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Matthew Gervais

@matthewmgervais.bsky.social
1.4K followers 500 following 26 posts

Lecturer in Psychology @BrunelCCE.bsky.social. Sentiments & sociality co-evolving with culture | Comparative field methods & ethics | Pickles & playgrounds & ponds on the side wee www.brunel.ac.uk/people/matthew-ger…

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Reposted by Matthew Gervais
Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
ACE Research Grant Alert 🚨! CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support early career research projects in cultural evolution. The award is open to applicants worldwide, with an application deadline of October 9th 2026, 9:00 AM AoE. Applications: forms.gle/dsLdKQuNBH4W...
forms.gle
ACE Early Career Research Grants
CES will give out two awards of up to $3000 each to support research projects in cultural evolution. To learn more about the Advancing Cultural Evolution (ACE) initiative, see here. Deadline: Appli...
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
@ehbea2026.bsky.social that's a wrap! Amazing first @ehbea.bsky.social conference for me, full up with great talks and conversations, and scenery!? Did not expect a postcard beach sunset in Leiden 🤩
An orange sunset over a white sandy beach framed by patio lights and furniture
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Jeremy Koster @jeremykoster.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
There is a fully-funded PhD position at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology to pursue dissertation research among the Mayangna of Nicaragua, expanding a longitudinal study of subsistence strategies and behavioral ecology. Please share the posting! www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Thrilled to be en route to Leiden for my first EHBEA conference @ehbea.bsky.social @ehbea2026.bsky.social! Giving a poster on Thursday afternoon: Sentiments, Respect, and the Evolution of Norm Psychology. Been slow cooking this framework for 20 years(😱). Come tuck in!
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Excited to see this paper out, with @aiyanakoka.bsky.social, led by @brunelpsy.bsky.social alumnus Dr. Nachita Rosun, now a postdoc at @obu-hst-research.bsky.social. Summary in the thread 👇🏻
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Eleanor Power @eapower.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
🚨Job alert! The ENDOW project is hiring a Research Officer in Research Database Management, to be based at @lsemethodology.bsky.social. Oversee & expand our database & contribute to research on social & economic inequality. Deadline 15 February. Share & reach out! jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
The ENDOW project is seeking a Research Officer in Research Data Management to be based at the London School of Economics. 
- Oversee and extend our database covering geospatial, demographic, economic & social network data from 50+ communities in 30+ countries!
- Contribute to research on the dynamics of social and economic inequality!
- Join a stellar interdisciplinary team!
- funded by the ESRC and the NSF
[world map showing location of ENDOW communities; photos of some of the team members and some of the ENDOW communities showing their diversityResearch Officer in Research Data Management
Salary from £43,277 to £48,220 pa inclusive of London allowance
Fixed-term appointment for 18 months
This research officer position is to work with Eleanor Power as part of the ongoing "ENDOW" project (Economic Networks and the Dynamics of Wealth Inequality), funded by the UKRI and US National Science Foundation. The research officer will be based in the Department of Methodology, a leading centre for research and education in social science research methods. While we expect this to be a full-time appointment, we are open to considering the possibility of a part-time appointment.
The post entails overseeing and extending the database of the "ENDOW" project, which includes data from over fifty communities around the world, comprising economic, demographic, and social network data characterising each community, its resident households, and the individuals within them. The research officer will be responsible for the expansion of this database to include longitudinal data from each community site, implementing a robust data infrastructure to manage and curate this information. The research officer will work closely with Dr Power and data contributors to ensure data quality, standardisation, and appropriate governance. They will contribute to core analyses of the ENDOW project and develop tools and resources that will be of wide utility for the collection, curation, and analysis of cross-cultural data. This role is central to building the data infrastructure that will enable meaningful, productive comparisons across these diverse field sites and will ultimately serve as a resource for the broader scientific community.
