{"id":1479374,"url":"https://alion.io/job/fintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time","title":"Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Evolution over Deep Time","company":{"id":1891986,"name":"FinTech Scotland","domain":"fintechscotland.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/fintechscotland","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Oracle","truth_index":null},"role":"Science & Research","role_family":"Science & Research","seniority":null,"employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Edinburgh, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":41064,"max":48822,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":64588},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-29T20:07:39Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-29","last_verified_at":"2026-10-25T22:23:16Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":26,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":26},"description":"Grade UE07: £41,064 - £48,822 per annum\nCSE / School of GeoSciences\nFull-time: 35 hours per week\nFixed-term: from January 2027 until 31 December 2028\nThe University of Edinburgh is a world-class organisation. We look for the best in the field across all disciplines and provide a working environment where academics can develop their careers and passion for their chosen subject area.\nThe University is part of a local community and a contributor to global thinking, progress and research. In Edinburgh, you are in one of the world’s most attractive cities with active arts and social sectors, while working in a University that has made significant contributions to society, medicine, physics and teaching for over four centuries. Our people have helped create the modern world and are working on more ground-breaking technologies and practices.\nThe Opportunity:\nWe seek an interdisciplinary scientist to join our international team studying the evolution of brains, intelligence, and cognition over deep time. Our Deep Time Cognition team-funded by the Swedish Research Council-combines expertise in cognitive zoology, neurobiology, and palaeontology to understand how cognition and brains have evolved in concert over eons, and what has driven this evolution. By working together, we are creating an initial atlas of how neuroanatomy correlates with cognition expressed in behaviour. Drawing on these results we will then recreate the cognition of long extinct species, by making brain models based on fossils. This will make it possible to pinpoint cognitive changes in geological time, which can be correlated with major events in the history of Earth. More information on our team can be found here: https://www.deeptimecognition.lu.se/\nThe University of Edinburgh component of the team specializes in palaeontology and phylogenetics, and contributes data including CT scans of fossils and reconstructions of the brains of extinct species, and large phylogenetic trees and datasets for testing trends in evolution across genealogy and time. The Edinburgh team is led by Professor Stephen Brusatte (co-PI on the research grant).\nThe postdoctoral fellow will be a key member of the team. They will gather and synthesize data on the anatomy, size, and shape of the brains (via CT brain endocasts) for tetrapods across time (350+ million years of evolution), working closely with Brusatte and PhD students and external co-PI Lawrence Witmer (Ohio University) who have been gathering data on tetrapod subgroups (extinct dinosaurs, squamates, and amphibians). They will use Bayesian statistics to test for trends in brain size change over time and phylogeny, test for correlations between brain size and neuron counts in extant species, and make the most robust predictions for neuron counts in extinct species, including dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, contributing to an exciting current debate in the fields of cognitive zoology and palaeontology.\nPeople have always been at the heart of our work. We value colleagues with drive, determination, and a passion for what they do. We are a place where everyone is welcome and offer a range of policies and benefits designed to support you.\nDiscover more about working at the University of Edinburgh on our Jobs website.\nA career with us has a range of other benefits that can be tailored to your lifestyle:\nProfessional development and subject matter expertise \nOpportunities to develop new skills and broaden your experience \nLeading-edge research \nOpportunities for publication \nView the full job description (opens in a new browser tab)\nHow to apply\nPlease include the following documents in your application:\n- CV listing academic positions, degrees, publications, awards, public engagement, and other applicable information (please limit to five pages)\n- Cover letter outlining your interest in the position, how you can contribute to the team and its goals, and a summary of your experience working with 3D CT data and phylogenetic comparative and Bayesian statistics\nAs a valued member of our team, you can expect:\nA competitive salary.\n\nAn exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.\n\nTo be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.\n\nComprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits.\n\nChampioning equality, diversity, and inclusion\nThe University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.\nWe welcome applications from all qualified candidates of any demographic and particularly encourage applications from a variety of academic fields: palaeontology, anatomy, neurobiology, cognitive biology.\nPrior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages.\nThe University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant.\nKey dates to note\nThe closing date for applications is Friday 23 October 2026.\nUnless stated otherwise, the closing time for applications is 11:59 pm (UK time). If you are applying from outside the UK, the closing time shown on our adverts will automatically adjust to your browser’s local time zone.\nInterviews will be held the week commencing 2 November 2026.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5805,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Annual leave","Flexible schedule","Professional development"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Financial Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-29T20:07:39Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":25,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.55,"p_room":0.45,"age_days":26,"expected_fill_days":16,"reasons":["conf:7","velocity","win:tail"],"computed_at":"2026-10-26T05:57:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":64588,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/fintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/fintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-26T09:19:47Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":12539,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-27T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1891986},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1891986"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ffintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Ffintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Ffintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/fintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ffintech-scotland-postdoctoral-research-associate-in-cognitive-evolution-over-deep-time"}]}