PERCAT Rep for the School of Psychology
What is your academic background and your current research field? 
I’m interested in how the brain represents our world through different sensory modalities. I mostly use multivariate methods such as representational similarity analysis (RSA) on fMRI, EEG and MEG data. I’ve previously worked in Cambridge with Niko Kriegeskorte, in Seattle with Patricia Kuhl and in Frankfurt with Marcus Naumer and Jochen Kaiser.
What is your role as a PERCAT Rep and how can postdocs in your school contact you?
I hope to take questions, suggestions and struggles from the postdocs and ECR’s in Psychology and bring them to the university level so we can address them together and help shape university policy on research and careers. You can always write me an email at vandejjf@bham.ac.uk or find me on twitter as jjfvandenbosch.
What do you feel are the benefits of the PERCAT programme for postdocs and what do you feel have been the benefits to you from being a postdoc rep?
These days we often talk about the challenges of career progression in the current academic system. People sometimes say it is outdated or feels like a pyramid scheme. Instead of just complaining about this I feel we should contribute to change it from inside, and forums like PERCAT are an avenue for this. I’ve held a similar position at the University of Washington and enjoyed organizing the community in this way. A bonus is that it’s a great way to meet people in other fields!