The successful candidate will:
Have a completed PhD, be close to completing a PhD, or have other research experience that demonstrates the capability to produce independent original research
Have experience with database design, data management and data governance
Have experience with programming in R or Python
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RSPB Science @rspbscience.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Job vacancy 🧪 Principal Conservation Scientist, RSPB Cymru Can you provide the evidence needed to save and restore the iconic species and landscapes of Wales? Deadline: 3rd Nov Location: Flexible within Wales Duration: Permanent Apply here: app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car... 📷Jake Stephen
A Chough sits on a rocky cliff edge at South Stack Nature Reserve, North Wales.
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
With the placement option, this is a two-year MSc for folks looking to pivot INTO Psychology from other backgrounds. I teach qualitative research methods in the first semester. Please share with the psy-curious!
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Reposted by Matthew Gervais
RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Happy 99th birthday to the man who gave voice to the wild. 🎉 Sir David Attenborough, thank you for a lifetime dedicated to the natural world, and for sharing its story with wisdom, wonder, and grace. You've inspired generations to fall in love with nature.
This photograph captures Sir David Attenborough seated outdoors on the rugged terrain of Skomer Island. Behind him, the ocean and coastal cliffs form a scenic backdrop under a clear sky. Sir David, dressed in a khaki jacket and light trousers, looks towards the camera with a gentle expression, exuding a sense of warmth, calm, and wisdom. Around him, puffins can be seen flying and perched on the rocky ground, illuminated in rays of golden sunlight as the sun sets behind the cliffs.
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
I teach mixed-methods on this course & lecture on the evolutionary & cultural science of emotions. We're a motley crew showcasing the full scope of human evolutionary studies: EP, cultural evo, HBE, experimental design, ethnography, computational modelling, history, ethics. Send us your keeners!
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Adrian Jaeggi @jaeggiadrian.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
🚨 JOB ALERT!! We're looking for a PhD student to join our group! Are you interested in evolutionary medicine / anthropology? Already have a master's? Apply with your own project ideas! See link: jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie... #EvMed @bioanth.org @ehbea.bsky.social Please RT!
jobs.uzh.ch
UZH: PhD position in evolutionary anthropology and medicine
The Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM) Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, led by Prof. Adrian Jaeggi, is inviting applications from prospe...
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Rain ahead ✅ Sun behind ✅ Cloudbreak ✅
A full rainbow arcs above a shadow-dappled home in England
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
New space heater and the dogs have become fast friends
Two small dogs--or are they a lambdragon and a toadcat?--snuggle in a sunny dog bed beside a space heater resembling a wood-burner
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Randolph Nesse @randynesse.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
On Dec 12, Sarah Hrdy will do a "Legacy Interview" live on zoom. Sponsored by a mental health organization with commentators. There is a fee. Her work is foundational for understanding relationships. I look forward to this event. mindinmind.org.uk/event/sarah-...
mindinmind.org.uk
Sarah Hrdy: Rethinking Maternal Instinct | Live Legacy Interview | MINDinMIND
Join us for a special Live Legacy Interview exploring the life and work of Sarah Hrdy, a pioneering anthropologist and primatologist who has revolutionised our understanding of maternal behaviour, att...
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Joseph Fasano @josephfasano.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
I will never, ever get over this.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Webinar coming up today 👇
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Our five-year-old's contribution to the new vibe 🦋🐛🐜🌸
Child's colourful marker drawing of a grassy nature scene with four ants on the ground, a caterpillar and a millipede climbing a tall purple flower, and a butterfly and a dragonfly on the wing
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Amy Boddy @amyboddy.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
🎉IAS is recruiting🎉 UCSB Integrative Anth Sciences is hiring a tenure-track evo anthropologist (assist/assoc prof): Apply by 1/06/25 To apply: recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02866 Please retweet! Estimate: Assist:$95,000-$135,000 & Assoc:$120,000-$180,000. UCSB is an AA/EOE, including disability/vets.
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu
Assistant/Associate Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology/Anthropology of Health
University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!
