Post-Doctoral Researcher in Collaborative Emotion and Cognitive Regulation in Education

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The Department of Surgery at McGill University anticipates hiring a postdoctoral research fellow starting as soon as possible for one year and renewable for a second year (pending availability of funds and satisfactory performance review following the first year). The position includes a full-time salary and benefits. Review of applications will start immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Position Summary:
The postdoc will work under the supervision of Prof. Jason M. Harley (supervisor) at McGill University. The position offers a unique postdoctoral training experience and publishing opportunities within a multi-disciplinary grant-funded project led by Prof. Harley. Co-principal investigators, co-applicants, and collaborators collectively contribute a multitude of disciplines including educational psychology (Harley, Pekrun, Hadwin, Järvenoja, Cutumisu, Lobczowski Miller), health sciences education (Harley, Brydges, Fried, Wiseman, Sun, and Khalil), educational technology (Harley, Cutumisu, Lobczowski), advanced quantitative and multimodal analyses (Harley, Cutumisu, Järvenoja). Our partners also contribute a wealth of experiences with diverse learner populations including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows (Teaching and Learning Services [TLS], Adoc Talent Management [Adoc], Canadian Association for Graduate Studies [CAGS]), and medical trainees at the undergrad (medical student) and grad (medical resident) level (Institute for Health Sciences Education [IHSE]; Steinberg Centre Simulation and Interactive Learning [SCSIL]; Research Institution of the McGill University Health Centre [RI-MUHC] and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons [Royal College]).

The postdoc will support three interrelated research objectives: (1): Validating and examining the efficacy of our newly developed self-report and observational measures of cognitive and emotional regulation (CER) for team settings that draw on rich multimodal data. (2) Develop a unified set of best practices for collecting and analyzing multimodal data (video, self-report, physiological sensors, automatic facial recognition software) that examines CER in multiple contrasting contexts. And (3) Advance educational theory and practice by identifying patterns of convergence or divergence in CER by contrasting findings across multiple contexts that vary along multiple dimensions including: type of learner (e.g., medical resident, undergraduate student) and learning environment (e.g., online versus offline, use of simulation).

Presently, the intended focus of the postdoc will be on data management, analyses, and dissemination rather than data collection. The postdoc may have the opportunity to work on other SAILS Lab research projects and data sets, including associated publications.

The postdoc will be physically located in Montreal, Canada at McGill University in Dr. Harley’s SAILS lab located in the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre’s Montreal General Hospital site. They will work remotely with other members of the research team. Montreal was recently ranked the top city in North America and tenth in the world by students. See story.

Jason M. Harley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor (tenured) in the Department of Surgery, McGill University, Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Director of Research of the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, Director of the Simulation, Affect, Innovation, Learning, and Surgery (SAILS) Lab, and Associate Member of the Institute of Health Sciences Education. They have been inducted into The Society for Simulation in Healthcare’s ASCEND Leadership Network, and received The Canadian Association of Medical Education Certificate of Merit Award, and The Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award from the Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning SIG of the American Educational Research Association. They are the Executive Editor of the forthcoming special issue of Learning & Instruction, Emotion Regulation in Education. Prof. Harley completed their FRQSC and SSHRC CGS-funded Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at McGill University in 2014 and held an FRQSC-funded postdoctoral position in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Montréal from 2014-2015. Prior to returning to McGill, they were an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta.

Prof. Harley’s lab focuses on enhancing health science education by applying psychological and educational theories, interdisciplinary research methods, and leveraging advanced technologies. Their research is primarily informed by theories of emotion and cognitive regulation in educational and training environments. Methodologically, Prof. Harley’s mixed-methods (quantitative and qualitative) interdisciplinary research draws on both objective (e.g., skin conductance, facial recognition software) and subjective (self-report instruments, semi-structured interviews) measures of emotion and cognition. They have supervised several postdoctoral fellows, including those who have gone on to university faculty appointments.

For more information, please see Dr. Harley’s SAILS Lab website: https://mcgill.ca/sails-lab/.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Affective, Educational, Cognitive or Social Psychology, Health Sciences, Affective Computing or an equivalent degree at the time of appointment

• Research experience in one or more of the following areas or a related area: emotion/ emotion regulation, stress, self-/socially-shared regulated learning ([S]SRL), affective computing

• Strong writing skills and ability to conduct independent research as evidenced by first author publications in reputable peer-reviewed journals

• Advanced quantitative skills (e.g., advanced stats [MLM], machine learning, data mining).

• Willingness to develop desired skills (see directly below)

• Experience analyzing emotions and SRL/CoRL/SSRL data qualitatively and quantitatively.

• Experience organizing and analyzing multimodal data, including physiological sensors (skin conductance/emotional activation)

• Experience mentoring graduate and undergraduate students

• Experience applying validity frameworks (e.g., APA & AERA’s Standards, Kane)

• Developing and adapting qualitative coding schemes based on dialogue and behaviors (from video, audio, and log file data)

Application details:

All interested candidates should email one pdf file with:

• cover letter

• current CV

• names and contact information of two references with the subject line “Application for Postdoc” to [email protected]  IN ADDITION to applying through this website.

Supervisor:

Jason Harley, Associate Professor

Location:

Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montreal General Hospital Site.

Hours per Week:

35-40 hours (Full-time)

Annual Salary:

$50,000

Benefits:

See “Postdoc Researcher unionized” in table on McGill Link for benefits and other position info.

Position Start Date:

November 1, 2025

Position End Date:

October 31, 2026

Deadline to apply:

October 31, 2025

Use a personal email address when creating an account in Workday to submit your application. Do not use @mail.mcgill.ca or @mcgill.ca email accounts to apply.

Before applying, please note that to work at McGill University, you must be both authorized to work in Canada and willing to work in the province of Quebec at the campus where the position is based / located.

McGill University is an English-language university where most teaching and research activities are conducted in the English language, thereby requiring English communication both verbally and in writing.

(AMURE Post-Doctoral Fellow Researcher) $48,000.0040 (Full time)MUHC-GLENAssociate Professor2025-11-012026-10-312025-10-30