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Assistant Professor position in Cognitive Sciences at UC Irvine
by Jeffrey L Krichmar Nov. 17, 2022

Nov. 17, 2022

Dear Comp-Neuro colleagues, The Department of Cognitive Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) invites applications for an assistant professor (tenure-track) position with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2023. We are seeking scientists who study human vision, with a particular interest in those who combine an empirical research program with innovative approaches in neuroscience and/or cutting-edge computational tools such as machine learning and AI. The successful candidate will establish a vital research program, and contribute to teaching, mentoring, and to inclusive excellence. They will interact with a dynamic and growing community in cognitive, computational, and neural sciences within the department (http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/) and the broader campus. Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, research and teaching statements, a statement describing past or potential contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion, three recent or relevant publications, and the names and contact information of three references. The application requirements along with the online application can be found at: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF07912. To ensure full consideration, applications must be completed by December 15, 2022. The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy. Jeff Krichmar Department of Cognitive Sciences 2328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-5100 jkrichma(a)uci.edu http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkrichma

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PhD Positions in Visual Cognition & Computational Neuroscience
by Marius Catalin Iordan Nov. 16, 2022

Nov. 16, 2022

The lab of Dr. Marius Cătălin Iordan at the University of Rochester (Depts. of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Neuroscience) is recruiting 1-2 PhD students interested in visual cognition + neuroscience and/or quantitative + computational methods applied to human neuroimaging. Apply by December 4 for a Fall 2023 start date. Our lab studies how the human brain organizes conceptual information into categories, events, and stories to understand and interact with our complex, noisy world. More details about our research can be found here: www.MariusCatalinIordan.com . Details re: position, application, compensation, benefits, & friendly lab culture below. PhD Program in Brain and Cognitive Sciences: Application Deadline: December 4, 2022. Start Date: September 2023. Application Details & Link: http://www.sas.rochester.edu/bcs/graduate/admission.html Program Info: http://www.sas.rochester.edu/bcs/graduate/curriculum.html. We especially encourage applications from minority and/or underrepresented students. Students with strong computational background & interests may be eligible for a joint PhD degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Computer Science. Ideal candidates have psychology, neuroscience, and/or computer science research experience, as well as programming skills; computational methods and/or neuroimaging experience is a plus. However, strong evidence of passion & dedication for research may partly substitute for the above. In your personal statement, please describe your research contributions during current and past projects, as well as your computational / programming prowess. Also, please make sure to include 1-2 specific cognitive (neuro)science question(s) you would like to pursue in grad school. We look for students who can think clearly about which scientific questions are most important, which methods are best for answering those questions, and why they're passionate! Come work in a welcoming, inclusive, equitable, and friendly environment where you'll be supported and valued. We will train you to become an independent scientist and we'll provide support for achieving your own best path forward, whether in academia or industry. You'll join a growing community of interdisciplinary scientists and you'll have opportunities to collaborate with several communities and departments: Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Neuroscience, Data Science, & Computer Science. You'll receive training in psychology & neuroscience, esp. cognition, as well as computational approaches, including machine learning and neural networks. Our lab also provides training opportunities in a cornucopia of techniques and methods, including fMRI, psychophysics, real-time neuroimaging, and neurofeedback. Collaboration opportunities are also available within the department for students interested in EEG and AR/VR. We'll also help you build and hone other valuable and marketable skills, such as teaching, leadership, mentoring, project management, & scientific communication. Your salary will afford you a good standard of living in an inexpensive city: ~$31.5k/yr (currently equiv. to ~120% NIH rate) or external/fellowship funding rate, whichever is higher. We also provide a single plan UR health insurance, full tuition scholarship, paid family leave, and enduring NY state social protections. We believe that being a successful scientist requires not just dedication and supportive mentorship, but also a good work/life balance and the ability to explore one's passions both within and outside the lab. There are lots of ways to enjoy your time here: world-class symphony, great culture and food, exceptionally LGBTQIA+ friendly University and city, 20 min to a sandy beach, 1h to Finger Lakes / wine country / skiing, 2h to great hiking in the Adirondacks. We also have a balanced 4 season climate with weather for every occasion: Lilac Festival in the spring, beautiful sunny summers (<10 days above 90 degrees), gorgeous fall foliage, and snowy holidays in the winter. More info here: https://www.visitrochester.com . If you have any questions or would like to request a waiver of the application fee ($30), please reach out to mci (at) rochester (dot) edu.