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Jeremy Kendal @jeremykendal.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Lots of cultural evolution content to read in latest PNAS! www.pnas.org/toc/pnas/121...
PNAS cultural evolution special feature contents
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Jeffrey G. Snodgrass @godfreysnorgyrs.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Those three brief reports I just posted are part of a larger effort, published in Practicing Anthropology, with lots to dig into, Advancing Methods in Anthropology: The New Big Tent Guest Editors: A. Wutich, H.R. Bernard, A. Ruth, M. Beresford, and R. Nelson www.tandfonline.com/toc/rpay20/4...
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
View from the office @brunelcce.bsky.social @brunelpsy.bsky.social. Ungodly 3:45pm sunset but the clouds lifted for a day, anyway 🙏
Whispy orange clouds against a blue sky at sunset over the campus of Brunel University of London. Group of men play table tennis in the foreground, other folks cross the quad in the background.
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Robin G Nelson @robingnelson.blacksky.app · 24/11/2024
This is the antithesis of robust & rigorous social science. Social science actually engages w/ real people to better understand aspects of their lives; to challenge seen/unseen assumptions abt behavior/culture/belief/resource accessibility/etc. This is not the work- this is lazy unethical shite
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Scientists should stop arguing about whether science is political and get on with defending science against increasingly powerful attacks on it, which, yes, means scientists should be political advocates 🔥🔥 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Scientists as political advocates
Science, both teaching and doing, is under attack. The recent US presidential election of a person and platform with anti-science bias exemplifies this. The study of climate processes and patterns and...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Abstract submission for the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association conference closes early this year - 2 December - so make sure not to miss the deadline 😊
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Centre for Culture and Evolution @brunelcce.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
1/ 4🧵 Curious about the spiritual community in Glastonbury?? Of course you are so let’s dive into the Spirits and Sources project! 👇✨
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Bruce Rawlings @brucerawlings.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Gökhan Gonul, @karrineldner and I are editing a special issue in Acta Psychologia on innovation and creativity in children and nonhuman animals - we encourage submissions from diverse perspectives (empirical, theoretical, methodological). Please share widely: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
sciencedirect.com
Acta Psychologica | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier - Acta Psychologica | ScienceDirect.com by ElsevierScienceDirect
Read the latest articles of Acta Psychologica at ScienceDirect.com, Elsevier’s leading platform of peer-reviewed scholarly literature
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Centre for Culture and Evolution @brunelcce.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
⏰ Happening TOMORROW at 12:45 GMT in Brunel or online 🔓Open to all 💬 DM for an invite for click on the link below 👇 www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
brunel.ac.uk
CCE Seminar Series - Professor Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
CCE's third talk is by Prof Borgerhoff Mulder on Cooperation, conservation and carbon credits in Zanzibar. Join us on 13th Nov 12:45 - 14:15
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Centre for Culture and Evolution @brunelcce.bsky.social · 10/11/2024
Really useful resource for finding relevant starter packs 📦👇 More people you follow the better BlueSky is 💙 blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...
blueskydirectory.com
All - Bluesky Directory
A curated collection of all things relating to the Blue Sky social media platform.
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Will Gervais @willgervais.com · 09/11/2024
Welcome new Bluesky friends! Come get your culture and evolution nerds here: go.bsky.app/8yXwjAn
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Dr Michelle Ann Kline @michelleakline.bsky.social · 16/10/2024
Nobody: "why do you like your @brunelcce.bsky.social colleagues so much?" Me: * reads quote from CCE director @rebeccasear.bsky.social calling out racist pseudoscience in the Guardian* www.theguardian.com/world/2024/o...
theguardian.com
Revealed: International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss
Group promoting ‘dangerous’ scientific racism ideology teamed up with rightwing extremist, recordings reveal
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 04/10/2024
I'd also like to know this 👀
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Dan Major-Smith @djsmith90.bsky.social · 23/09/2024
Interested in causality, DAGs and human evolution? If so, then why not join the Evolutionary Human Science journal webinar on 'Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences'? Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST More info here: cambridge-org.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
cambridge-org.zoom.us
UPCOMING WEBINAR: Causal Inference from Evolutionary Human Sciences Join us October 3rd 2PM BST | 3PM CEST Register Now
In recent years, researchers have made groundbreaking advances in methods for drawing strong causal inferences with observational data. These advances have also revealed that some mechanisms, with so...
