Postdoctoral Position in Electrophysiology and Computational Modeling of Language

[Kuperberg, Gina R.]

Postdoctoral Position in Electrophysiology and Computational Modeling of Language (Start date: by June 1, 2026)

The NeuroCognition of Language Lab (PI: Gina Kuperberg), jointly based at Tufts University and the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), invites applications for a fully funded, two-year postdoctoral position.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, with an intended start date of June 1, 2026

This position offers opportunities to pursue theory-driven research at the intersection of psycholinguistics, computational neuroscience, and electrophysiology. We are especially interested in applicants whose expertise aligns with one or more of the following areas:

1. Electrophysiology and predictive processing in sentence and discourse comprehension
   Using MEG and/or EEG to characterize the spatiotemporal dynamics of predictive processing during real-time language comprehension, with an emphasis on sentence- and discourse-level mechanisms.
   
   
2. Computational modeling of comprehension
   Developing mechanistic models (e.g., predictive coding simulations), and linking model behavior to behavioral and neural signatures of comprehension. We are also interested in decision-making and confidence-updating frameworks that formalize how comprehenders evaluate uncertainty, accumulate error evidence, and engage reprocessing following linguistic errors.
   
   
3. Language production in schizophrenia and computational language analysis
   Analyzing large-scale corpora of patient speech, using computational language methods, including Large Language Models (LLMs), to quantify and understand disorganized language production in schizophrenia.

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. in cognitive science, psycholinguistics, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, computational neuroscience, or a related field. Candidates may be strongest in one area (electrophysiology, computational modeling, or NLP/LLM-based language analysis), while demonstrating interest in the broader research program.

Core qualifications

• Strong interest in mechanistic accounts of sentence and discourse comprehension and its neural implementation
• Strong computational and programming skills (Python, MATLAB, and/or R)
• Experience with linear mixed-effects models and related statistical approaches

Additional qualifications (one or more, depending on area of focus)

• Experience collecting and/or analyzing EEG and/or MEG data
• Experience developing and testing computational models of comprehension, for example predictive coding simulations
• Experience applying computational language analysis methods, including distributional semantic similarity and embedding-based metrics, topic models, and LLM-based approaches, to understanding behavioral and neural data from naturalistic language paradigms

For more about our lab, see our website: https://kuperberglab.com/

Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts University are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. Full-time employees receive full benefits.

To apply, please send the following materials to Gina Kuperberg, M.D., Ph.D. (gkupe...@mgh.harvard.edu) and cc Arim Choi (arim...@tufts.edu):

1. Cover letter describing research experience and interests, including (i) which project area(s) you are applying to, and (ii) a brief statement of fit connecting your interests to the lab’s approach (for example, by referencing 1–2 relevant papers from our group or closely related work)
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Names and contact details of references
4. PDFs of published or submitted papers

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Gina Kuperberg, MD PhD

Dennett Stibel Professor in Cognitive Science, Department of Psychology, Tufts University 

Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Mass. General Hospital

Tel: 617 863-0727

Fax: 617 812-4799

email: Gina.Ku...@tufts.edu OR GKupe...@mgh.harvard.edu

website: https://kuperberglab.com/