Systems Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellow
The Champalimaud Foundation, a private, non-profit research institution, is opening a call for a post-doctoral researcher, within the scope of the research project entitled "Neural mechanism of value based decision making of staying or leaving - Deciding when to initiate locomotion to move to the next reward location."This position involves data analysis/modeling of foraging behavior and self-initiated movements in rodents, related to a Systems Neuroscience experiment addressing the following question.
When interacting with a complex environment, animals generate naturalistic behavior in the form of action sequences. To analyze and classify such behavior from video recordings is a computationally demanding task, requiring development of specific software pipelines adapted for big data structures using deep learning methods and state space models. This project aims at creating such a pipeline for analyzing videos of mouse behavior previously collected in the Mainen Lab at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Portugal. In the experiment, animals performed certain action sequences, with variable onsets timing, leading to a water reward. Optogenetics photostimulation of inhibitory neurons in secondary motor regions was also performed during selected action sequences. Behavior during this task was recorded with two high speed, high resolution cameras pointing at the animal's face and front limbs. The large size of the datasets generated in this experiment (~1 Tb per animal, for 10 animals) requires an extensive effort to classify behavioral motifs. In the second part of the project, behavioral motifs will be related to large scale recordings of neural activity from Neuropixel probes. The fellow will investigate the relationship between neural activity and behavior using state space models and mechanistic models based on recurrent neural networks.
The fellow will integrate a dynamic team of researchers as part of an international collaboration between the Mainen Lab at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown and the Mazzucato Lab at University of Oregon. National, foreign and stateless candidates can develop the proposed work remotely where team interaction is supported by online platforms (e.g. slack, zoom, etc).
References:
Recanatesi, S. et al., biorxiv (2020).
Vertechi, P. et al., Neuron (2020).
Murakami, M. et al., Neuron (2017).
Murakami, M. et al., Nat. Neuro (2014).
Essential qualifications:
PhD in Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Biology, Experimental Psychology, Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or other areas relevant to neurophysiology and animal behavior;
Proficiency in Python and Matlab programming language and familiarity with object oriented programming;
Familiarity with Deep Learning software (TensorFlow);
Familiarity with data analysis of biological experiments;
Ability to work independently and troubleshoot technical issues;
Good capacity and value for teamwork and communication skills;
Fluency in English.
REMUNERATION
The monthly remuneration to be attributed is the 33rd level of the single remuneration table (TRU), approved by Portaria nº 1553-C/2008, of December 31st, starting at a base gross salary of 2,128.34 Euros.
SELECTION PROCESS
Applications will be accepted until June 15th, 2020 or until a qualified candidate is hired. Candidates must submit a single document (maximum 4 pages; paper or PDF file) that contains a motivation letter and the Curriculum Vitae, both written in English. Email applications must be addressed to careers@research.fchampalimaud.org and include “CPD2020-LOCODECISION” in the subject line. The selected candidate must submit proof of her/his PhD or Doctoral Degree within 10 days following notification of the preliminary results. More information about Diplomas recognition may be found in the Euraxess portal. All candidates who formalize their application incorrectly or who fail to provide the requirements imposed by this tender are excluded from admission. In case of doubt, the panel is entitled to request further documentation to support candidate statements.
Notification of Results: The highest scoring candidate will be notified by email or telephone. All other candidates will be notified solely by email.
Non-discrimination and equal access policy: The Champalimaud Foundation actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right, on basis of age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions, and trade union membership.