Inter-disciplinary Post-Doctoral Fellow Position

The Departments of Psychological Science and Mining & Explosives Engineering are looking for a post-doctoral fellow to work on an exciting project funded by the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health that explores the role of trust in artificial intelligent systems in effective interface design. The research goal is to investigate factors that impact an equipment operator’s trust in semi-autonomous mining technologies, and how this trust affects safety and efficiency. The appointment is for one year with the possibility to renew in subsequent years based on performance and funding. The anticipated start date for this position is September 2023. The goal of the first year’s work is to assess factors that affect miners’ trust in automation (refining models of trust in automation for the mining context). The specific goals are to:

  • Working with a mining engineering PhD student, design a computer-simulated mine monitoring and evacuation exercise for human subject testing that assesses whether the user will follow AI recommendations for evacuating a mine;
  • Design and administer a human subject experiment to investigate trust in AI generated recommendations;
  • Help mentor graduate and undergraduate research assistants working on other aspects of the project.

The candidate should have a PhD in Psychology or closely related field with demonstrated experience in aspects of this research. Candidates with a record of journal publications are preferred.

Interested applicants should send a CV, any relevant work, and a 1-page cover letter communicating why they believe they are qualified for this role to kwamea@mst.edu.