Postdoctoral position in “Neuroscience of Music” - (2500001L)

Collaboration contract, 24 months (plus possibility of extension)

Organisation/Company: ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA

Department: Neuroscience of Perception and Action

Research Field: Neurosciences » Neuropsychology

Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions: Postdoc Positions

Country: Italy

Application Deadline: 1 May 2025 - 11:39 (Europe/Rome)

Type of Contract: Other

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - ERC

Reference Number: G.A.n° 948186

Offer Description

Commitment & contract: Collaboration contract, 24 months (plus possibility of extension)

Location: Center for Life Nano- & Neuro-Science, Rome, Italy.

Step into a world of endless possibilities, together let’s leave something for the future!

At IIT, we are committed to advancing human-centered Science and Technology to address the most urgent societal challenges of our era. We foster excellence in both fundamental and applied research, spanning fields such as neuroscience and cognition, humanoid technologies and robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and material sciences, offering a truly interdisciplinary scientific experience.

We are dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities and fostering diversity in all its forms, creating an inclusive environment.

THE ROLE

The Neuroscience of Perception and Action research unit (NPA; npa.iit.it) is led by Giacomo Novembre (giacomonovembre.com). We are seeking a postdoc to contribute to our ongoing research activities. We are an interdisciplinary team of brain and behavioral scientists with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds, combining insights from both hard and social sciences.

Our research explores fundamental questions about how humans perceive the world and act within it, focusing on two widespread human capacities: 1. Social interaction and 2. Musicality. We primarily study these capacities in human adults, comparing them with human infants and non-human subjects.

Current Research Topics & Methods

As a postdoc, you will have the opportunity to contribute to one or more of the following research topics:

• Neural bases of musicality (in human adults and infants)
• Collective dance and joint music-making
• Spontaneous social behavior (both verbal and non-verbal)
• Intersections of the above topics

Our methodologies include:

• Neuroimaging & Brain Stimulation: EEG, transcranial electrical stimulation (tES)
• Motion Tracking: Optical and video-based motion capture, eye tracking
• Computational modelling: EEG decoding (TRF, Bayesian models), movement extraction & object recognition (DNNs), 3D kinematic decomposition

Your Role as a Postdoc

Your primary responsibility will be data analysis, either by:

• Working with previously collected datasets (including meta-analyses)
• Designing and conducting new experiments to gather ad hoc data

The selected candidate will join a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, with the opportunity to lead experimental design for the project(s), collect and analyze behavioral and neuroimaging data, supervise research students, disseminate scientific results, and possibly collaborate with other research groups (nationally and internationally).

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• A PhD in neuroscience, psychology, computational sciences, or any related discipline.
• Coding skills (ideally signal processing, or a strong motivation to acquire them).
• A strong interest in music.
• Good writing and communication skills (in English).
• Independent, proactive, and suited for collaborative work within an international and interdisciplinary team.
• Analytical skills.
• Experience with neuroimaging data collection or analysis.
• Familiarity with recent advancements in the field of neuroscience of music and social interaction (especially hyperscanning).

COMPENSATION PACKAGE

• Private health care coverage. A yearly gross salary ranging between 30.000 and 36.500.
• Candidates from abroad or Italian citizens who have carried scientific research activity permanently abroad and meet specific requirements may be entitled to a deduction from taxable income of up to 90% from 6 to 13 years.

This open position is financed by the European Research Council within the MUSICOM project (G.A.n° 948186).

Please submit your application using the online form and include a detailed CV, a cover letter explicitly detailing your motivation for joining our team, and contact details of at least 2 referees.