Position: Ph.D. Student
Deadline: 30 June 2022
Employment Start Date: 1 August 2022
City: Bonn
Country: Germany
Institution: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
In the framework of a large network grant, iBehave, funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, we are looking for up to 20 talented PhD students in the areas of circuit, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience, and neuroethology. The successful applicants will carry out their thesis project in a laboratory at one of the six partner institutions: the University of Bonn (https://www.uni-bonn.de ), the University of Cologne (https://portal.uni-koeln.de ), the University of Aachen (https://www.rwth-aachen.de ), the Max-Planck-Institute of Neurobiology of Behavior – Caesar (https://mpinb.mpg.de ), the German Center of Neurodegenerative Diseases – DZNE (https://www.dzne.de) , and the Research Center Juelich (https://www.fz-juelich.de ).
The ideal candidate has a background in neuroscience with a strong interest in computer science, physics, math, or engineering or a background in computer science, physics, math, or engineering with a strong interest in neuroscience. Experience with behavioral or neuronal activity analysis is considered a plus. A good command of the English language is a must.
Humans and all animals live in ever-changing environments. The ability to flexibly adapt behavior to changed requirements is therefore critical for all organisms to thrive and survive. Consequently, all species have evolved the general capability to make sensory-guided decisions that weigh benefits against cost, based on expectations from previous experience. Such decisions and their implementation through adaptive motor control continuously permeate every aspect of life, yet the underlying processes in the brain are insufficiently understood. Moreover, the neural networks for adaptive behavior are targets of common neurological diseases. iBehave brings together a world-class group of scientists who will work across disciplines and species to study behaviors relevant for survival, and their underlying neuronal networks. We will use novel approaches for fine mapping of natural behaviors using machine learning and AI, and combine them with emerging methods to record from large numbers of individual neurons in behaving animals. Using computational and comparative approaches, we will develop a theoretical framework of behavior a cross species.
In addition to experimental, clinical, and/or theoretical work in one of the partner laboratories, iBehave PhD students will benefit from being integrated in local graduate programs, soft skill trainings, networking opportunities, cross-disciplinary training and collaboration, and international conferences and meeting (http://ibehave.nrw/training/).
Recommended application deadline: June 30, 2022. Applicants will be considered until the positions are filled.
For further information please visit: http://ibehave.nrw/science/, write to ibehavephd@gmail.com, or email the principal investigators of the laboratories you are interested in directly (http://ibehave.nrw/our-team/).
In particular, the following labs are looking to fill a position with a start date of August 1, 2022 (contact details can be found here: http://ibehave.nrw/our-team/):
Dominik Bach, Heinz Beck, Sandra Blaess, Kevin Briggman Gereon Fink/Michael Sommerauer, Ilona Grunwald Kadow, Christian Henneberger, Kei Ito, Björn Kampa, Jason Kerr, Aneta Koseska, Bastian Leibe, Pascal Malkaemper, Raoul Memmesheimer, Florian Mormann, Martin Nawrot, Stefanie Poll, Anja Schneider, Bettina Schnell, Gaia Tavosanis, Tatjana Tchumatchenko, Michael Wenzel
To apply, please upload the information below here: https://forms.gle/5eC9XBJyB4KZcXG56
- A curriculum vitae
- A letter of motivation explaining your scientific interests, your strengths when working on a problem, why us etc.
- Contact details for 2 referees
- A written sample of scientific research, e.g. a manuscript, a part of a thesis, or code etc.