Postdoc Fellow for the Geography of Philosophy Project at UCLA

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The Geography of Philosophy Project (https://www.geographyofphilosophy.com/) is seeking a postdoctoral research fellow to work with Professor Clark Barrett in the UCLA Department of Anthropology, for a period of one year. The start date for the position is October 1, 2021 or as soon as the position is filled.

Submit applications here: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF06748

The Geography of Philosophy project seeks to understand diversity and universality in philosophical concepts around the world—particularly in the concepts of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. We are studying these concepts empirically using a mixed-methods, comparative approach spanning ten countries and multiple languages. Our methods are diverse and include focus groups, structured interviews, surveys, and experimental techniques. The structure of the project is collaborative, involving local research teams in ten countries, and experts from across the social sciences and humanities. The PIs on the project are Clark Barrett (Anthropology, UCLA), Edouard Machery (History and Philosophy of Science, Pitt), and Stephen Stich (Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Rutgers). The project is funded by the John Templeton Foundation (https://www.templeton.org/).

The project is entering its final year of funding, and we are beginning our final wave of data collection. The postdoc position at UCLA will involve analyzing results from these studies, collaborating in designing and running follow-up studies, co-authoring papers and edited volumes, and helping to administer the grant at UCLA. The postdoc will be housed in UCLA’s Department of Anthropology, a large, four-field department with a thriving community of diverse academic interests, including the Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture (http://www.bec.ucla.edu/), the Center for Language, Interaction and Culture (https://clic.ss.ucla.edu/), the Mind, Medicine and Culture group (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/mmac/index.html), and connections to many other departments and units across campus.

Our project is explicitly interdisciplinary and experimental, and as such candidates from diverse fields are eligible, including Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy, Linguistics, and Cognitive Science. Candidates with strengths in statistical analysis, design and interpretation of cross-cultural studies, and familiarity with literatures in cross-cultural cognitive science are particularly encouraged.

Informal inquiries from potential applicants are welcome at hclarkbarrett@gmail.com. Feel free to get in touch if you’re curious about the position and have questions about your fit for the position, responsibilities, etc. Formal application materials should include a CV, cover letter with statement of research interests and experience, contact information for three references, and up to three publications. Applications will be considered on a rotating basis until the position is filled. Full advert here.

All qualified applicants will receive full consideration without regard to race, color, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. Women and underrepresented minority applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please circulate this announcement widely. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Variant Bio is seeking full-time researcher/scientist

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Variant Bio is seeking a researcher/scientist to fill a full time position on our global partnerships team.

Company Description

Variant Bio is a Seattle-based startup that is developing therapies to improve global health by studying the genes of people who are outliers for medically relevant traits. Variant Bio was started because we believe that human genetics has the power to transform drug development. To facilitate this, we have built proprietary genomics and phenotyping platforms that allow us to dramatically reduce the cost of genomic studies and identify genetically-validated targets for therapeutic development.

All of our studies are co-designed with local partners: community groups, academics, and hospitals around the world. We built Variant Bio from the ground up with ethics at its foundation. We recognize the contribution of our partners through an industry leading benefit-sharing program that dedicates 4% of our revenue and equity value to support local healthcare, sustainable development, education, research, and capacity-building initiatives.

Variant Bio is an equal opportunity employer that guarantees a work environment that respects and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Job Description

We are looking for a scientist with international field experience who will support expanding the scope and scale of our research collaborations around the world. We are looking for creative thinkers who can contribute to an early startup in project identification, design, execution, and data interpretation. The ideal candidate is a scientist (we will consider applicants spanning a broad range of backgrounds, e.g. anthropologist, biologist, human geographer) who is willing to learn how to manage a research project partnership from the ground up, and can step into the role of managing projects themselves. This position will report to the Head of Partnership Development.

Alignment with our ethical principles and effective communication in different cultural settings is a must. The candidate is passionate about human adaptation and variation, health, and genetics and is not intimidated by constant research and learning. The candidate will advise on, design, and support projects covering South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Our current projects cover areas of positive adaptation to various environmental conditions and their health implications, as well as disease-focused research on kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Responsibilities

Identify populations with unique genetic architectures or phenotypes in areas of unmet medical need.
Create scientific hypotheses and design population or cohort-based genomics studies.
Identify and set up collaborations around the world for human subjects studies, partnering with academic researchers, hospitals, biobanks, and local communities.
Work closely with ethicists and cultural anthropologists to co-design the studies together with partner communities.
Establish and cultivate relationships with partners and partner communities.
Design and negotiate contracts with partners and service providers, apply for human subjects ethical approval, and coordinate international logistics for project execution.
Develop and supervise local genotyping and phenotyping campaigns, often “in the field.”
Effectively communicate scientific results to local researchers, community members, and at scientific conferences.
Contribute to scientific publications.