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Call for papers, Scientific Reports special issue: Biological modularity
by alireza valizadeh Nov. 16, 2022

Nov. 16, 2022

Dear all, Sientific reports accepts papers for the collection "Biological Modularity". Please see below. https://www.nature.com/collections/bedecebdgf/how-to-submit Collection Biological modularity Submission statusOpen Submission deadline08 March 2023 Modularity has become a central concept in biological sciences, stemming from the notion that biological systems can be conceptualised as intricate networks, which in turn are often divided into sets of strongly interacting parts that are relatively autonomous with respect to each other. Modularity has strong evolutionary implications, and has been applied at various scales, from gene regulation and cell metabolism, to organism development, morphogenesis and functional anatomy, to neural circuits and behaviour, and species’ or whole community interactions. This Collection will bring together original research advancing our understanding of modularity, as well as its application in various biological fields, including multidisciplinary studies. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Alireza Valizadeh Professor Neurophysics lab, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran Tel:(+98) 24 3315 2120 Fax:(+98) 24 3315 2104 valizade(a)iasbs.ac.ir Web: http://www.iasbs.ac.ir/~valizade/index.html --------------------------------------------------------------------

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Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Computational Brain Science at Brown
by Michael J Frank Nov. 16, 2022

Nov. 16, 2022

The Robert J. and Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science <https://www.brown.edu/carney/> at Brown University invites applications from rising and established leaders in computational brain science for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level. A transformative $100M gift to the Institute is catalyzing the growth and expansion of Carney faculty and research over the next decade, including to further research goals of the Center for Computational Brain Science <https://ccbs.carney.brown.edu/>. As part of this expansion, this search will consider applicants with expertise in computational neuroscience broadly construed and will result in an appointment with a tenure-track home in a Carney Institute-affiliated department (including physics, applied mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, and cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences). The successful applicant will have an outstanding record of research and teaching that contributes to the mission of the candidate’s appropriate home department and the Carney Institute Center for Computational Brain Science. We are particularly interested in scholars who demonstrate commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the brain sciences. The Carney Institute promotes discovery and innovation in brain science by supporting a diverse community of experimentalists, theorists, engineers, and clinicians. With more than 180 affiliated faculty members in more than 20 academic and clinical units, the Carney Institute catalyzes research across the brain sciences, including in the neurobiology of cells and circuits, computational brain science, cognition and behavior, and neuroengineering and neurotechnology. We are a highly interactive community that values collaborative approaches to tackle major questions in brain science to benefit society. Quality of research and scholarship is central to reaching our goals and this depends on engaging talented scientists from across academia and embracing their contributions in a fully inclusive community. The Carney Institute’s strategic vision is aligned with Brown’s commitment to creating a more fully diverse and inclusive community, outlined in “Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown University <https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/institutional-diversity/pathways> .” *Qualifications* Applicants must have a Ph.D. at the time of starting work. The start date can be anytime between July 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024. *Application Instructions* All candidates should submit: (1) a teaching statement; (2) a research statement; (3) a diversity and inclusion statement; (4) a curriculum vitae; (5) up to 5 publications; and (6) a cover letter describing their interest in the position (including the general field of research and potential departments of interest); (7) at least three letters of reference submitted before the application deadline. Letters of support should speak to the candidate’s potential as a scholar, colleague, mentor, and teacher. Inquiries about the position should be directed to carney-institute(a)brown.edu. Full consideration will be given to applications received by December 15, 2022; we will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. Brown is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, and members of underrepresented groups in brain science are strongly encouraged to apply. Apply at http://apply.interfolio.com/115307. *Equal Employment Opportunity Statement* *Brown University is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive academic global community; as an EEO/AA employer, Brown considers applicants for employment without regard to and does not discriminate on the basis of, gender, race, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.* Michael J Frank, PhD | Edgar L. Marston Professor Director, Carney Center for Computational Brain Science <https://www.brown.edu/carney/ccbs> Laboratory of Neural Computation and Cognition <https://www.lnccbrown.com/> Brown University website <http://ski.clps.brown.edu>

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GEM 2023 - Call for Abstracts
by Vinita Samarasinghe Nov. 15, 2022

