Job Description

Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Neurolinguistics


Requisition #: A-178662-3


Status: Full Time


Type: Post Doctoral Fellowship


School: Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences


Department/Program: Cognitive Science Department


Salary: $62,232 a year


Location City: Baltimore


Location State: MD


Location Zip Code: 21218


Closing Date: Open until filled


To apply: apply.interfolio.com/178662


General Description


The Hale research group in the Department of Cognitive Science at Johns Hopkins University seeks an outstanding postdoctoral fellow to begin July 1, 2026 for a one-year initial, contract-renewable appointment. The primary responsibility of the appointee will be to analyze naturalistic MEG data, with an aim of shedding light on the cross-linguistic Mechanisms underlying Human Sentence Processing.


Qualifications



Required Qualifications


PhD in an area of cognitive science or a closely neighboring field such as cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, or engineering Experience in preprocessing and analyzing SQUID MEG using standard libraries such as MNE-Python or FieldTrip Familiarity with magnetoencephalographic source localization techniques Ability to apply temporal response function- (TRF-) style analyses to naturalistic MEG data, as in Brodbeck et al. (2018; 2020; 2022; cf. Lalor et al., 2006; 2009) Strong programming skills and the ability to write clean, shareable, methodologically-communicable, and well-documented research code Fundamental knowledge of machine learning, inferential statistics, and linguistics Ability to work as part of larger research group and coordinate with other team members

Preferred Qualifications


Academic domain expertise in (computational) psycho- and neurolinguistics Conceptual understanding of modern neural language models (Transformers, RNNs) and the ability to interact with them via e.g., the Hugging Face and PyTorch libraries An interest in oscillatory and/or connectivity dynamics during naturalistic language comprehension, as in Meyer (2017) and e.g., Chalas et al. (2024), Meyer et al. (2015) An interest in probing interpretable, theory-grounded cognitive processes involved in language comprehension, such as memory retrieval and disambiguation
Application Instructions



Applicants should submit a CV, research statement, and the contact information of three recommenders to the application in Interfolio.


To apply for this position, visit: apply.interfolio.com/178662

Salary Range

The referenced salary range represents the minimum and maximum salaries for this position and is based on Johns Hopkins University's good faith belief at the time of posting. Not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. The actual compensation offered to the selected candidate may vary and will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work experience, internal equity, market conditions, education/training and other factors, as reasonably determined by the University.

Total Rewards

Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristic. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors that are irrelevant to the program involved.

Pre-Employment Information

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Background Checks

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check including education verification.

EEO is the Law:

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

Diversity and Inclusion

The Johns Hopkins University values diversity, equity and inclusion and advances these through our key strategic framework, the JHU Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion.

Vaccine Requirements

Johns Hopkins University strongly encourages, but no longer requires, at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine does not apply to positions located in the State of Florida. We still require all faculty, staff, and students to receive the seasonal flu vaccine. Exceptions to the COVID and flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for religious beliefs or medical reasons. Requests for an exception must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry.

This change does not apply to the School of Medicine (SOM). SOM hires must be fully vaccinated with an FDA COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof of vaccination status.

For additional information, applicants for SOM positions should visit https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/ and all other JHU applicants should visit https://covidinfo.jhu.edu/health-safety/covid-vaccination-information/.


The following additional provisions may apply, depending upon campus. Your recruiter will advise accordingly. The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas, laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving community contact requires documentation of immune status against Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella (chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization documentation from their own health care providers. Any vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost in our Occupational Health office.