Position Details

Title
Postdoctoral Researcher

Appointment Status
Non-Tenure Track

Department
IU Bloomington Psychological & Brain Sciences

Location
Bloomington

Position Summary

Postdoctoral Researcher – AI-Augmented Decision Science

Indiana University Bloomington
Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences and Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering

Position Overview

The Postdoctoral Researcher will join a new interdisciplinary project developing an AI-augmented decision science platform to understand and model high-stakes human judgments. This position will be jointly mentored by Dr. Tim Pleskac (cognitive and decision modeling) and Dr. David Crandall (computer vision and AI). The postdoc will lead the development, integration, and testing of computational models of decision making that incorporate dynamic scene features, pose tracking, and eye-tracking data collected from an immersive police shooting simulator.

The position is based at Indiana University Bloomington, with opportunities for collaboration with Michigan State University, and IU’s network in cognitive modeling, AI, and human–AI decision research.

This postdoctoral appointment is full-time and on-campus.

Job Duties

80% – Research

• Lead development of computational models of judgment and decision making, including evidence accumulation models, social drift-diffusion models, and hybrid models integrating computer-vision–derived features.
• Build and test pipelines for pose detection, object tracking, optical-flow analysis, and gaze–scene alignment, in collaboration with computer vision researchers.
• Analyze large multimodal datasets (simulator videos, eye-tracking videos, joint motion trajectories).
• Lead and co-author manuscripts and conference presentations.

10% – Project Management

• Work directly with the PIs to ensure efficient progress toward research objectives.
• Coordinate research tasks across undergraduate RAs, graduate students, and collaborating labs.
• Oversee data processing workflows, documentation, and reproducibility pipelines.

10% – Other Duties

• Assist with dissemination activities, lab meetings, mentoring of junior researchers, and other project-related tasks as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Psychology, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Data Science, Neuroscience, or a related field by the start date.
• Demonstrated expertise in computational modeling of human behavior or computer vision / machine learning.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or R.
• Strong quantitative and analytic skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with evidence-accumulation models (DDM, sequential sampling, Bayesian models).
• Experience with computer vision tools (e.g., MediaPipe, OpenPose, homography estimation, optical flow).
• Experience with eye-tracking data collection or analysis.
• Familiarity with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Experience working with multimodal datasets (video, gaze, motion, behavioral responses).
• Background or interest in decision making under uncertainty, social decision dynamics, or human–AI interaction.

Appointment Details

• Anticipated Start Date: Spring or Summer 2026 (flexible)
• Salary: $60,000 + benefits
• Work Schedule: Full-time, on-campus
• Supervisors: Dr. Tim Pleskac and Dr. David Crandall
• Initial Appointment: 1 year, with expectation of renewal for a second year based on performance and funding

Application Instructions

Interested individuals should apply at https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/31525.

A complete application includes:

1. Cover letter describing research interests and fit for the position
2. Curriculum vitae
3. A professional writing sample (e.g., publication or dissertation chapter)
4. Names and contact information for three references

Applications received by 2026-01-09 will receive full consideration, however the search will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.