PhD Position available immediately
A new European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant starts at the University of Torino, Italy, for 5 years (~ 2 million euros). The grant “LIGHTUP – Turning the cortically blind brain to see” is awarded to prof. Marco Tamietto (www.marcotamietto.com).
The project investigates the neural correlates of visual awareness and of non-conscious vision in patients with blindsight and in non-human primates (macaques) with V1 destruction. To this aim, a broad range of methods will be used, including 3T and 7T (f)MRI, neurophysiological recordings and brain stimulation (TMS).
The project is embedded in an outstanding international and interdisciplinary context, including the University of Oxford (UK), Tilburg University (NL) and NIH (USA), with granted access to their excellent facilities.
We offer a full-time PhD Student post for 4 years. Applications of highly motivated candidates with interests in systems neuroscience, vision sciences and neuroimaging are welcomed. The successful applicant will be appointed by the University of Torino, but he/she will be expected to spend a significant amount of time at the NIH in Bethesda (USA). In fact, the PhD student will be co-supervised by prof. M. Tamietto and prof. D. Leopold, and the position is specifically focused on behavioural and fMRI studies in non-human primates.
Selection process
Evaluation of candidates begins immediately.
Candidates should contact tamiettolab@gmail.com and/or leopoldd@mail.nih.gov, with a motivation letter, CV, and at least 2 recommendation letters.
After initial feed-back, candidates will be contacted directly for an informal Skype interview and pre-selected candidates will be invited to apply formally at:
https://en.unito.it/postdegree/phd/psychological-anthropological-and-educational-sciences
Deadline for formal applications is 5th September 2018.
The successful candidate is expected to start the 1st of October 2018.
For further information regarding official applying procedure:
https://en.unito.it/research/phd/prospective-phd-students/how-apply-phd-programs
and
https://en.unito.it/sites/sten/files/phd_psycho_second_call_34.pdf
Qualifications and Requirements
Candidates should have a degree in: Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience, Experimental Psychology, Neurobiology, Biomedical Engineering, Biophysics or equivalent fields.
The ideal candidate should have a keen interest in investigating the visual system of non-human primates and in the research topics outlined in the project.
We particularly value methodological skills and previous experience in: behavioural experiments involving training of non-human primates, fMRI recordings and data analysis, knowledge in scripting and scientific programming, such as MatLab/Python, computational modelling and command of quantitative data analysis and statistics.
High proficiency in written and spoken English is required.
Tasks
The successful candidate is expected to:
- perform behavioural daily training of non-human primates
- actively participate in behavioural and fMRI data acquisition, processing and evaluation in non-human primates.
- support advancements in the theoretical and methodological framework for the study of blindsight and visual system in humans and monkeys.
- publishing in peer-reviewed international journals in the field of neuroscience.
What we offer
- Four-years full-time appointment starting from 1st October 2018.
- Net salary between 1550-1800 euros per month ($ 1900-2200) depending on level of experience and specific taxation rules that apply.
- The opportunity to work in a highly multidisciplinary team and to join an innovative and fascinating project on blindsight and the neural bases of visual awareness.
- Daily supervision from a senior post-doc working on the same project.
- Additional costs, such as traveling, conference fees and accommodations, or specific equipment will be covered.
- Extensive opportunity of interactions in an outstanding and international context with leaders in the field.
- No additional teaching duties.
For further information please contact directly Prof. M. Tamietto (marco.tamietto@unito.it ) and/or Prof. D. Leopold (leopoldd@mail.nih.gov).
Prof. M. Tamietto: marco.tamietto@unito.it
Prof. D. Leopold: leopoldd@mail.nih.gov
