We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on the Vidi project 'Top-down neuromodulation and bottom-up network computation, a computational study' and study the effects of neuromodulators in balanced networks. You will use cellular and behavioural data on the effects of dopamine, acetylcholine and serotonin in mouse barrel cortex gathered by our department over the past five years, to bridge the gap between single cell, network and behavioural effects.

You will use the balanced network framework to study network activity under neuromodulation. In order to do this, you will develop a balanced network description of the barrel cortex, with realistic barrel cortex properties (see https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-022-09576-5). Next, you will incorporate the cellular effects of dopamine, acetylcholine and serotonin that we have measured over the previous years (see  https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giy147 and https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.12.476007) into the network, and investigate their effects on overall network activity and behaviour. More particularly, through simulations and analytical derivations, you will research the effects of neuromodulators on the stability of the balanced state, synchrony, regularity and chaos. You will build on the single cell data, models and analysis methods available in our group, and your results will be incorporated into our group's further research to develop and validate machine learning and efficient coding models of (somatosensory) perception. We are therefore looking for a team player who can work well with our other group members and is willing to both learn from them and share their knowledge.

Profile

• You hold a PhD in computational neuroscience, mathematics, physics, computer science, AI or a related discipline.
• Preferably, you have experience in working with balanced networks and can perform both network simulations and analytical derivations such as mean field approximations and chaos descriptions.
• You are a highly motivated, independent, critical, and creative researcher who wants to bridge the gap between real data and abstract theoretical models.
• You are a team player, ready to collaborate in a multidisciplinary research group.
• You have an excellent command of spoken and written English.
• You have experience in coding (Python and/or Matlab).

We are
You will be appointed at the Biophysics of Neural Computation group, Donders Center for Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour., at the Radboud University. This vibrant and multidisciplinary institute studies the organisation and function of neural circuits across scales and techniques, from genes and proteins to behaviour and from in vitro and in vivo experiments to computational modelling. It provides an open and international environment, where young scientists from different backgrounds share a fascination for the interaction between brain structure and function. For postdoctoral researchers, there is a lively community and specialised support.--