Postdoc Position: Early Prediction of Reading Problems at The Department Cognitive Neuroscience

Children’s reading development shows large variability. Reading problems (dyslexia) are currently diagnosed and treated after a child has failed to respond adequately to reading instruction, i.e., around 8-9 years. This is problematic because early intervention is crucial for optimal (reading) development and social opportunities.

Within this postdoc project you will develop and test a digital dynamic assessment (DA) tool that measures kindergartners' potential for learning to read, rather than their existing skills, offering a less biased approach. DA uses interactive tasks to understand how children learn. In a two-year longitudinal study with children aged 5-8 you will evaluate the DA tool's effectiveness in predicting reading skills and identifying those needing additional support to prevent reading difficulties.

As postdoc you will:

- develop and test a gamified learning task to investigate individual differences in children’s learning trajectories during reading development;
- collect longitudinal learning/reading data in 5-8 year old children with/without familial risk of dyslexia;
- closely collaborate with an (inter)national team of researchers, game-designers and professionals in dyslexia healthcare and education;
- co-supervise 2 PhD students;
- supervise the project’s lab manager to support them in the organization of the research and the communication with parents/children;
- write scientific papers and present your findings to scientific and general audiences;
- contribute to the organization of a symposium for researchers/professionals, and a symposium for children.

**Requirements**:
A PhD in Developmental Psychology or a related field, such as Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Educational Science, Neuropsychology.

**What we offer**
**As**Postdoc position: Early prediction of reading problems at the Department Cognitive Neuroscience** **at**Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience**, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you**:

- Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale 10 according to UFO profile Researcher, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €3378,00 and €5331,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
- An employment contract for a period of 36 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE.
- At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
- As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
- Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.

The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.

**Maastricht University**
Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.

In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.

With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.

Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute howev