A postdoc position is available in the Shouval lab. The Postdoc will work on a project funded by the BRAIN grant: “Learning spatio-temporal statistics from the environment in recurrent networks”. In this project we will model both recurrent network models, and also the learning rules that allow them to learn their dynamics from environmental cues. This project is a collaboration between the lab of Harel Shouval at the University of Texas in Houston, and the lab of Nicolas Brunel at Duke. This is a two-year position and it can start immediately.

The Shouval lab is a leader in developing models of synaptic plasticity and understanding their impact on learning and memory. The models we develop span from the molecular level and up to the systems level. In our some of our recent work we study the impact of synaptic plasticity on recurrent network dynamics and on incorporating reinforcement learning into biophysical plasticity models. We use both computational and analytical techniques to study these issues.

The Shouval lab is located in the department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, in the UT medical school. Houston has a thriving Neuroscience community and it is an excellent environment for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. There is a high concentration of Theoretical Neuroscience labs at the different Houston area Universities (Baylor, Rice, UH, UT).  Our Theoretical Neuroscience community is highly collaborative and there is a joint organization to foster these collaborations; the Gulf Coast Consortium in Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (GCC-TCN). We hold an annual conference, joint graduate courses and a journal club.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in Computational Neuroscience with strong analytical and computational skills. I will also consider candidates with a background in the Physical or Computational Sciences who would like to become a Theoretical Neuroscientists.

If you want to apply please send me your CV, and a brief cover letter that includes names of possible references. I will also be happy to answer any question you might have about the project or the position.

Harel Shouval

Professor Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy

The University of Texas Medical School, Houston

Director of the Neuroscience Graduate program

Email: harel.shouval@gmail.com

Web: https://med.uth.edu/nba/faculty/harel-shouval/