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Centre for Culture and Evolution @brunelcce.bsky.social · 23/09/2024
📢📢📢💫 CCE's seminar series is kicking off in November with some amazing speakers lined up 💫📢📢📢 These are 🔓 open to all - in person and online - joining information shared closer to the date 📅 ⏲️ Talks are scheduled between 12:30 - 14:00 @Bruneluni
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Alex Mesoudi @alexmesoudi.com · 21/09/2024
Starter packs seem all the rage so here’s a cultural evolution one go.bsky.app/6mZJyQq
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Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
I'm going to dare to do something here that I used to do in the good old days of Twitter: think aloud & hope others engage in a way that pushes me to think better/differently about something. I'm writing the final revision of my pregnancy loss book shortly & am struggling with the conclusion. 🧪🧵
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Anne Pisor @annepisor.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
Prospective PhD students! Work with me at Penn State! 🌡️Evo anthro, climate adaptation, & public health 🏫5-year, fully funded, top-ranking anthro program 🔬Dual degrees avail. in climate science, demography, & environment Apps due Dec 1. DM if interested! Please share 🙏🏻 More at www.socialitylab.org
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Centre for Culture and Evolution @brunelcce.bsky.social · 16/09/2024
✨📢 To all the new people joining 💙 BlueSky 💙 in recent days I think a introduction is in order The Brunel Uni Centre for Culture and Evolution is a hub of world-leading (yes I do say myself 💅) researchers in evolutionary and cross-cultural approaches to psychology and behaviour We DO IT ALL (ish)
brunel.ac.uk
Centre for Culture and Evolution (CCE)
Centre for Culture and Evolution (CCE) at Brunel explores powerful influences on human behaviour
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Will Gervais @willgervais.com · 14/09/2024
Can't imagine where Junior got that idea. [listens to earpiece] oh wait I'm being told that this racist trash is frequently laundered through academic journals. 2 steps from Junior's comment to racist trash Richard Lynn being quite open that his national IQ measure is valid *BECAUSE IT IS RACIST!*
Tweet screenshot (BOO, I know) from Ron Filipkowksi, picture/vid of Donald Trump Junior.

"Junior says the average IQ in countries where migrants come from is much lower than ours so we shouldn't let them in"cover image of now-retracted racist trash paper, once published in Psychological Science. Article title "Declines in religiosity predict increases in violent crime -- but not among countries with relatively high average IQ."

In the abstract, it states that "religion would have greater utility for regulating violent behaviour among societies with relatively lower average IQs than among societies with relatively more cognitively gifted citizens."graph showing Richard Lynn's "national IQ" racist bullshit nonsense measure, split by continent. I know this will shock you, but the fraudulent dataset by the avowed white supremacist has Africa as much less intelligent by Europe. Real shocker, eh?screenshot from a racist Richard Lynn paper where he explicitly claimed that a correlation between his "national IQ" bullshit AND SKIN COLOR serves as validation evidence for the national IQ measure.

Racist trash in, racist trash out.
