PhD position (4 years) on the Role of Foveal Processing in Spatial Attention

MF Gebouw

Amsterdam

1 / 1

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences

PhD

LL.M

Closes on

30-09-2026

Publishing date

17-08-2026

Apply

Are you interested in understanding how attention shapes what we see? Would you like to combine behavioural experiments, psychophysics, and eye tracking to uncover how the brain selects and prioritises visual information from the world around us?

Your function

Preferred starting date: January 1, 2027 at the latest

We offer a four-year PhD position within the NWO-funded project “The Role of Foveal Processing in Spatial Attention.” The project investigates the novel hypothesis that directing attention to an object in peripheral vision recruits foveal brain systems normally involved in high-resolution central vision. Ultimately, it aims to develop a new theoretical account of how spatial attention shapes perception and prepares the visual system for eye movements.
As the PhD candidate, you will be responsible for the project’s behavioural and psychophysical studies. Your main tasks will include designing and programming experiments, collecting behavioural and eye-tracking data, conducting psychophysical and statistical analyses, and disseminating the results through scientific publications, conference presentations, and a PhD thesis. You will work closely with a postdoctoral researcher who will use ultra-high-field 7T fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying foveal recruitment. You will work in a stimulating interdisciplinary environment that combines behavioural psychophysics, eye tracking, and advanced neuroimaging.

Your duties

map out the scientific literature on spatial attention, foveal processing, eye movements, predictive remapping, and visual perception;
contribute to the further theoretical and methodological development of the project;
design, program, pilot, and conduct behavioural psychophysical experiments;
use eye tracking to monitor fixation and measure eye movements;
collect and analyse behavioural, psychophysical, and eye-tracking data using appropriate statistical and computational methods;
document experimental and analytical procedures carefully and reproducibly;
preregister studies where appropriate;
prepare research materials, analysis scripts, and datasets for responsible sharing in accordance with FAIR and open-science principles;
collaborate closely with the other members of the research group;
present findings at national and international scientific conferences;
publish research findings in international peer-reviewed journals;
complete a PhD thesis and defend it at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam;
participate in the training programme of the graduate school;
contribute to the academic community and team spirit of the Cognitive Psychology section;
assist in (minor) teaching activities within the department, where appropriate.

Your profile

We are looking for a curious, precise, and collaborative researcher with a strong interest in visual perception and attention.

You have:

completed, or will complete before the starting date, a Research Master’s or Master’s degree in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, human movement sciences, or another relevant discipline;
a demonstrable interest in visual attention, perception, eye movements, cognitive neuroscience, and/or experimental psychology;
experience with experimental research and quantitative data analysis;
a good understanding of research methods and statistics;
an interest in psychophysics and eye-tracking research;
strong programming skills;
experience with analysis environments such as R, Python, MATLAB, or comparable software;
the ability to work carefully and systematically with complex experimental designs and large numbers of repeated measurements;
an interest in open, transparent, and reproducible research practices;
excellent written and spoken English;
good organisational and communication skills;
the ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative research team.

Experience with one or more of the following would be an advantage:

visual psychophysics;
eye tracking;
time-resolved behavioural analyses;
computational or statistical modelling;
Bayesian statistics;
programming behavioural experiments;
research on attention, perception, or eye movements;
preregistration, FAIR data management, OSF, or GitHub.

You do not need to meet every preferred qualification to apply. We especially encourage candidates who are enthusiastic about the research question and motivated to develop the necessary methodological skills during the PhD.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

a salary of € 3.204,00 (PhD) and maximum € 4.051,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
contribution to commuting expenses
optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge

About us

About us
You will become part of a collaborative project team, consisting of a PhD researcher (you), a postdoctoral researcher, a junior researcher/research assistant, and three senior researchers: Dr. M. Donk, Prof. Dr. H. Slagter, and Dr. T. Knapen. You will be supervised by Dr. Donk and Prof. Slagter. The team is embedded in the Cognitive Psychology section of the Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology at VU Amsterdam. The Cognitive Psychology research environment has a strong international profile in visual attention, perception, eye movements, cognitive neuroscience, and brain imaging. The department provides access to modern experimental facilities, including multiple eye-tracking and combined EEG and eye-tracking laboratories. The project also benefits from access to the Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging, including 3T and 7T MRI facilities, and from a broad local network of researchers working on visual cognition, attention, neuroimaging, and computational neuroscience. You will also be part of the Institute Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam.

Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences
Developing knowledge for an active, healthy and meaningful life: that is our mission at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at VU Amsterdam. We maintain a broad focus on the fields of behaviour and health. Our teaching and research programmes are devoted to current developments in society. From healthy aging to e-health, and from training top athletes to social media as a teaching tool. We combine three academic disciplines: psychology, movement sciences and education. A multidisciplinary approach allows us to arrive at a better understanding of human behaviour and movement. Our aims are to help people live healthier lives, learn better and function better.

Are you interested in joining Behavioural and Movement Sciences? You are the kind of person who feels at home working in an ambitious faculty, with an informal atmosphere and short lines of communication. We offer you all the space you need for personal development. Together with your 630 colleagues, you will take care of about 4,200 students.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application. Please ensure your application includes (1) a motivation letter explaining your interest in the position and how your background fits the project; (2) a curriculum vitae; (3) a copy of your Bachelor’s and Master’s degree certificates and grade transcripts, or an indication of when you expect to complete your Master’s degree; (4) the names and contact details of two academic referees; (5) an example of academic work, such as a Master’s thesis, research report, preregistration, analysis script, or scientific paper.

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

The application deadline is September 30, 2026.

The intended starting date is between November 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.