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Faculty positions in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution and Behavior
2CI Doctoral Fellowships in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution & Behavior
Postdoctoral positions in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution and Behavior
As part of Georgia State University’s Second Century Initiative (2CI), we anticipate faculty openings for two scholars with established expertise in primate social cognition and behavior, beginning Fall 2012 or Fall 2013, pending budgetary approval. Each successful candidate will be hired at the rank of Assistant, Associate or Full Professor (depending on experience) with a primary appointment in the Departments of Psychology or Anthropology, or in the Neuroscience Institute. Joint appointment in these units or in Biology and affiliation with the Language Research Center (www.gsu.edu/lrc) and with other research units or interdisciplinary initiatives, such as the Brains and Behavior Program, will be possible. Successful candidates will be expected to build on existing research strengths in biobehavioral research in the laboratory or the field with nonhuman primates, and to expand our expertise in the evolution, mechanisms, and expression of primate social cognition and competence. Successful candidates will also contribute to graduate and undergraduate education in this area. Research topics of interest include but are not limited to field-based behavior, primate paleontology, and primatology; studies using noninvasive physiological techniques such as assessment of hormone-behavior interactions, or behaviorally relevant gene expression; and laboratory studies of primate social cognition and behavior.
A Ph.D. degree in anthropology, biology, neuroscience, psychology, or a related discipline is required. The successful candidate will have an excellent record of research achievement, including a history of external research funding. Applicants should send a letter of interest that includes (a) a description of the research program, accomplishments, and goals; (b) the philosophy of teaching a diverse student body and evidence of teaching effectiveness; (c) a curriculum vita; and (d) representative publications. Additionally, the applicant should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be submitted.
All materials should be sent to Chair of the 2CI Search Committee at psceb@gsu.edu. (Interested individuals who applied last year may use this address to update CV, publications, and grants, but need not re-apply.) Review of applications will begin on September 24, 2012 and will continue until the two positions are filled.
In addition to these positions, Georgia State University's Second Century Initiative is supporting separate cluster-hiring initiatives in neurogenomics, neuroimaging, neuroethics, and other selected areas. See http://www.gsu.edu/secondcentury and the Department of Psychology Job Announcements webpage for more details.
In addition to these cluster-hiring opportunities, Georgia State University is pleased to announce new 2CI Doctoral Fellowships in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution and Behavior. These competitive fellowships will support graduate students for doctoral training and research on this topic with nonhuman primates. Students who are interested in learning more about the 2CI Doctoral Fellowships should contact David Washburn, Bill Hopkins, Sarah Brosnan, or another LRC scientist. For more information about applying for graduate study at Georgia State University, please visit one of the following links:
Doctoral study in Neuroscience
Masters program in Anthropology
College of Arts and Sciences - Apply for Graduate Study
College of Arts and Sciences - 2CI research and fellowships
The research program in primate social cognition, evolution and behavior also provides opportunities for postdoctoral training. All postdoctoral positions are currently filled.
News and Notes: Return to this website for more information on Primate Social Cognition, Evolution and Behavior at Georgia State University.
May 2013 : PSCEB Fellow Sarah Pope receives prestigious fellowship!
Congratulations to Sarah Pope, who has been named a 2013 Chateaubriand Fellow. Sarah is a first-year neuroscience student (working with Dr. Bill Hopkins) and 2CI University Doctoral Fellow in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution & Behavior. Her Chateaubriand Fellowship will support Sarah for one year to study the neural correlates of communication by baboons in France at the Aix-Marseille University. The Chateaubriand Fellowship is awarded by the Office for Science and Technology of the Embassy of France in the United States, and is designed to initiate or reinforce international collaborations or joint projects by encouraging scholarly exchange at the doctoral level.
April 2013 : First Annual PSCEB Poster Day
To recognize the scientific accomplishments of 2CI University Doctoral Fellows in PSCEB, research posters will be displayed from 9am - noon on the second floor of Kell Hall, near the PSCEB Laboratory Suite. PSCEB Fellows who are available on that day will discuss their work from 11am - noon that morning. This poster session provides a local opportunity to highlight some of the research that these doctoral students have presented at regional, national, and international conferences--including, but not limited to, the following professional presentations at the recent Southeastern Psychological Association meeting here in Atlanta:
Audrey Parrish - Rhesus monkeys strategically respond to variable partner play in a coordination game
Anna Gonsiorowski - Toddlers' capacity for implicit social evaluations
Sara Price - Responses to an anti-coordination game in capuchin monkeys
Laurent Pretot - Cross-taxon comparison between the ecological and cognitive approaches to cognition
Casey Yarbrough - Executive attention and inhibitory control in rhesus monkeys
Melissa Hrabic - Three-year-olds versus adults: Source reliability on action and labeling tasks
Bethany MacDonald - The influence of social information on children's perseverative errors
Fall 2012 PSCEB FELLOW MILESTONES
Holly Adams defended her MA thesis and passed her general examination
Sara Price successfully proposed her MA thesis project
Anna Gonsiorowski successfully proposed her MA thesis project
Audrey Parrish passed her general examination
Laurent Pretot passed his general examination
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October, 2012: PSCEB Fellows and Faculty attend Jane Goodall lecture
As part of the Georgia State University Distinguished Lecture Series, Dr. Jane Goodall visited campus on 8-October for a lecture and book-signing. PSCEB faculty and fellows were able to hear Dr. Goodall discuss her journey in primatology and her current interests in conservation, education, and environmental activism. Accompanied onstage by her trademark stuffed monkey "Mr. H." (for "hope"), Dr. Goodall spoke to an overflow audience of students, faculty and staff about the importance of passion and persistence. Her 50+ years of field research in primatology has given way to a schedule that has her speaking around the world almost every day of the year as an ambassador for chimpanzees--and environmental causes more broadly--including activities sponsored through the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots and Shoots Program. For more information about Dr. Goodall's visit, see the story and video by GSU University Relations.
