for circulation: POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP in PHILOSOPHY of CONSCIOUSNESS
Susan Hurley
*(Apologies for cross-posting; please pass on to appropriate candidates)
*
*Department of Philosophy, **University** of **Bristol* **
9 Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 4PU, UK**
*Preferred start date:* 15 January 2007
*Deadline for applications:* 7 November 2006
*Interview date:* morning of 27 November 2006
Contract: 3-years including edited book
AHRC funded, under the ESF Eurocores Consciousness in Natural and Cultural
Contexts scheme
Salary on Research Staff grade 1A scale (starting at £24,161)
This post is funded by a grant to Prof. Susan Hurley on the roles of
interactions with natural and social environments in explaining
consciousness. This project is part of a larger project (CONTACT) on the
same theme, whose members include Andy Clark in Edinburgh, Cristiano
Castelfranchi in Rome, Ed Tan in Amsterdam, Thomas Metzinger in Mainz,
Enrico Rambaldi in Milan, and others. The post-doctoral fellow is expected
to participate in exchanges and joint events in Bristol, Edinburgh, Italy,
and so on. Collaborations are also envisaged with a grant under the same
ESF scheme to Hannes Leitgeb at Bristol, on the theme of consciousness and
metacognition.
*Job description: *
The ideal candidate will have:
· an original, empirically informed and well-argued research
proposal covering relevant topics, including publication plans for articles
· some publications or work in press with good quality refereed
journals
· familiarity with research on two visual systems theory and on
dynamic sensorimotor approaches to consciousness, for purposes of organizing
an international conference on perception, action and consciousness, and
editing a resulting volume
· administrative and organizational skills, energetic efficiency,
independence, reliability in meeting deadlines, ability to design, post and
maintain simple websites
· excellent command of idiomatic English and editorial skills
The fellow is expected to live in the Bristol area and to play an active
role in the life of the department as well as in the project's research
community (three PhD Studentships and replacement teaching posts are also
associated with the ESF Consciousness grants at Bristol and Edinburgh, plus
another post-doc at Edinburgh). Teaching opportunities may be available to
the fellow from autumn 2007, but teaching hours will be limited and priority
given to research. The grant will provide a computer to the fellow, plus
office space (the office may be shared).
Further details follow.
*Research: * The fellow will be expected to carry out his or her own
research project and publish work based on it. Proposals to write articles
on a cluster of related topics are preferred to proposals to write a single
book, though the latter will also be considered. The fellow should work to
a goal of *at least* one research article per year accepted for publication
by a good journal and in press. Applicants should provide a well-defined
research proposal of approximately 1500 words in one or more of the
following areas, indicating publication plans.
· The roles of interactions with natural and/or social environments
in explaining consciousness
· the role of conscious perception in the guidance of action
· visual experience and 'dual-visual systems' views
· consciousness and sensorimotor dynamics
· extended mind and/or externalist arguments applied to
consciousness
· the relations between consciousness and social cognition,
rationality, agency, control, and/or emotion
· consciousness and the implicit/explicit distinction
· the role of simulation and/or metacognition in explaining
consciousness
· automaticity and 'the new unconscious'
· assessing consciousness in non-verbal animals
· applications of dynamic systems theory to perception, action,
and/or cognition
Research projects on other aspects of consciousness will also be considered.
Projects drawing on empirical work as well as philosophical arguments are
preferred. While this is not at all required, candidates may wish to
propose collaboration with psychologists/neuroscientists at Bristol,
Edinburgh or other appropriate institutions; if so they should scrutinize
relevant websites and make specific suggestions.
*Conference and edited volume:* The fellow will be responsible for
organizing and running a two-day international conference on *Perception,
Action and Consciousness: Sensorimotor Dynamics and Two Visual Systems*, in
early July 2007 in Bristol. The fellow will also be responsible for editing
a volume resulting from the conference and writing a substantive
introduction to it. For these reasons familiarity with research in these
areas and editorial skills are important. The fellow will be expected to
get this volume to press, and see it through to final publication within
three years of his/her start date.
Applications should include:
1. Curriculum vitae with full information about degree results/marks
2. Any publications falling within the current RAE round (published
before the end of 2007); please include off-prints or pre-prints of up to
two that represent your best work.
3. A 1500 word research proposal outlining the particular questions
you will address and your proposed lines of argument and methodology,
including the role of empirical work on consciousness in your project and
your publication plans
4. Names and full contact details (including address, email and
telephone) of 3 referees, who should be familiar with your academic work
Further particulars and instructions for application at:
http://www.bris.ac.uk/boris/jobs/results_html
.
In addition, please email susan....@bristol.ac.uk confirming that you
have given your referees this job description and have asked your referees
to comment on your suitability for this post and the quality of your work,
and any other relevant factors, and to *email their references
directly to susan....@bristol.ac.uk
before deadline of **7 November 2006*. --
Enquiries to: susan....@bristol.ac.uk
--
Prof. Susan Hurley
Philosophy, University of Bristol
All Souls College, Oxford
http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~plslh/ <http://eis.bris.ac.uk/%7Eplslh/>