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Lynda Boothroyd @drboothroyd.bsky.social · 13/09/2024
Okay, I've tried to pull together people doing (cross-)cultural research that is Psychology adjacent... (probably 50% anthropologists at the minute - let me know who I need to add or take out!) go.bsky.app/TtpHfij
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Joan Silk @jbsilk.bsky.social · 05/09/2024
Here's the link to the GiveWell site which has rated charities based on effectiveness (impact per dollar donated) www.givewell.org/charities/to...
givewell.org
Our Top Charities
Donate to high-impact, cost-effective charities—backed by evidence and analysis Last updated: August 2024
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NativeBio Data Consortium @nativebio.bsky.social · 02/09/2024
Great Data Sovereignty READ featuring Native BioData Consortium and our cofounders, @kstsosie.bsky.social, Keolu Fox, and Matt Anderson. Thanks, @samjscience.bsky.social Nature journal “We have seen an egregious abuse of power, an egregious culture of extraction.” Keolu Fox, NativeBio cofounder.
nature.com
An ethical way forward for Indigenous microbiome research
Science has a history of exploitation and extraction. Microbiologists have the chance to take a different approach. By Sam Jones
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Celia Heyes @celiaheyes.bsky.social · 03/09/2024
A treat for anyone interested in cultural evolution - Rob Boyd and Pete Richerson interviewed together for the first time. Joe Walker asks great questions and lets them shine as they reply. @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social josephnoelwalker.com/boyd-and-ric...
josephnoelwalker.com
Robert Boyd & Peter Richerson — How Culture Drove Human Brain Size, Enabled Us To Dominate Earth, And Is Leading Us Astray
For the last one to two million years, the main force shaping the human lineage has not been natural selection, but the culture we've accumulated. Why us?
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 20/02/2024
Exciting times! This is the THIRD PhD studentship on the project, alongside a post-doc, so applicants would be joining a great cohort within a vibrant culture & evolution community. Please share!
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Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 12/01/2024
Exciting news!! Abstract submission for 2024 Cultural Evolution Society conference is opening today!! Look out for information, including from @durhamdcerc.bsky.social and the culturalevolutionsociety.org . Can't wait to see you all in Durham Sept 9-11th 🎉
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Friederike [freddy; she/her] Hillemann @fhillemann.bsky.social · 20/10/2023
Sanguatsiniq is a community-driven research project exploring links between economic change, cultural practices and values, and well-being in two Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic.  sanguatsiniq.github.io/ The project is recruiting a PhD student w/ Elspeth Ready @ MPI EVA tinyurl.com/5f9a7wy5
screenshot of website header: The Sanguatsiniq research project focuses on food security, economic change, cultural practices and values, and well-being in two Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic, Kangiqsujuad and Ulukhaktok (left). The project name refers to turning in a new direction when traveling. For our community partners, the concept is a metaphor for having new ideas, with traveling set in contrast to being "stuck in one place, which is how Inuit often describe stressful experiences.
The project focus has emerged through extensive consultation and long-term collaboration and participant observation with the study communities, and combines longitudinal observational studies with community programming. Our theoretical aim is to develop new approaches to understanding processes of cultural adaptation and determinants of well-being in populations experiencing social and economic upheaval, including those related to climate change.
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 20/10/2023
We also have a 33mo postdoc position, apps likewise due Monday 23 Oct!
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Matthew Gervais @matthewmgervais.bsky.social · 19/10/2023
Application deadline for our PhD studentships is Monday 23 October. Come study the emergence and transmission of alternative spiritual beliefs in Glastonbury, England with @michelleakline.bsky.social, @loraadair.bsky.social, @aiyanakoka.bsky.social and me at Brunel CCE 🤓
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Jaimie Arona Krems @jaimiekrems.bsky.social · 17/10/2023
My social psych lab has moved to UCLA, + we're looking for driven graduate student applicants! (Especially those interested in human friendship.) More on the *NEW* UCLA Social Minds Lab👇. Please RT + share with your students! www.kremslab.com #psych #gradschool 🧪 #Stilldontunderstand#shere
kremslab.com
UCLA Social Minds Lab
Social Psychology lab at UCLA. We do psychological science exploring friendship, women's cooperation & competition, reputation, stereotyping and prejudice.
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Dr Michelle Ann Kline @michelleakline.bsky.social · 20/09/2023
Along with our PD, we also have 3 fully funded studentships for UK/EU applicants!
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