Position ID:
Duke-Psych&Neuro-POSTDOC_ECCLAB [#31622]
Position Title:
Postdoctoral Associate
Position Type:
Postdoctoral
Position Location:
Durham, North Carolina 27708-0999, United States of America
Subject Area:
Appl Deadline:
2026/02/10 23:59:59** (posted 2026/02/02, listed until 2026/02/10)
Position Description:
Position Description
Postdoctoral Associate
Early Childhood Cognition Lab at Duke / Dr. Tamar Kushnir
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Overview
The Early Childhood Cognition Lab at Duke’s (
http://www.ecclabduke.com/) research examines learning and conceptual change in young children with a focus on social learning and social cognition. Research topics include: mechanisms of causal learning, the developmental origins of our beliefs in free will and agency, cultural influences on early social and moral beliefs, normative reasoning, and epistemic trust, and the role of imagination in social cognition, motivation and decision making.
Work Performed
The Postdoctoral Associate will work on a study of child-robot collaborative learning and will be the lead researcher on several empirical investigations, in collaboration with our co-PI at UCLA.
Responsibilities include study design, supervising and leading data collection, coding, and analysis, and writing of manuscripts for publication, as well as grant preparation to seek additional support for the project.
Additionally, the Postdoctoral Associate will support general lab administration (running meetings, helping with recruitment, doing community outreach, etc.). They will be expected to be an active participant in lab events, and to dedicate time to research mentorship and supervision of undergraduate and graduate students.
This position will provide the opportunity to interact with scientists across Duke, including a rich community of memory researchers and a large cognitive neuroscience community.
Desired Qualifications
Candidates with a Ph.D. in any area of cognitive neuroscience broadly defined (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, or a related field) are welcome to apply. Experience with computational modeling is required.
Strengths in open science practices, social media and science communication, and writing accountability/support required, as the candidate will lead efforts in those areas. Experience in grant writing is preferred, as is a track record of excellence in research mentorship and supervision.
This is a full time position, eligible for all Duke benefits (https://hr.duke.edu/benefits) with an initial appointment of nine months with the possibility of renewal, dependent on funding and performance.
Interested individuals should apply through Academic Jobs Online and include their CV, cover letter and contact information for at least 2 references. Only applicants that have applied through Academic Jobs Online will be reviewed. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. If you are not able to upload your application materials or if letter writers would prefer to upload their letters directly, please complete your application and email those materials to Meghann Koffi at meghann.koffi@duke.edu to be uploaded manually.
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