Assistant Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience/Cognitive Psychology

About the role

The Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University (Houston, Texas) invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position to begin July 1, 2027. This position is in Cognitive Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience. We are seeking someone with a broad research portfolio focused on understanding cognition through experimental approaches. Example areas of research interest include perception, attention, memory, language, decision-making, social cognition, the intersection between affect and cognition, and cognitive control. Example experimental approaches include fMRI, TMS, EEG/MEG, eye-tracking, computational modeling, and machine learning.

The successful candidate will be associated with the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience area within the department. We are particularly interested in applicants who are interested in building pathways from theoretical advances in their basic research portfolio to applications addressing pressing societal problems, broadly defined. Areas of real-world impact may include brain health, education, workplace, and human-AI collaboration, leveraging Rice’s institutes and Houston’s Texas Medical Center.

Position requires a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science) at the time of employment. Job duties include conducting a productive and innovative research program with the ability to secure external funding, teaching undergraduate and graduate psychology courses, mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, and providing service to the field, the department, and the university.

Research and collaboration

The successful candidate will join a highly collegial department of internationally recognized faculty. Rice University offers multidisciplinary strengths and ample opportunity for collaborative research in cognitive psychology/cognitive neuroscience, including:

• The Rice Brain Institute, with pillars in Neuroengineering, Neuroscience, and Brain and Society
• The Institute of Health Resilience and Innovation (IHRI), supporting cells-to-society research from cellular processes to cognition and health
• The Global Brain Economy Initiative, connecting neuroscience research to economic policy
• The Dementia Prevention Research Institute of Texas, supported by a $3 billion state initiative
• SafeInsights, an NSF-supported hub for transformational learning and education research
• Proximity to the Texas Medical Center, including Baylor College of Medicine, UT-Health Houston, and Houston Methodist, with access to research-dedicated 3T and 7T MRI, MEG, and patients with implanted electrodes

Teaching and mentorship

The Department of Psychological Sciences trains doctoral students in Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Human Factors/Human-Computer Interaction (HF/HCI), health psychology, and industrial-organizational psychology. It also offers professional master’s programs in HF/HCI and industrial-organizational psychology. Opportunities exist to support interdisciplinary majors such as Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence.

Review will continue until the position is filled. For full consideration, applications should be received by October 15, 2026.