Nov. 15, 2022

The DFG-funded research consortium “FOR 2812 – Constructing scenarios of the past” https://for2812.rub.de is proud to announce a call for abstracts for its biennial conference *GEM 2023* (Generative Episodic Memory: Interdisciplinary perspectives from neuroscience, psychology and philosophy), which will be held *in person*at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany from 12^th to 14^th June 2023. For more information on the conference please visit https://for2812.rub.de/gem2023. We invite submissions for symposia, talks and posters. *Please note that all presentations are in person.* Episodic memories are widely regarded as memories of personally experienced events. Early concepts about episodic memory were based on the storage model, according to which experiential content is preserved in memory and later retrieved. However, overwhelming empirical evidence suggests that the content of episodic memory is – at least to a certain degree – constructed in the act of remembering. Even though very few contemporary researchers would oppose this view of episodic memory as a generative process, it has not become the standard paradigm of empirical memory research. This is particularly true for studies of the neural correlates of episodic memory. Further hindering progress are large conceptual differences regarding episodic memory across different fields, such as neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. This interdisciplinary conference therefore aims to bring together researchers from all relevant fields to advance the state of the art in the research on generative episodic memory. *Abstract* submission deadlines [GMT +1 (CET)]: Abstract submission – 15.03.2023 Notification of acceptance – 15.04.2023 Submission guidelines: Abstracts mustbe submitted in English and be no longer than 500 words.Submitted work must be original and unpublished andsubmitted electronically athttps://www.conftool.net/gem2023/. Types of submissions: * Talks * Symposia: In addition to submitting individual talks there is also the option to submit a set of talks (henceforth called symposium). Symposiamust be interdisciplinary in nature, i.e., they must contain talks from at least two of the following disciplines: computational neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and must comprise 3 talks. Please note that if one or more of the talks that make up the symposium are rejected the remainingtalks are not automatically rejected. They will be scheduled into the general program by the program committee. * Posters Please ensure that your files are in PDF format and are no larger than 10 MB. We look forward to welcoming you in Bochum. Vinita Samarasinghe Coordinator -- Coordination Office For 2812 "Constructing scenarios of the past: A new framework in episodic memory" https://for2812.rub.de 25.11.2022 - Colloquium - Olaf Blanke <https://for2812.rub.de/events/#event_60> 09.12.2022 - Colloquium - Kristina Liefke <https://for2812.rub.de/events/#event_61> 13.01.2023 - Colloquium - Caswell Barry <https://for2812.rub.de/events/#event_62> Institut für Neuroinformatik Ruhr-Universität Bochum, NB 3/73 Postfachnummer 110 Universitätstr. 150 44801 Bochum Tel: +49 (0)234 32 27996 Email: for2812(a)rub.de

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Gary Marcus speaking on November 17 in Developing Minds global online lecture series
by Jochen Triesch Nov. 13, 2022

Nov. 13, 2022

Dear colleagues, On November 17, the Developing Minds global online lecture series will feature Gary Marcus: „Towards a Foundation for AGI“ https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home The live event will take place via zoom at: 09:00 am PST (Pacific Standard Time) 17:00 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) 18:00 CET (Central European Time) 02:00 am, Friday Nov. 18, JST (Japan Standard Time) To participate please register here: https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home Abstract Large pretrained language models like GPT-3 and PaLM have generated enormous enthusiasm, and are capable of producing remarkably fluent language. But they have also been criticized on many grounds, and described as "stochastic parrots." Are they adequate as a basis for artificial general intelligence [AGI], and if not, what would a better foundation for general intelligence look like? Bio GARY MARCUS is a leading voice in artificial intelligence. He is a scientist, best-selling author, and serial entrepreneur (Founder of Robust.AI and Geometric.AI, acquired by Uber). He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. An Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at NYU, he is the author of five books, including, The Algebraic Mind, Kluge, The Birth of the Mind, and the New York Times Bestseller Guitar Zero. He has often contributed to The New Yorker, Wired, and The New York Times. His most recent book, Rebooting AI, with Ernest Davis, is one of Forbes’s 7 Must Read Books in AI. You can follow him at garymarcus.substack.com and on Twitter, @garymarcus. The talk will also be recored and the recording made available via the web page: https://sites.google.com/view/developing-minds-series/home Stay healthy, Jochen Triesch -- Prof. Dr. Jochen Triesch Johanna Quandt Chair for Theoretical Life Sciences Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Goethe University Frankfurt http://fias.uni-frankfurt.de/~triesch/ Tel: +49 (0)69 798-47531 Fax: +49 (0)69 798-47611

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Postdoc and PhD position in Computational Cognitive Neuroscience
by Christopher Laurie Buckley Nov. 11, 2022

Nov. 11, 2022

Hi all, Hi all, A postdoc and a PhD position are available at the University of Sussex in my own group and the group of Prof. Anil K Seth (Department of Informatics and Centre for Consciousness Science) on the EU-funded project entitled “A metapredictive model of synthetic awareness for enabling tool invention (METATOOL)”. The METATOOL project is a ground-breaking international and multidisciplinary project that aims at developing a novel computational model of cognition based on the predictive processing of metacognition and validating its utility in real robots in the context of conditional sequential tasks, operationalised by tool use, as well as by the novel challenge of tool creation. This will suit those interested in predictive processing and generally work at the intersection of cognitive science and ML. To apply for the postdoc please see, https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/jobs/research-fel-in-computational-cognitiv-… The closing date is 9th December 2022. For the PhD position, and all informal inquiries. please contact c.l.buckley(a)sussex.ac.uk. Professor Christopher L. Buckley Sussex AI Group Department of Informatics University of Sussex Falmer Brighton, UK