August, 2012: First
annual kick-off breakfast for 2CI University Doctoral Fellows in PSCEB
On August 20th, the inaugural class of Fellows (from right: Casey Yarbrough, Anna Gonsiorowski, Sara Price, Laurent Pretot, Holly Phillips, Audrey Parrish, Sarah Pope, Melissa Hrabic, Bethany MacDonald) convened at the Language Research Center to discuss the background of and expectations for the new 2CI University Doctoral Fellowships. Support for these Fellowships represents a significant step by Georgia State University toward several of the goals in its Strategic Plan, including growth in the number and quality of doctoral students. Senior doctoral student and NSF Fellow Kate Talbot discussed the NSF Gradate Fellowship program and her experience in obtaining competitive extramural support from NSF for her research and training (pictured, left). The Fellows were charged with the goals of excelling in academic performance, scholarly output, and participation in the PSCEB initiative--and were reminded that they will be asked to report annually on their progress in these areas. Each student is now a partner in promoting the reputation and standing of Georgia State University in the area of Primate Social Cognition, Evolution & Behavior.
August, 2012: PSCEB Laboratory Suite opens in Kell Hall
To accommodate growth of the Primate Social Cognition, Evolution & Behavior research program, GSU campus space in Kell Hall has been renovated to provide laboratories for scientists in neuroscience, psychology, and (eventually) anthropology. The PSCEB Laboratory Suite currently includes research areas for Dr. Bill Hopkins and his team to examine neuroimaging-scan data from a wide range of primates in an attempt to understand how cerebral asymmetries in brain morphology relate to social, cognitive, and behavioral competencies. There is also a suite of rooms for Dr. Sarah Brosnan and her Comparative Economics and Behavioral Studies (CEBUS) laboratory, where researchers can, for example, observe and code the behavior of capuchin monkeys in inequity-exchange paradigms. A third component of the PSCEB Suite is Dr. David Washburn's Individual Differences in Executive Attention (IDEA) laboratory, where undergraduate students are tested on many of the same cognitive tasks as are used with nonhuman primates. The PSCEB Suite also includes poster displays where research findings that were presented at professional conferences can be viewed. Further renovation of the Kell space will accommodate additional faculty hiring, new graduate students, and continued growth the PSCEB initiative.
April, 2012; July, 2012: Graduate students named 2CI University Doctoral Fellows in Primate Social Cognition, Evolution, & Behavior
In a new program supported by the Office of the Provost and in conjunction with the Second Century Initiative (2CI), Georgia State University is pleased to announce the following recipients of the 2012-2013 2CI University Doctoral Fellowships in PSCEB. Each of these graduate students will receive support for their research activities from the university and through the Psychology Department or the Neuroscience Institute. The inaugural class of Fellows includes Anna Gonsiorowski, Melissa Hrabic, Bethany MacDonald, Audrey Parrish, Holly Phillips, Sarah Pope, Laurent Pretot, Sara Price, and Casey Yarbrough. Congratulations to these outstanding young scholars!
October, 2011: "Primate Social Cognition" featured as theme for annual Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference
For the 11th annual Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference (PURC) at Georgia State University, Primate Social Cognition was selected as the thematic co-sponsor. Although PURC posters span the entire range of psychological research, the student presentations of comparative research will be complemented by the plenary address. Professor Rob Hampton (Emory University) will discuss his studies of the cognitive and neural foundations of social behavior in the PURC Distinguished Lecture.
January, 2012: Dr. William (Bill) Hopkins to join Georgia State University faculty as professor of neuroscience, Fall 2012.
Recruited through the 2CI faculty search in Primate Social Cognition, Professor Hopkins is an internationally recognized expert in the brain structures that underlie behavioral and cognitive competencies in nonhuman primates. His research is focused on functional and neuroanatomical asymmetries in brains of humans, chimpanzees and monkeys. These studies of hemispheric specialization and localization have direct implications for the evolution of gestural communication and language, and for a wide range of developmental disorders. Professor Hopkins has published well over 200 refereed journal articles and chapters, and has attracted funding through multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health--including his ongoing role as a PI on the program project from NICHD that has supported much of the research at the Language Research Center.
Updated 31-OCT-12 --- UNDER CONSTRUCTION
