Call for Applications – Stipend in the Research Project
The Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw announces a call for applications for a stipend in the interdisciplinary research project ‘Perceptual Objects in the Unimodal and Multimodal Settings’ funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (Opus18).
Key responsibilities:
The project embraces research tasks in the empirically informed philosophy of perception and cognitive neuroscience related to the analysis of: (1) the origin of perceptual objects, (2) conceptual and methodological aspects of the study of perceptual objects, (3) similarities and differences between perceptual objects in various sense modalities, and (4) multimodal perceptual objects. In the current stage of the project the research group will focus on the last two tasks: (3) comparisons of different senses to clarify what types of particulars are consciously perceived in the individual modalities; and (4) analysis of the structure of multimodal perceptual objects that are perceived with two or more sensory modalities.
Position specification:
Position Type: Research assistant
Requirements: MA/PhD student in Philosophy, Psychology, or Cognitive Science;
interests relevant to the project topic (sense perception, object perception, sensory modalities, multisensory integration); very good command of English
Start date: May 2023 or later
Duration: 10 months with a option of extension for 10 more months
Conditions: 1 position (half time), 1750 zł monthly
Applications should be sent by 14 April, 2023 to PI Dr Aleksandra Mroczko-Wąsowicz (aleksandra.mroczko-wasowicz@uw.edu.pl).
The application should contain:
- Application letter (up to 3 pages) including information on how the candidate’s previous research is relevant to this project
- Scientific CV
- List of publications, if applicable
- Two reference letters
- Scan of the BA or MA diploma
- Document confirming current status of being MA or PhD student
- Signed information and consent clause on the processing of personal data
Project outline:
“Perceptual objects in the unimodal and multimodal settings”
There is an intuitive sense in which we can see, hear, and smell some objects (the crackling campfire), whereas other objects of perception (rainbows) seem confined to a single modality. Perceptual objects are the events or entities that we perceive; they are those individuals to which perceptual mental states attribute properties. The most plausible candidates for perceptual objects presented through vision include ordinary, persistent material objects and/or spatiotemporal regions; those presented through audition include sounds and/or ordinary objects; and those presented through olfaction include odors and/or ordinary objects. Although the topic of perceived objects and properties is of great importance for philosophy and psychology, many issues remain puzzling.
The project seeks to fit in with the recent interdisciplinary work between philosophy of perception, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. Based on research on object processing in various sensory modalities, this project aims to develop a comprehensive account of perceptual objecthood by accommodating a sensory specific and multisensory perspectives. The project embraces four main subtasks devoted to analyses of the origin and development of object perception, the conceptual and methodological aspects underlying the investigation of unisensory and multisensory perceptual objects, the differences and similarities between perceptual objects in various senses, and the multisensory level of perceptual objecthood. The research group will classify the kinds of entities we can perceive through individual sense modalities, explore the concept of “object”, the structure, and characteristics of perceptual objects in various sensory modalities as well as the degree to which different sensory modalities can work together to construct a multimodal perceptual object.
Additional information about the project may be obtained from PI Dr Aleksandra Mroczko-Wąsowicz (aleksandra.mroczko-wasowicz@uw.edu.pl ).
Full description of the position and application documents can be found here:
https://filozofia.uw.edu.pl/2023/03/konkurs-na-stypendium-naukowe-ncn-dla-magistranta-doktoranta/