Calls will open VERY SOON for 6 Post-Doc Research Positions. For any information on how to apply, please email s.ferrara@unibo.it.

1. POST-DOC POSITION IN COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in Cognitive Studies or Cognitive Neuroscience, who will analyse the cognitive mechanisms related to the creation and evolution of graphic codes using experimental laboratory techniques, modelling and computational tools. Emphasis will be given to the analysis of the interactions between visual perception, cognitive affordances and perceptual constraints to understand the complex configurations that have contributed to the anchoring of signs into codified systems. If you have a degree in Cognitive Studies, Cognitive Neuroscience, Semiotics or related fields, we are looking for you.

Requirements are an advanced knowledge of English and flexibility, as the team will carry out experiments tied to script inventions, in Japan, Micronesia, the Maldives, and elsewhere. 

2. POST-DOC POSITION IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, MACHINE LEARNING AND DIGITAL HUMANITIES

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Digital Humanities or related fields. The researcher will investigate the development trajectories of graphic codes using deep learning techniques and object recognition software. Focus will be given to the application of automatic shape recognition, edge detection, structural matching, and overall shape analysis to identify systematic patterns and paths of graphic evolution. The research will include the comparative mapping of graphic code trajectories and the computational analysis of processes of continuity and discontinuity that led to the earliest attestations of writing.

Requirements are an advanced knowledge of English, a PhD in computer science or computational linguistics, and flexibility, as the team will carry out fieldwork abroad. 

3. POST-DOC POSITION IN ARCHAEOLOGY OF EASTER ISLAND (RAPA NUI) AND OCEANIA

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in the Archaeology or Linguistics of Oceania.  The researcher will focus the graphic and artistic production of petroglyphs and symbols, attested on Easter Island from the earliest phases of occupation in 1200 CE, such as the petroglyphs on the moai, and in other contexts before the arrival of the Europeans in 1772.  They will focus on the analysis of local iconographies, petroglyph classification, and the artistic substrates in pre-writing phases to understand trajectories of local formation and cultural influences.

A knowledge of Polynesian languages is an advantage.  Flexibility is also required, as the team will travel to Rapa Nui and Mangareva, and other islands of the Pacific. 

4. POST-DOC POSITION IN ARCHAEOLOGY OF MESOAMERICA

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in the Archaeology or Linguistics of Mesoamerica. The researcher will analyze the emergence and evolution of graphic codes from a cognitive, archaeological, semiotic, and anthropological perspective. The specific focus will be on the graphic and artistic production attested in Mesoamerica from the Preclassic/Formative period (c. 1400 BCE), including rock paintings from Juxtlahuaca and Cacahuaziqui, Olmec-style iconography from sites such as Tlatilco, Chalcatzingo, and Las Bocas, and the Izapa tradition in Chiapas, up to the earliest attestations of writing in Mesoamerica.

Requirements are an advanced knowledge of English and flexibility, as the team will carry out fieldwork in Mexico and in the Maya cultural area. 

5. POST-DOC POSITION IN EGYPTOLOGY AND NORTH AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in Egyptology and or the Archaeology or Anthropology of North Africa. The researcher will reconstruct the origins of prehistoric graphic codes in North Africa and analyse centuries-old processes of symbol-making, to gauge how graphic codes were created and transmitted by prehistoric communities from the Paleo/Neolithic period to the invention of writing in Egypt. The specific focus of this post-doc is on graphic production in North Africa in the prehistoric periods from the Neolithic, such as the rock inscriptions at Wadi Sura II, Tadrart Acacus and Gilf Kebir, etc., to the Naqada period. The researcher will map different archaeological contexts, the historical preconditions and local iconographic and artistic substrates in pre-writing phases to understand trajectories of local graphic formation.  

Requirements are an advanced knowledge of English and flexibility, as the team will carry out fieldwork in North Africa, wherever possible, Libya, and Egypt.

6. POST-DOC POSITION IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE INDUS VALLEY

The project SAPIENCE – Symbols, Preliteracy and Code Evolution, funded by the Italian Ministry of Research, is hiring a Post-Doc in the Archaeology and Linguistics of the Harappa Civilization, from prehistory to its floruit. The researcher will focus on the graphic production attested in the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys and in Baluchistan where there is evidence of widespread and regionally diverse use of pre-firing pottery marks and post-firing graffiti from the Early Harappan Period, between 3700 and 2600 BCE. The geographical focus also includes the regions of Kutch and Gujarat, as they played an important role in the development of regional styles of graphic symbols. The researcher will also map the different archaeological contexts, the historical preconditions and definition of trends in the production of graphic codes, tracing the continuities and discontinuities of local iconographic and artistic substrates in pre-writing phases.

Requirements are an advanced knowledge of English and flexibility, as the team will carry out fieldwork in the Indus area, if possible, and India.