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Two postdoc positions in bio-inspired AI
by Thomas Nowotny Nov. 10, 2022

Nov. 10, 2022

Dear all, We are looking for two post-doctoral research fellows to join our team working on bio-inspired AI and robotics at the University of Sussex which will suit people with a range of backgrounds (from robotics, through computational neuroscience to Artificial Life). Deadline 22nd November. You will develop novel active AI algorithms that are inspired by the rapid and robust learning of insects within the. £1.2m EPSRC International Centre to Centre Collaboration project: “ActiveAI: active learning and selective attention for rapid, robust and efficient AI.” and will work in collaboration with the University of Sheffield and world-leading neuroscientists in Australia. Detailed information and how to apply can be found here: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/jobs/research-fellow-in-bio-inspired-ai-rob-… https://www.sussex.ac.uk/about/jobs/research-fellow-in-bio-inspired-ai-rob-… Your primary role will be to develop a new class of ActiveAI controllers for problems in which insects excel but deep learning methods struggle. These problems have one or more of the following characteristics: (i) learning must occur rapidly, (ii) learning samples are few or costly, (iii) computational resources are limited, and (iv) the learning problem changes over time. Insects deal with such complex tasks robustly despite limited computational power because learning is an active process emerging from the interaction of evolved brains, bodies and behaviours. Through a virtuous cycle of modelling and experiments, you will develop insect-inspired models, in which behavioural strategies and specialised sensors actively structure sensory input while selective attention drives learning to the most salient information. The cycle of modelling and experiments will be achieved through field work in both Sussex and Australia. You will work under the supervision of Professors Andrew Philippides, Thomas Nowotny and Paul Graham within the Department of Informatics at Sussex and will join an active team of research fellows and PhD students working on similar topics at Sussex. Please contact Andrew Philippides (andrewop(a)sussex.ac.uk<mailto:andrewop@sussex.ac.uk>) for informal enquiries Kind regards, Thomas Nowotny -- Prof. Thomas Nowotny Head of AI Research Group CCNR, Sussex Neuroscience Phone: +44-1273-678593 Engineering and Informatics, Fax: +44-1273-877873 University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ sussex.ac.uk/informatics/tnowotny<http://sussex.ac.uk/informatics/tnowotny> I support the University of Sussex Community Pledge, as I continue to help those around me during the pandemic. Small acts of collaboration, kindness and integrity can make a big difference. www.sussex.ac.uk/community-pledge<http://www.sussex.ac.uk/community-pledge>

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Software Engineering and PostDoc position at EPFL
by Mathis Alexander Nov. 10, 2022

