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The Gopnik Lab at UC Berkeley seeks a Postdoctoral Scholar to work on a funded project exploring the cognitive, cultural, and philosophical foundations of caregiving. The Postdoctoral Scholar will be expected to contribute to research establishing a general theory of care using methods from developmental psychology and cognitive science. This research will explore how caregiving is understood and represented throughout the lifespan, including care for children but also elders and others, bridging the gap between empirical studies and theoretical frameworks. The selected Postdoctoral Scholar candidate will work with the principal investigator, the research team at Berkeley, as well as collaborators at Harvard and Yale to help achieve the project’s goals. The Postdoctoral Scholar will also utilize existing research networks to investigate caregiving from a global and cross-cultural perspective, including the Culture & Ontogeny Research Initiative (CORI), the Shuar Health and Life History Project (SHLHP), and Forager Child Studies (FCS), with the possibility of conducting fieldwork.

Responsibilities include:
● Conduct and design empirical experiments to explore how humans understand caregiving, particularly focusing on infants' and children's behavior and their understanding of care.
● Develop and test formal models that capture the unique qualities of care relationships, differentiating them from other social and economic relationships.
● Collaborate in the development of interdisciplinary frameworks that draw on cognitive economics, psychology, philosophy, and political science to understand caregiving.
● Participate in ongoing workshops, including those initiated at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS), and contribute to publications by writing papers synthesizing the research agenda.
● Coordinate with interdisciplinary teams to foster synergies between broader theoretical projects and more focused empirical efforts.
● Prepare research findings for publication and present results at conferences and academic workshops.
● Contribute to grant applications and project reporting for future funding sources aimed at expanding the research project.

UC Berkeley is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The excellence of the institution requires an environment in which the diverse community of faculty, students, and staff are welcome and included. Successful candidates will demonstrate knowledge and skill related to ensuring equity and inclusion in the activities of their academic position (e.g., teaching, research, and service, as applicable).

The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status.

Please refer to the University of California’s Affirmative Action Policy and the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy.

In searches when letters of reference are required all letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality prior to submitting their letter.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.