The Bridging AI and Neuroscience (BrAIN) group at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems (MPI-SWS) in Saarbrücken, Germany, led by Dr. Mariya Toneva, is seeking an outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher in NeuroAI to join the newly funded ERC Starting Grant project BrainAlign.

About the project

BrainAlign aims to develop a new generation of language models whose internal processing is aligned with the human brain. The project combines machine learning, natural language processing, and cognitive neuroscience to investigate whether incorporating information from human brain activity can lead to more human-like language understanding—particularly the ability to integrate information over long timescales. The project will also use these brain-aligned language models as model organisms to gain new insights into the mechanisms underlying language processing in the human brain.

The project is highly interdisciplinary and brings together methods from modern deep learning, computational neuroscience, neuroimaging, and natural language processing. BrainAlign is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and will involve a team of three postdocs and two PhD students working closely with the PI and collaborators across AI and neuroscience.

Your role

You will lead the computational neuroscience component of BrainAlign. Your research will focus on developing methods for leveraging heterogeneous human brain datasets to train and evaluate brain-aligned language models.

In particular, you will:

• Develop computational methods for integrating fMRI data from heterogeneous datasets, participants, and experimental paradigms for brain alignment.
• Develop and train brain-aligned language models (BALMs) that learn from human brain activity during naturalistic language comprehension.
• Work closely with other members of the BrainAlign team on model development, evaluation, and experimental design.
• Publish your research in leading venues in machine learning, natural language processing, and computational/cognitive neuroscience.

Who we are looking for

We are looking for candidates with a strong background in computational neuroscience, machine learning, or a closely related field. You should have:

• A PhD (or expected PhD completion before the start date) in computational neuroscience, machine learning, computer science, cognitive neuroscience, or a related discipline.
• Strong experience with machine learning and/or computational modeling.
• Experience working with neuroimaging data, particularly fMRI, is highly desirable.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python and modern deep-learning frameworks such as PyTorch.
• A strong publication record relative to career stage.
• The ability to work independently while contributing to a highly interdisciplinary research team.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Experience with natural language processing, language models, encoding/decoding models, representational similarity analysis, or cross-subject modeling would be particularly valuable, but is not required.

What we offer

You will join an ambitious and interdisciplinary research program at the intersection of AI and neuroscience, with substantial freedom to develop your own research directions within the broader goals of BrainAlign. The project provides access to substantial computational resources, including a large GPU cluster, as well as collaborations with researchers in both computer science and neuroscience.

MPI-SWS offers an international, collaborative, and intellectually stimulating research environment in Saarbrücken, one of Europe's major centers for computer science and AI research. The BrainAlign team will also have opportunities for international conference travel and research collaborations.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.