Research Engineer Position in Social Cognition F/M: Neural correlates
of social skills in middle childhood

https://recrutement.inria.fr/public/classic/en/offres/2023-06513

Contract type : Fixed-term contract

Renewable contract : Yes

Level of qualifications required : Graduate degree or equivalent

Fonction : Temporary scientific engineer

Context 

Social interaction among children is crucial for the proper
development of cognitive and social skills.  However, how children
acquire the ability to form social bonds with their peers remains
poorly understood. One possibility for exploring this phenomenon is to
simultaneously measure the brain activity of two children during
social interaction, a technique that is called hyperscanning.
Managing the hyperscanning apparatus and analyzing the results using
newer machine learning approaches will be the job of the research
engineer hired for this position.

Assignment

The engineer chosen for this project should have a broad range of
skills including at least several of the following:

- Creative skills to build adapt scientific tasks so that they can be
  used by children, in ways that permit successful brain recordings.

- Experience with managing neuroscience experiments with children,
  including the use of the PsychoPy software.

- Background in hyperscanning methods, particularly with functional
  Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy (fNIRS).

- Experience in neuroimaging data analysis, using machine learning
  tools for temporally-sensitive data, such as Random Forests, LSTM,
  etc..

- Interest in developmental psychology, education science,
  psycholinguistics, and/or embodied conversational agents

S/he will work in a multi-disciplinary team to design a new scientific
task that encourages children to engage in natural conversations. S/he
will carry out experiments and will analyze the results. S/he will
collaborate with other researchers in the group to apply results to
the understanding of social skills in children, and how to best
support them.

Main activities

- Design scientific tasks

- Carry out experiments

- Analyze their results

- Apply results to understanding of social cognnition in middle childhood

Skills

Technical skills and level required: Solid knowledge in neuroscience,
background in neuroimaging techniques (e.g. fNIRS, EEG), and
competence in programming in Python with machine learning
experience. Experience with NIRx Aurora and Hyperscan software is a
plus.

Languages: French, English

Relationship skills: Ability to work in a team, and collaborate with
others from different disciplines and backgrounds. Ability to work
independently. Ability to manage other team members.

Theoretical background in one or several of the following field is
desirable: cognitive science, linguistics, sociolinguistics,
psychology, computer science, or computational neuroscience.

Benefits package

- Subsidized meals

- Partial reimbursement of public transport costs

- Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT
  (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional
  leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)

- Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working
  hours (after 12 months of employment)

- Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of
  computer equipment, etc.)

- Social, cultural and sports events and activities

- Access to vocational training

Remuneration

The remuneration will be established according to the profile and the
experience of the candidate.


General Information

    Theme/Domain : Language, Speech and Audio
    IT Technical and production engineering (BAP E)
    Town/city : Paris
    Inria Center : Centre Inria de Paris
    Starting date : 2023-08-01
    Duration of contract : 1 year
    Deadline to apply : 2023-07-31

Warning : you must enter your e-mail address in order to save your
application to Inria. Applications must be submitted online on the
Inria website. Processing of applications sent from other channels is
not guaranteed.

Instruction to apply

Defence Security :

This position is likely to be situated in a restricted area (ZRR), as
defined in Decree No. 2011-1425 relating to the protection of national
scientific and technical potential (PPST).Authorisation to enter an
area is granted by the director of the unit, following a favourable
Ministerial decision, as defined in the decree of 3 July 2012 relating
to the PPST. An unfavourable Ministerial decision in respect of a
position situated in a ZRR would result in the cancellation of the
appointment.

Recruitment Policy :

As part of its diversity policy, all Inria positions are accessible to people with disabilities.

Contacts

    Inria Team : COML
    Recruiter :  Cassell Justine / justine.cassell@inria.fr

About Inria

Inria is the French national research institute dedicated to digital
science and technology. It employs 2,600 people. Its 200 agile project
teams, generally run jointly with academic partners, include more than
3,500 scientists and engineers working to meet the challenges of
digital technology, often at the interface with other disciplines. The
Institute also employs numerous talents in over forty different
professions. 900 research support staff contribute to the preparation
and development of scientific and entrepreneurial projects that have a
worldwide impact.