These two posts form part of an interdisciplinary collaborative research project, “Statistical Physics of Cognition” funded by the UKRI and Wellcome. The aim of the project is to understand how neuronal avalanches relate to cognition. The postholders will be part of an interdisciplinary team including theorists, experimental neuroscientists and optical physicists aiming to solve this problem. The approach taken will be to perform large-scale neuronal imaging experiments to record the activity of thousands of neurons in the brains of mice performing cognitive tasks, to use advanced methods to analyse how distance from criticality is task-dependent, to develop models describing the role of avalanche dynamics in cognition, and to use graph theory, information theory and complexity theory to advance our understanding how large-scale network dynamics affect cognitive performance. As well as advancing our understanding of the way the brain operates, this may lead to new insights into how neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease cause degradation in cognitive function, and aid in the development of future treatments. Based in the Neural Coding and Neurodegenerative Disorders Laboratory led by Prof Simon Schultz, we are seeking two postdoctoral fellows to carry out neuroscience experiments involving mesoscopic two-photon imaging of neural activity from thousands of neurons in behaving mice. Applicants should have research experience in either systems neuroscience or in biomedical optics. A PhD in neuroscience, physics, or a cognate discipline is essential. Post 1 – Multiphoton optical microscopy. You will have expertise in biomedical optics, including the construction, maintenance and use of advanced optical apparatus for fluorescence imaging of neural activity, and an interest in neuroscience. Post 2 – Optical neurophysiology. You will have expertise in systems neuroscience, including experience in performing in vivo neurophysiology experiments, and expertise in processing and analysis of neurophysiological data. You will be based in the Neural Coding and Neurodegenerative Disease Laboratory led by Prof Simon Schultz and Dr Amanda Foust, in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. As well as members of the group, you will work closely with colleagues in the Department of Mathematics, including Prof Mauricio Barahona and Prof Henrik Jensen, as well as two theoretical postdoctoral fellows working as part of the collaborative project. You will also work together with external collaborators, including particularly Dr Fernando Rosas (University of Sussex) and Prof Lucilla De Arcangelis (University of Campania). The link to the official job advertisement and application portal can be found here: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/description/ENG02064/postdoctoral-research-a... I am happy to discuss the positions via email. (Please email me directly rather than replying to this email, as I have mailing list emails filtered). The closing date is 5th April 2022 (but is likely to be extended). Please note that there will be a further two postdoctoral positions advertised shortly, focused on theoretical elements of the project. ---------- Simon R. Schultz DPhil FIET FRSB Professor of Neurotechnology Director, Imperial College Centre for Neurotechnology Dept of Bioengineering, Imperial College London Email: s.schultz@imperial.ac.uk http://www.schultzlab.org http://www.imperial.ac.uk/neurotechnology Centre contact: Dr Kate Hobson, 0207 594 5101, k.hobson@imperial.ac.uk