at the BCBL- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) www.bcbl.eu
- INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION
- Position: PhD student
- Researcher profile: First Stage Researcher (R1- up to the point of PhD)
- Number of vacancies: 1
- Location: Spain > Donostia-San Sebastián
- Research Field: Neuroscience > Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
- Type of contract/Duration of Contract: Temporary 1+3 years (i.e., the duration of the grant and the labour contract will be one year and can be extendable for 3 more years; maximum 48 consecutive months)
- Job Status: Full-time
- Hours per week: 35
- Starting date: before 01/02/2026 (to be confirmed by official announcement)
- CV submission deadline: 25/07/2025
The Perceptual Inference Group (https://www.bcbl.eu/en/research/research-groups/perceptualinference) at the Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (Donostia – San Sebastian) aims to sponsor a candidate for a Basque Government Predoctoral Fellowship (“Programa Predoctoral de Formación de Personal Investigador No Doctor”; a competitive call for predoctoral fellowships awarded by the Basque Government – see last year’s call here).
Our group studies how the human brain uses everything it has learned in the past to make sense of incoming sensory information. For example, we investigate how the brain draws on the topic of a conversation, prior knowledge about a speaker, and the acoustic context of a noisy environment to understand spoken language in places like a crowded bar. We use a combination of neuroimaging (including ultra-high-resolution fMRI and electrophysiology), computational models, and behavioral experiments, each tailored to answer specific questions about how the brain works. Our goal is to understand how perception functions, how individual beliefs and expectations can bias it, and why these processes break down in clinical conditions such as dyslexia and schizophrenia.
Information about the project:
This project investigates how prior beliefs influence the way the brain processes sound. We focus on the earliest stages of auditory processing—the subcortical pathways—which are shared across humans and other mammals. Our hypothesis is that subjective expectations shape the encoding of sounds even at these evolutionarily old structures (see https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64501 for more).
What we offer
The Perceptual Inference Group will support the application of the candidate the Basque Government Predoctoral Fellowship. Our support will include the sponsorship of the candidate, and thorough help and guidance in the writing of the proposal. Depending on the preferences of the candidate, we will either support the candidate on the writing of their own ideas or provide with a structured proposal. Please note that candidates require a sponsor to apply for the fellowship and that each research group can only sponsor one candidate.
Job description:
The successful candidate will developing and run neuroimaging experiments using state-of-the art tools, preprocess and analyse the data, write scientific papers, and disseminate results in scientific conferences (oral presentations/posters). The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to develop original experiments under the supervision and guidance of the PI.
PI and research group:
The candidate will form part of the Perceptual Inference group under the direct supervision of Dr. Alejandro Tabas.
- CANDIDATE PROFILE AND SELECTION CRITERIA
Eligibility:
- Certificate of Residence in the Basque Country (empadronamiento) at the time of application and, at least, since: 1st January 2025
- A university degree (Bachelor’s) obtained on June 2021 or later (extensions may apply, e.g., in the case of maternity). Our lab includes individuals from Psychology, Physics, Philosophy, Engineering and Linguistics, and as such we are not closed to any discipline. However, applicants with non-empirical background should demonstrate previous interest in Cognitive Neuroscience,
- A Master’s (or equivalent) degree
- A minimum of 300 ECTS, 60 of which should correspond to Master’s degree level
Required skills:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
- Strong motivation to understand the mechanisms underlying cognition
Desirable skills:
- Knowledge or experience in Python
- Previous experience in experimental cognitive neuroscience
- Previous experience with fMRI or EEG/MEG.
- Statistics skills (e.g., R, SPSS)
- WORKING CONDITIONS
Salary: TBD (pending official announcement)
(Last year’s call can be found here [in Basque and Spanish], approximate gross salary was ~18.500 – 25.000€/year [depending on the year]. Additional amounts are provided to cover other costs, e.g., travel expenses.)
Entitlements and other benefits: https://www.bcbl.eu/en/join-us/what-is-like-to-work-bcbl
Training opportunities and Career development plan:
Researchers at any stage of their career, regardless of their contractual situation, are given opportunities for professional development and for improving their employability through access to a Personal Career Development Plan which includes
(1) Training through individually personalized research projects under senior supervision
(2) Exchanging knowledge with the scientific community and the general public
(3) Network-wide training in theory and methods
(4) Complementary training courses
(5) Involvement in proposal writing, task coordination
(6) Development of skills for the organization of training and scientific events
BCBL seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support contact us.
- OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Language policy
- The corporate language at the Center is English
- Knowledge of Spanish and/or Basque is not required
- The center provides initial level Spanish and Basque lessons to all the international staff members
- The interview will be conducted entirely in English
- APPLICATION PROCESS
Submission of the application and documentation:
Interested candidates are invited to send their CV, a brief research statement (1 page) describing their research interests and previous experience (if any), their transcript of records from their bachelor and master’s as of today to Dr. Alejandro Tabas (tabas@bcbl.eu) by midnight of the 25 /07/2025. Dr Tabas welcomes informal enquires about the position (please use the email bellow for enquires about the application process).
Learn more about the BCBL’s OTM-R policy
Application process timeline:
- Deadline for application: 25/07/2025
- Evaluation by committee: 30-31/07/2025
- Final decision: 04/08/2025
- The selected candidate will be invited to apply for a Basque Government Predoctoral Fellowship (i.e., awarded by the Basque Government). The Perceptual The BCBL admin team will support the selected candidate within the application process.
Contact details for enquiries: hr@bcbl.eu