Qualifications

Ability to leave your ego at the door and wear multiple hats in a fast-paced, start-up environment.
Post-secondary degree in biological anthropology, genetics, evolutionary biology, public health, epidemiology, or equivalent. Ph.D. a plus, but not a requirement.
Conceptual understanding of the principles of adaptation by natural selection.
Experience creating and executing field-based human subjects research projects, preferably outside of North America and Europe.
Well-connected and active in the public health or evolutionary/genetic anthropology field.
Strong people skills and ability to manage multiple, international partner relationships.
Understanding and appreciation for differences in global business norms and practices.
Independent, creative, detail-orientated, and a critical thinker.
Strong writing skills are a must.
Disease area, public health, genetics or human adaptation expertise is an advantage.
Compelled by the company’s mission of great science, a strong ethical stance, and benefit sharing.

Perks

Opportunity to be part of an early-stage startup entering a rapid growth phase.
Competitive, industry leading salary, and comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, short and long term disability and life insurance.
401(k) plan that includes an automatic 3% employer contribution.
Centrally located Eastlake, Seattle location in a new Alexandria building with modern facilities, including a gym.

Please email your resume and a cover letter highlighting your background and relevant skills to hiring@variantbio.com with the subject line “RE: Scientist – Genetic Research Partnerships.”

Prof Bridget Waller Seeking 3-yr Funded PhD Student on Facial Expressivity Project

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We are seeking applications for a 3-year full-time PhD student to work on human facial expressivity and social relationships.

The PhD will be supervised by Professor Bridget Waller as part of ERC Consolidator Project FACEDIFF ‘Individual differences in facial expressivity: Social function, facial anatomy and evolutionary origins’. FACEDIFF is a five-year project examining individual differences in facial expressivity and how this is related to social network size and success at social interaction in humans and macaques.
Communicating with others via the face is crucial for navigating our social world. Deficits in facial expression production can have debilitating effects on social interaction. Despite this, we know surprisingly little about individual differences in facial expressivity in the typical population, what causes these differences and whether such differences impact on individual lives. In part, this could be due to an historical focus on the universal nature of facial expression, assigning individual difference to random ‘noise’, rather than an evolutionarily relevant characteristic. The FACEDIFF project will diverge from this classic approach and test the novel hypothesis that individual differences in facial expressivity equip individuals’ differentially to engage with their social environment:expressivity has a benefit (social engagement) but also a cost (over-exposure and thus risk of being cheated by others) and is related to the size and quality of an individual’s social network. FACEDIFF will combine psychological, anatomical and cross-species methods to provide the first thorough interdisciplinary investigation of individual differences.

The advertised position will be situated within the FACEDIFF project with the strand of research focussed on human facial expression, social interaction and social networks. The PhD student will work within a larger interdisciplinary team with an overarching plan to investigate the relationship between variation in facial muscles and the quality of social bonds with others. The successful PhD candidate will conduct laboratory based behavioural experiments at Nottingham Trent University in which pairs of participants (friends or strangers) take part in dyadic and individual tasks (e.g. cold pressor test: emerge their hands in water of varying temperatures to induce mild pain and stress). Behavioural and physiological measures will be recorded. The goal is to monitor how variation in facial muscle-use affects facial communication and emotional recognition during these tasks, and how this affects social dynamics during social interaction.

Candidates with prior experience conducting experimental research in humans, and those with a strong interest in social, behavioural or comparative/evolutionary psychology are preferred. Training and support in some specific research skills such as social network analysis and FACS (Facial Action Coding System) will be provided, but the successful candidate will need to have a demonstrable interest in standard quantitative approaches to experimental data.

Enquiries
Please contact Professor Bridget Waller via email (bridget.waller@ntu.ac.uk) for informal discussions in advance of applying. Also, please see www.FACEDIFF.co.uk for more information about the overarching project. Any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Qualifications
Entrants must have an excellent academic record, with an undergraduate degree in psychology, behavioural science or related field. A master’s degree in a relevant field (or equivalent research experience) would be preferred, and experience of experimental social research with humans is essential.

