Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology (Ref.: 537853)
Applications are invited for appointment as Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology (Ref.: 537853), to commence on February 1, 2027, or as soon as possible, for eleven months, with the possibility of renewal subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability.
The appointee will work on an Area of Excellence-funded joint project with Professor Benjamin Becker (HKU) and Professor Xiao Xiao (Fudan University, Shanghai) to develop and implement AI-based methods for the automated analysis of monkey behaviour from standard two-dimensional video recordings. The project will focus on markerless pose estimation, body-keypoint tracking, movement analysis and behavioural classification, connecting advances in computer vision and deep learning with cognitive neuroscience and translational work in biodiversity.
Requirements
Applicants should possess a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering, Computational Neuroscience or a related discipline. They should demonstrate:
- Strong programming skills and practical experience with deep-learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
- Experience in computer vision, particularly pose estimation, object detection, video analysis or action recognition.
- The ability to develop, train, evaluate and deploy models on large image and video datasets.
- Strong quantitative skills, proficiency in written and spoken English, and the ability to work independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary team.
- A publication record commensurate with their career stage.
Experience with animal or human pose estimation, transfer learning, app development and adaptation, or related tools, as well as a background in computational ethology or relevant biological and neuroscience fields, would be an advantage. Previous experience with non-human primates is desirable but not essential; applicants with strong computational expertise and an interest in neuroscience are encouraged to apply.
For enquiries about this position, please contact Professor Benjamin Becker at bbecker@hku.hk.
Appointment and application
A highly competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience will be offered, in addition to annual leave and medical benefits. Appointment terms and benefits will be specified in accordance with the applicable University arrangements.
The University only accepts online applications for the above post. Applicants should apply online and upload a cover letter outlining their relevant experience and research interests, an up-to-date C.V., up to three representative publications, and provide the name and contact details of two referees on the online application form. Links to relevant code repositories or demonstrations of previous computer-vision work are encouraged. Review of applications will commence as soon as possible and continue until January 30, 2027, or until the post is filled, whichever is earlier.
