of empirical results, and the writing up of results for publication in scholarly journals. Where appropriate, the individual would earn authorship on these publications. The person hired is also expected to help recruit families for participation in data collection studies, and help create materials for studies. The person will also help create materials for submission (where appropriate, as first author) at international conferences, such as the International Congress of Infant Studies, Cognitive Development Society and Society for Research in Child Development. Additional responsibilities include working with undergraduate research assistants in the lab. Applicants must be able to work flexible hours, including some evenings and weekends. For additional information on the Brain and Social Cognition Lab, please visit our lab website at: basclab.ucdavis.edu
Responsibilities will include:

  1. Conducting research (40%) • Testing child and adult research participants, using behavioral, eye-tracking and neurophysiological techniques • Recruiting, interviewing and consenting participants or their caregivers. • Processing, coding, and analyzing EEG, eye-tracking, and behavioral data.
  2. Developing research materials (25%) • Develop experimental stimuli and other research materials using Presentation software, Matlab, E-Prime and other software and programming environments. These duties involve creative and scholarly input which will have a direct impact on the experimental design—for example, making decisions about the features and counterbalancing of stimuli.
  3. Activities Related to the Dissemination of Research (20%) • Participate in frequent discussions of relevant literature, and conduct literature reviews relevant to the work being conducted. • Conduct independent data coding and analysis. • Contribute to the writing and preparation of manuscripts for publication. • Contribute to the preparation and submission of presentations for international conferences. • Preparing figures and text for presentation at research conferences and for manuscripts to be submitted for publication.
  4. Undergraduate research assistant training (15%) • Train undergraduate students on participant recruitment, data collection, coding and analyses protocols. This will provide a university service in that they will be actively facilitating the participation of undergraduate students in research activities. Position qualifications include:

Required: Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Human Development, or Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior. Research experience in labs using physiological (e.g., EEG) recording and processing methods. Excellent Ability to work with infants, young children, and families. Availability to work flexible job hours. Experience with Matlab or other programming software or a high enthusiasm to learn these skills. Superb attention to detail and motivation for independent problem solving.
Preferred: Familiarity with EEG processing software (e.g., EEGlab, EP Toolkit, ERPlab). Experience with eye-tracking (e.g., Tobii) software, stimulus presentation software (e.g., E-Prime 3.0), and EEG data collection systems (e.g., Brain Vision).

Salary: Step I $42,300/year
If hired, a background check is required.

This posting will remain open until April 1, 2020 and the initial review date will be March 13, 2020 so please do not wait to apply.

To apply, please follow these steps:

  1. Go to this link: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF03433
  2. Login, or Create a new account if you do not have one
  3. Upload the requested materials: cover letter, resume, transcript/proof of highest degree earned
  4. Contact information for references

Applicants should submit a cover letter of interest describing relevant skills and a resume or CV. Documents/materials must be submitted as PDF files. Applicants should also provide 2 contacts for references.
Please direct questions to lcbowman@ucdavis.edu
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct.
Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UCSC positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check. More information is available http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify.
UC Davis is a smoke & tobacco-free campus (http://breathefree.ucdavis.edu/).
If you need accommodation due to a disability, please contact the recruiting department.
JOB LOCATION
Davis, CA
REQUIREMENTS
DOCUMENTS
• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Copy of Unofficial transcript
• Cover Letter – Outline your relevant experience and skills; Explain your interest in the position; Indicate your future career/professional development goals
• Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Diversity contributions documented in the application file will be used to evaluate applicants. Visit http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/diversity/equity_inclusion/index.html for guidelines about writing a diversity statement and why one is requested.
REFERENCES
Contact information for 2 references.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion documented in the application file will be used to evaluate applicants. Visit https://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/faculty-equity-and-inclusion for guidelines about writing a statement and why one is requested.

  • Copy of Unofficial Transcript

Reference requirements
  • 2-3 required (contact information only)
2023 Forbes Award: Best Employers for Diversity 2023 Forbes Award: Best Employers for Women

Job location

Davis, CA