Funding
The PhD will be funded by European Research Council Consolidator Grant FACEDIFF ‘Individual differences in facial expressivity: Social function, facial anatomy and evolutionary origins’ awarded to Bridget Waller. Funding will be provided for tuition fees, stipend for three years andresearch/conference expenses. Ideal start date October 2021, but this is negotiable.

How to apply
Please apply via the following link* (application deadline – 09/07/2021, expiry time 11:59 pm):
*Please include a short proposal for the PhD outlining how you would tackle theresearch questions posed in the brief. Your proposal should focus on the goals and general methodology rather than precise details. The word limit stated in the application page is 1500 words which should include your reference list and timeline.

Interview details
Interviews will take place from w/c 19th July 2021

Early Career Writing Group for Evolutionary Scientists — Sign up!

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Early Career Writing Group!

A virtual writing group is being organized by Stacey Makhanova for early career evolutionary psychologists and evolutionary scientists more broadly who want some external motivation to get writing done and an opportunity to network (and commiserate) with people in similar career stages. For this group, “early career” means assistant professors, post-docs, and graduate students at the dissertation stage.

If you are interested, see the Google Doc for details and to add your contact info to the email list

The OCEAN Speaker Series Presents Virtual Talk by Amy Boddy, PhD.

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The OCEAN Speaker Series Presents Virtual Talk by Amy Boddy, PhD. entitled, Life history trade-offs in reproduction and cancer.

 

Abstract: Life history theory is a powerful approach to study human health and disease. However, there has been little work in applications of life history theory in cancer biology. Here I will discuss how cancer is fundamentally characterized by life history trade-offs. Using a newly curated comparative oncology dataset across a wide range of mammals, I show why some mammals may be more vulnerable to cancer than others. I suggest some of this cancer vulnerability is due to life history trade-offs in reproductive output and discuss how insights into life history and cancer can be useful for human health and disease.

 

Time and Date: Thursday February 25, 2021, 3:30 – 5:00 pm CST

Location: Zoom

 

The web address to sign up for the talk is: OCEAN SPEAKER SERIES – The Oklahoma Center for Evolutionary ANalysis (mystrikingly.com)

Three-Year Post-Doc in Evolutionary Political Psychology at Aarhus University, Denmark

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3-YEAR POST DOC POSITIONS IN EVOLUTIONARY POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Applications are open for a 3-year Post-doctoral Fellowships in Social/Political Psychology and Experimental Philosophy at Aarhus University, Denmark. The deadline is February 1st, 2021.

The Centre for the Experimental-Philosophical Study of Discrimination (CEPDISC) is a Danish National Research Foundation-funded centre of excellence housed at the world-leading Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. It is currently advertising five post-doctoral positions, many of which look for expertise in social/political/evolutionary psychology, and which can be found at the following two links:

Positions on Work Packages 5, 7:https://international.au.dk/about/profile/vacant-positions/job/two-postdoc-positions-at-the-centre-for-the-experimental-philosophical-study-of-discrimination/
Positions on Work Packages 2, 8, and 9:
https://international.au.dk/about/profile/vacant-positions/job/three-postdoc-positions-at-the-centre-for-the-experimental-philosophical-study-of-discrimination/

Professor Lotte Thomsen is heading up Work Package 7 (‘Experimental studies of the sources of prejudice and discrimination’) in collaboration with Dr. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, and we would be happy to answer questions from those interested in that role.

Contact:
Professor Lotte Thomsen
lotte.thomsen@ps.au.dk
Assistant Professor Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington
J.A.Sheehy-Skeffington@lse.ac.uk

University of Utah Anthropology seeking Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Ecology

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Department of Anthropology at University of Utah invites applications for a tenure-track position in evolutionary ecology at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2021 (https://anthro.utah.edu/faculty_recruitment/index.php). The Department of Anthropology at University of Utah seeks diverse candidates who complement this historical strength of the department and take a quantitative, empirical approach to the study of human behavior, biology, or evolution. Applications are due February 1, 2021.

