Dear community, we are seeking two PhD candidates to support our team! Project 1: In the framework of the Klinische Forschergruppe (KFO) 219 "Basal ganglia-cortex loops: Mechanisms of pathologic interactions and their therapeutic modulation" we have an open PhD student position in work package 9: "Mathematical modeling of development and suppression of pathological activation in basal ganglia – cortex loops“. This project focuses on the generation of pathological beta band oscillations in basal ganglia and their susceptibility to suppression by means of pharmacological challenges or deep brain stimulation. Specifically, this projects aims to model dynamics in basal ganglia – thalamus – cortex loops drawing on computational neuroscience approaches and data deriving from other work packages within the research consortium. We are seeking for a candidate with a master’s degree in physics, mathematics or computer science. The candidate will develop microscopic network models and will be supervised by the projects leaders, particularly by a postdoctoral fellow supervising the entire work package as well as Prof. Morrison. Programming expertise is appreciated. The candidate will be primarily based at the Jülich Research Center to foster interactions with theoretical neuroscientists. In addition, the candidate is expected to work jointly with project partners at the University Clinic of Cologne. We offer a position in a creative and international team, themes ranging from computational neuroscience to simulation technology. The Jülich Research Center is one of the largest research centers in Germany, with excellent scientific equipment, located on a green campus, and near the cultural centers Köln, Düsseldorf, and Aachen. The PhD position is available for 3 years, starting as soon as possible. Applications, including a motivation letter, CV, publication list, copies of university certificates, and one reference letter should be sent as a single PDF email attachment (max. 10MB) mentioning the internal reference code KFO219-TP9 to should be sent to: Dr. Martina Reske (m.reske@fz-juelich.de) – Scientific Coordinator The call is open until the position has been filled. Project 2: Project title: Neural circuit mechanisms of reinforcement learning Project description: Reinforcement learning is considered to play a major role in decision-making, and impairments in RL have been associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders including addiction and depression. Since it was found that the activity of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons appears to represent the reward prediction error, various brain regions in the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia have been shown to represent several variables appeared in mathematical formulations of RL algorithms. However, underlying mechanisms at the cellular and circuit levels within and between each of those regions remain largely unknown. In this project, we address this issue by developing and study neuronal network models of learning from reward and punishment in the brain's basal ganglia network. The project will be carried out by the group Functional Neural Circuits at the Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) and Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) led by Prof. Abigail Morrison, together with our Japanese collegues (Kenji Morita, University of Tokyo). The project is supported by German Ministry of Science (BMBF) in the framework of the German-Japan cooperation in Computational Neuroscience. The project incorporates tools and methods from different fields, ranging from neuroscience to physics and mathematical modeling to build large scale simulations of neural networks. Supervision is provided by Prof. Abigail Morrison and Dr. Jenia Jitsev, both having considerable experience in neural network modeling, with focus on plasticity and learning. We seek a highly motivated candidate with curiosity and persistence. A preferable candidate will have background and strong Master degree in either in neuroscience, physics, mathematics, biology, computer science or a related field of natural science. The candidate should have experience in basic software engineering techniques (minimal requirement is ability to write clear well-structured code in either C++ or Python). Furthermore, a solid basis in mathematical modelling (handling differential equations, basics of stability analysis) is essential. The most important requirement is the ability to learn new things and to find ways to solve novel problems. The PhD position is available for 3 years, starting as soon as possible. During the PhD, you will also have opportunity to visit conferences, workshops, summer schools and labs of our partners in Tokyo and benefit from their experience, too. You will be a part of a creative and young team, rich with inspiration for the different state-of-the art topics in experimental and theoretical neuroscience, and have the opportunity to take part at the forefront of current neuroscientific research. Research Center Jülich, Germany, is located on a green campus and hosts excellent facilities, including the Jülich Supercomputing Center, and is part of newly starting EU Human Brain Project, the largest neuroscientific initiative to study the brain funded in Europe. Jülich is close to large urban centers like Cologne, Aachen and Düsseldorf and offers thus a rich cultural environment to spend time in. Applications, including a motivation letter, a CV, copies of university certificates, and one letter of reference should be sent as a single PDF email attachment (max. 10MB) mentioning the internal reference code BRDJ-PhD to: Dr. Martina Reske (m.reske@fz-juelich.de) – Scientific Coordinator The call is open until the position has been filled. -- Dr. Martina Reske Scientific Coordinator Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-6) Computational and Systems Neuroscience & Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) Theoretical Neuroscience Jülich Research Centre and JARA Jülich, Germany Work +49.2461.611916 Work Cell +49.151.26156918 Fax +49.2461.619460 www.csn.fz-juelich.de ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH 52425 Juelich Sitz der Gesellschaft: Juelich Eingetragen im Handelsregister des Amtsgerichts Dueren Nr. HR B 3498 Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats: MinDir Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt (Vorsitzender), Karsten Beneke (stellv. Vorsitzender), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Bolt, Prof. Dr. Sebastian M. Schmidt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------