OpenCall: Do you want to pursue a career in #MentaHealth research? We are happy to announce the first call of the #TOUCHprogramme to attract young doctoral researchers on mental health by developing an intersectoral & transdisciplinary approach.
We are looking for candidates to cover 4 PhD positions already funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the European Commission to join the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB):
POSITION 1: Mindful Collaboration: Shaping Care Strategies through Mental Health User Involvement.
Offered by the Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health Research Group, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and Barcelona Science and Technology Studies Group-Department of Social Psychology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, under the supervision of Prof. Neus Vidal Barrantes (Clinical Psychology) and Drs. Miquel Domènech and Joan Moyà-Köhler (Science and Technology Studies). Topic: The project recognizes the invaluable insights and experiences of mental health users, aiming to bridge the gap between theory and lived reality. Through a collaborative framework, individuals with direct experiences in mental health challenges actively participate in the development, refinement, and enhancement of care strategies and the investigation of (ill) mental health determinants.
Offered by the Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health Research Group, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and Barcelona Science and Technology Studies Group-Department of Social Psychology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, under the supervision of Prof. Neus Vidal Barrantes (Clinical Psychology at UAB) and Thomas R. Kwapil (Psychology Dpt., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US).
POSITION 3: Modelling circular inference, from the general population to psychotic experience.
Offered by the Computational Neuroscience unit from the Centre Recerca Matemàtica in collaboration with Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health Research Group-Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. Supervisors: Dr. Alexandre Hyafil (Computational neuroscience) and Prof. Neus Vidal Barrantes (Clinical Psychology). Topic: discovering computational markers of vertical and horizontal propagation of belief in perception, and their possible dysregulation in psychosis spectrum disorders.
POSITION 4: Dissecting the contribution of dysregulated sense of agency to psychotic disorders.
Offered by the Computational Neuroscience unit from the Centre Recerca Matemàticacollaboration with Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health Research Group, Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. Supervisors: Dr. Alexandre Hyafil (Computational neuroscience) and Prof. Neus Vidal Barrantes (Clinical Psychology). Topic: investigation of novel experimental paradigms to measure Sense of Agency and using these paradigms to test their associations with psychosis spectrum experiences and disorders.
CONTRACTS
We are looking for candidates with an excellent CV, a high degree of ambition and motivation, and with good personal qualities to join the TOUCH doctoral programme. We offer a three-year full-time contract (37,5 hours / week) and a gross salary of 2.375 €/month (the salary will be the same for the 3 years). The successful candidates will be enrolled in a doctoral program at UAB and will be involved in the TOUCH training activities, including: (i) workshops and practical hands-on schools, (ii) training in scientific and communication skills, research diversity and a personal development retreat, among other activities to bring a holistic approach to the training through a combination of research-oriented and challenging soft skills, and (iii) international and/or intersectoral secondmentsat partner laboratories and premises.
REQUIREMENTS
Mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the deadline for the programme call.
Experience rule: researchers must be doctoral candidates at the date of recruitment, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the open calls.
Additional academic and skills requirements for each position can be found in the “offered PhD positions” section on the TOUCH website.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Interested applicants should apply through the TOUCH online platform by submitting a full CV, a motivation letter, two letters of recommendation and academic and English level certificates. The call will be open from the 1st of April to the 30th of June 2024. More information about the TOUCH project, the recruitment process, and the application platform are available on the TOUCH website.