 

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Anthropology or a related field by the time of appointment, an established record of high-quality research indicated by external funding and publications, and evidence of relevant teaching and field work experience. A competitive application will present evidence of teaching and research excellence, or potential for the same. We seek candidates whose research, teaching and service have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to engagement and inclusion of culturally diverse audiences.

 

Apply here: https://utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/109707

Fully-Funded PhD Studentship at University of Portsmouth

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PhD position at the Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK
UNDERSTANDING SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDES: A BIG DATA APPROACH
 

Applications are invited for a fully-funded three-year PhD or four-year Masters and PhD studentship to commence in October 2021.

The studentship is funded by the ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP), a collaboration between the universities of Portsmouth, Southampton and Brighton.

The studentship covers tuition fees and an annual maintenance grant of £15,285 (2020/21 rate).

The supervisors are Dr Edward Morrison and Dr Jerome Micheletta. 

For details, please see here and here.

MindCORE Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Scholars

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MindCORE (Mind Center for Outreach, Research, and Education) seeks to recruit outstanding postdoctoral researchers for our Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Scholars. Housed within the School of Arts & Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania, MindCORE is an interdisciplinary effort to understand human intelligence and behavior.

 

Designed for individuals who have recently obtained a PhD degree in psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy or other cognitive science discipline, the MindCORE Fellowship is a springboard for young researchers as they establish their own research program. Fellows are also encouraged to pursue collaborative research with faculty working across disciplines at Penn.

 

Benefits

Fellows receive a competitive salary, relocation allowance, health insurance plus a modest research budget. Fellows also benefit from access to the greater community of academics including visiting scholars plus leading research facilities equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation all on an urban campus in a vibrant city. Fellows are invited to join regular working group meetings within their field plus career development workshops aimed at young researchers, and will be provided with a mentoring committee. Funding is provided in one year terms renewable for up to three years.

 

Eligibility & Application

–          Applicants must have formally completed all requirements of the PhD degree and provide a copy of their diploma at the time of appointment. Candidates must submit 1-2 page research statement that identifies at least three MindCORE faculty at Penn (https://mindcore.sas.upenn.edu/people/faculty-and-associates/) with whom the applicant would be interested in collaborating, along with a CV and contact information for two referees.

–          Submitted documents should be saved with candidate’s Lastname_Firstname.PDF in one PDF file in this order: research statement, CV, referees (name, affiliation, email address). Complete applications should be submitted through the form on our website: https://web.sas.upenn.edu/mindcore/post-doctoral-research-fellowship/. Questions can be emailed to pennmindcore@sas.upenn.edu

–          Applications due January 14, 2021.

 

Selection

All eligible and complete applications will be evaluated by the Selection Committee and are judged on the following criteria:

–          Scientific excellence

–          Scientific match and interdisciplinarity

–          Career potential

 

MindCORE awards ~2 post-doctoral Fellowships per year. Positions may start as early as July 1, 2021.

 

See here for MindCORE Postdoc Fellows – FAQ

 

Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class. Background check required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

Program Officer in Life Sciences Position at John Templeton Foundation

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The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the biggest and most perplexing questions facing humankind. We support research and public outreach within disciplines ranging from astrophysics, evolutionary biology, and genetics, to philosophy, psychology, and economics. We encourage civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians, as well as between such experts and the public at large. In all cases, our grantmaking activity aims to spur curiosity and accelerate discovery, funding the best ideas and capitalizing on what we learn from them.

The Foundation’s Life Sciences department seeks to advance basic scientific research on fundamental questions in biology, particularly ambitious ideas that are undervalued by traditional funding sources. The department’s $60 million of active projects are located around the world and represent a range of topics including origin of life, its evolution, and humanity’s place and future within nature. Current strategic priorities include the science of purpose, cultural evolution, and intellectual humility. The Life Sciences department also manages the Genetics portfolio, which supports contrarian basic and applied biomedical research aimed at minimizing future poverty and sickness. It seeks to identify and support contrarian ideas that challenge established paradigms, and has as a current emphasis the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease.

To advance the Foundation’s mission and strengthen our team, the Foundation is seeking a Program Officer for Life Sciences. The Program Officer will work with the Director of Life Sciences to develop new initiatives that advance current and future strategic priorities. They will also recruit and review grant proposals, communicate with applicants and grantees regarding the application and review process, and collaborate with our evaluation team to determine the impact of our grants.

 

For more information, please see Program Officer Life Sciences Job Ad August 2020.