Nov. 10, 2022

My group has two openings: * Software engineer position in NeuroAI * SNSF-funded Postdoc position to model the sensorimotor system (see second half of the email) Thank you! Software engineer position in NeuroAI The Alexander Mathis Group of Computational Neuroscience & AI (UPAMATHIS, https://mathisgroup.org<https://mathisgroup.org/>) at EPFL (Lausanne & Geneva, Switzerland) is looking for a software engineer to support the research in Computer Vision, Machine Learning and modeling the Brain. Part (50% effort) of this position would also support our work collaboratively with the Mathis Laboratory<http://www.mackenziemathislab.org/> on DeepLabCut - a popular animal pose estimation system https://github.com/DeepLabCut/DeepLabCut EPFL<https://www.epfl.ch/de/> is one of the leading Institutes of Technology in Europe and offers extremely competitive salaries and research infrastructure. Requirements: Candidates minimally should have a bachelor’s in Computer Science or related fields, and a masters degree or PhD is preferred. * Candidates without a PhD must be from Switzerland or the EU, PhD holders can be from anywhere in the world * Work is onsite at Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland * Excellent English verbal and written communication skills and proven record of effective communication, both written and verbal, with scientists is required An ideal candidate would have prior experience in: * 3+ years of experience in Python & Machine Learning related technologies such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, JAX. * 2+ years of professional software development experience * Experience building and scaling systems both on-premise and the cloud. * A record of experience working with scientists and other research engineers Deadline and starting date: Applications are requested starting from November 15 2022 and will then be processed as they arrive until the position is filled. The ideal starting date is winter or spring 2023. How to apply: Applications should consist of a motivation letter, a CV, two relevant GitHub repositories, and the email addresses of two or more referees. Please send your application and any inquiry by email to alexander.mathis(a)epfl.ch<mailto:alexander.mathis@epfl.ch>. Additional information about our research can be found at https://www.mathisgroup.org<https://www.mathislab.org/> Related work: Lauer, …, Mathis & Mathis Nature Methods<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-022-01443-0> 2022 SNSF-funded Postdoc position to model the sensorimotor system The Alexander Mathis Group of Computational Neuroscience & AI (UPAMATHIS, https://mathisgroup.org<https://mathisgroup.org/>) at EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland) has one open postdoc position in to model the sensorimotor system funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The goal is to build deep learning models of the sensorimotor system with a particular focus on proprioception based on known anatomical, pharmacological, lesion, behavioral and physiological data. We will then test predictions with our experimental collaborators. EPFL<https://www.epfl.ch/de/> is one of the leading Institutes of Technology in Europe and offers extremely competitive salaries and research infrastructure. Related work: DMAP: a Distributed Morphological Attention Policy for Learning to Locomote with a Changing Body<https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.14218> Alberto Silvio Chiappa, Alessandro Marin Vargas, Alexander Mathis. NeurIPS (in press), 2022. Contrasting action and posture coding with hierarchical deep neural network models of proprioception <https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.06.081372v3> Kai J. Sandbrink*, Pranav Mamidanna*, Claudio Michaelis, Matthias Bethge, Mackenzie Weygandt Mathis**, Alexander Mathis**, BioRxiv, 2022. Requirements: Candidates should have a Ph.D. and a strong publication record in computational neuroscience or related fields. An ideal candidate would have prior experience in: * Reinforcement learning * Machine learning * Modeling neural data * Biomechanics * Fluency in oral and written English is required. Deadline and starting date: Applications are requested starting from November 15 2022 and will then be processed as they arrive until the position is filled. The ideal starting date is spring 2023. How to apply: Postdoctoral applications should consist of a motivation letter, a CV, two relevant publications, and the email addresses of two or more referees. Please send your application and any inquiry by email to alexander.mathis(a)epfl.ch<mailto:alexander.mathis@epfl.ch>. Additional information about our research can be found at https://www.mathislab.org<https://www.mathislab.org/> [cid:clip_image001.png] Alexander Mathis Tenure Track Assistant Professor people/alexander.mathis mathislab.org<http://mathislab.org>

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Open PhD and post-doc positions at the University of Bern
by Jean-Pascal Pfister Nov. 7, 2022

Nov. 7, 2022

Applications are invited for two PhD student positions and one post-doc position at the University of Bern. The positions are funded by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation which is entitled “Why Spikes?”. This project aims at answering an almost 100 year old question in Neuroscience: “What are spikes good for?”. Indeed, since the discovery of action potentials by Lord Adrian in 1926, it has remained largely unknown what the benefits of spiking neurons are, when compared to analog neurons. Traditionally, it has been argued that spikes are good for long-distance communication or for temporally precise computation. However, there is no systematic study that quantitatively compares the communication as well as the computational benefits of spiking neuron w.r.t analog neurons. The aim of the project is to systematically quantify the benefits of spiking at various levels. The PhD students and post-doc will be supervised by Prof. Jean-Pascal Pfister (Theoretical Neuroscience Group, Department of Physiology, University of Bern). The PhD candidates (resp. post-doc candidate) should hold a Master (resp. PhD) degree in Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computational Neuroscience, Neuroscience or a related field. She/he should have keen interests in developing theories that can be tested experimentally. Preference will be given to candidates with strong mathematical and programming skills. Expertise in stochastic dynamical systems, point processes, control theory and nonlinear Bayesian filtering will be a plus. The applicant should submit a CV (including contacts of two referees), a statement of research interests, marks obtained for the Master to Jean-Pascal Pfister (jeanpascal.pfister(a)unibe.ch) The position is offered for a period of three years and can be extended. The preferred starting date is February 2023. Salary scale is provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (http://www.snf.ch/SiteCollectionDocuments/allg_doktorierende_e.pdf) Deadline for application is the 30th of November 2022 or until the position is filled. --------------------------------- Prof. Jean-Pascal Pfister Theoretical Neuroscience Group Physiology Department, University of Bern 5 Bühlplatz, CH-3012 Bern, CH e-mail: jeanpascal.pfister(a)unibe.ch URL: http://www.physio.unibe.ch/~pfister/

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