[CogSci] Postdoc at NYU in planning and reinforcement learning

Weiji Ma weijima at nyu.edu
Sat Jul 6 13:59:33 PDT 2019


Postdoc in the lab of Wei Ji Ma at NYU: human planning in tasks with large
decision trees

My lab - in the Center for Neural Science and the Department of Psychology
at New York University (http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab) - is looking for a
postdoc to study human planning in tasks with large decision trees. The
appointment is for two years with the possibility of extension; funding is
guaranteed but grantwriting is encouraged. Salary will be NIH scale or
higher.

Who we are: We work primarily in computational cognitive science and a bit
in computational neuroscience. We have previously worked extensively on
perceptual inference, suboptimality, working memory, and neural population
coding, but recent work has focused on approximate inference, resource
rationality, and planning. For more details, see
http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab/projects.html. Questions on human planning
that we are interested in include how the mind searches a decision tree,
how depth of planning depends on the complexity of the environment, and how
people arbitrate between model-free and model-based strategies. We are
particularly interested in planning in cooperative social contexts.

Job description: As a postdoc in the lab, you will be involved in
conceptual development, theoretical development, experimental design, data
collection, data analysis, data interpretation, manuscript writing, and
dissemination of results. You will co-supervise and co-mentor Ph.D.
students. You will be part of the lab community and the broader NYU/NYC
psychology/neuroscience community, with connections to data science and
economics.

Qualifications: We are looking for someone who (1) is open-minded,
resilient, and motivated to work on relatively narrow problems with
potentially broad implications; (2) has experience in theoretical or
computational approaches, in particular in reinforcement learning,
artificial intelligence/machine learning, or approximate inference; (3) has
experience in theoretically driven human behavioral experiments; (4) is
interested in the connections between computational cognitive science and
artificial intelligence/machine learning.

Lab culture: We care a lot about mentorship quality, a positive lab
culture, diversity, and work-life balance. For more details, see
http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab/lablife.html. We are looking for someone who
is kind, helpful, and cares about making the lab environment and the
broader community better for everyone, and who is interested in mentoring
scientists more junior than themselves. Moreover, many lab members have
been involved in science policy, mentorship through storytelling, diversity
advocacy, science advocacy, science outreach, and mentoring high school
students. For more details, see http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab/community.html
.



To apply, please email me a detailed statement of interest and a current
copy of your CV at weijima at nyu.edu, with subject line “Postdoc in
planning”. The position will be open until filled.

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal
treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring
process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth,
citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim
status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or
expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental
status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics,
pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status,
veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Women, racial and
ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender
identity, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to
apply for vacant positions at all levels.


-- 
Wei Ji Ma, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology
New York University
http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab
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