The laboratories of Marcelo Mattar (https://www.mattarlab.com) and of Wei Ji Ma (http://www.cns.nyu.edu/malab) at New York University are looking for a Postdoctoral Associate to study human planning in chess using a massive dataset of online chess matches.

Research description: The overall goal of this NSF-funded research is to characterize the cognitive computations underlying human planning in chess, a task where the number of possible futures is exponentially large. We will use a massive dataset of almost 4 billion games of chess that have been released to the public. To analyze this dataset, we will leverage AI systems for playing chess to quantify the quality of human decisions and to measure the variables that contribute to them.

Job description: You will be a member of both Mattar and Ma laboratories. As a Postdoctoral Associate, you will be involved in the conceptual development of the project, theoretical development, data analysis, data interpretation, manuscript writing, and dissemination of results. You will co-mentor and collaborate with Ph.D. students. You will also be part of the broader NYU/NYC psychology/neuroscience community, with connections to data science and computer science. The work is also part of a larger project conducted in collaboration with the laboratory of Thomas Griffiths at Princeton University. Therefore, the Postdoctoral Associate will participate in frequent project meetings with the Griffiths lab, and there will be ample opportunities to visit Princeton and to get to know its cognitive science community. This is a two-year appointment with possibility of renewal.

Lab culture: Our labs care a lot about mentorship quality, a positive lab culture, diversity/equity/inclusion, and work-life balance. We are looking for someone who is kind, helpful, and cares about making our labs and the broader community better for everyone, and who is interested in mentoring scientists more junior than themselves.

In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is $62,500-$90,000. New York University considers factors such as (but not limited to) the specific grant funding and the terms of the research grant when extending an offer.

We are looking for someone who (1) is open-minded, resilient, and motivated to work on relatively narrow problems with potentially broad implications; (2) has experience in theoretical or computational approaches, in particular in reinforcement learning, artificial intelligence/machine learning, or approximate inference; (3) has experience in analyzing human behavioral data; (4) is interested in the connections between computational cognitive science and artificial intelligence/machine learning.

To apply, please include a detailed statement of research interest, your CV, and the names and emails of three references. The position will be open until filled.

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