Post-doctoral Research Associate (Psychology)

At University of Hull, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in University of Hull workplace.
These include people from global majority backgrounds; people who have a declared disability; LGBTQI+ people; and women particularly for our Grade 9 and 10 roles.

We reserve the right to close the advert early if a satisfactory amount of applications are received

A 3 year fixed-term full-time Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) is available in Psychology at the University of Hull. The PDRA will work on the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project “Beyond belief: knowledge and ignorance processing in adults”, working with Dr Richard O’Connor and Prof Kevin Riggs. This project will start in autumn 2025. Please note that the terms of the grant that fund this position require that employment commences no later than 1^st November 2025. 

This cognitive psychology project will investigate theory of mind in healthy adults, examining the cognitive processing that underlies our ability to understand who is knowledgeable, and who is ignorant. The project will use experimental methods to investigate both explicit and implicit attributions of knowledge, ignorance and belief. These experiments will test recently proposed theories that claim knowledge processing is the basic foundation from which we build our understanding of the mental lives of others. 

The PDRA will have responsibility for preparing, conducting and analysing the experiments of the proposed research. The PDRA will also contribute to dissemination of the project findings through conference presentations, publications and public engagement activities. Suitable candidates are expected to have knowledge of theory of mind research, experience generating stimuli for and programming experimental studies, and the ability to use, or quickly learn to use, R or an equivalent statistical programming language.

For a full description of the role, please see the job description and person specification attached. Applicants are expected to provide a CV and a Covering Letter that directly refers to the criteria provided in the person specification. Applications are assessed by the selection panel according to these criteria.

Essential:

• A PhD, or close to completion, in a relevant discipline e.g., Cognitive Psychology
• Experience of cognitive psychology data collection, statistical analysis and interpretation
• An emerging track record in an appropriate research field, which may be evidenced by scientific publications, conference presentations, contributing to grant applications etc.
• Knowledge of theory of mind research
• Technical ability to generate high-quality experimental stimuli and scripts for the purpose of theory of mind research
• Ability to use, or quickly learn to use, R or an equivalent statistical programming language
• Evidence of working in an open and transparent way, providing information clearly and communicating effectively with colleagues and the wider research community
• An expectation to contribute to university activities and initiatives such as science communication events

Desirable:

• Experience of conducting psychological experiments online
• Experience of open science practices

To discuss this role informally, please contact Dr Richard O’Connor, richard.oconnor@hull.ac.uk and Prof Kevin Riggs, k.riggs@hull.ac.uk 

For information about Psychology at the University of Hull please visit: https://www.hull.ac.uk/faculties/departments/research/school-of-psychology-and-social-work#content 

Further details:

• Job Description
• Candidate Pack
• Equality and Diversity Document