Simons Empire Faculty Fellow - Psychology; Assistant Professor

Location:

Albany, NY

Faculty

Mon Sep 22 2025

The Department of Psychology within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Albany invites applications for a full‑time, tenure‑track position—a Simons Empire Faculty Fellow—at the rank of Assistant Professor in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience. We are seeking a scholar whose research addresses fundamental questions about human cognition and the brain by integrating cutting‑edge neuroscience methods with innovative computational approaches such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, or neuromorphic computing.

The Department of Psychology offers Bachelor's, Master's, PhD degrees with concentrations in Behavioral Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Industrial/Organizational Psychology. The University at Albany also has a vibrant community of Neuroscience faculty across various departments who are associated with the Center for Neuroscience Research. Additionally, the Department of Psychology and the College of Arts and Sciences offer a collaborative and supportive environment.

This position emphasizes candidates who pursue excellence in research, teaching, and service at an R1 institution that serves a diverse community and mentors the next generation of scientists.

• Research: Conducting innovative research and publishing in peer‑reviewed journals, presenting research at professional meetings and conferences, and securing external funding to support programmatic research.
• Teaching: Educating students, mentoring them, and fostering their intellectual development, including teaching undergraduate and graduate courses and course preparation and development.
• Service: Contributing to the governance and functioning of the university, college, and department, including participating in admissions, advising, mentoring graduate students, and chairing and serving on doctoral dissertation committees.

• Reports to:
  
  Department Chair
• Supervises: graduate and undergraduate students as well as any research personnel (postdoctoral researchers, research scientists, technicians, etc.).

The successful candidate for this tenure‑track Assistant Professor position in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience will work to advance theoretical and empirical understanding of human cognition through the integration of neuroscience and computational modeling. Ideal applicants will demonstrate a strong foundation in experimental design, data analysis, and theory‑driven inquiry, with a research program that leverages advanced, interdisciplinary methodologies. Successful candidates would bridge neural and cognitive levels of analysis, through multimodal data integration, biologically informed modeling, or the development of computational frameworks that jointly explain behavior and neural dynamics.

Expertise in modeling neural data and developing methods to compare biological and artificial neural networks is highly valued. We invite applications from researchers seeking to comprehend neural and cognitive processes through the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as researchers interested in enhancing AI models derived from insights gained from neuroscience and cognitive psychology. Research that informs both foundational neuroscience and applications in mental health, neuromorphic computing, neurological disorders, behavior, education, or aging is especially welcome.

The candidate will be expected to secure extramural funding and develop rigorous, cross‑disciplinary approaches to understanding the brain, contribute to graduate and undergraduate training in neuroscience and computational methods, and help position the University at Albany as a national leader in cognitive neuroscience at the intersection of AI and brain science.

The candidate will join a department with strong theoretical and methodological focus and will be expected to contribute to interdisciplinary collaborations across mathematics, computer science, biology, and philosophy, supported by initiatives such as…