PhD Studentship in Cortical Circuit Neurobiology for the FPI del Ministerio Call

We invite applications for a fully funded PhD Studentship Position to commence in 2021. The applicant will be incorporated into a recently funded Spanish Ministry project studying the development and in vivo function of sensory brain circuits. The project aims to understand the formation and processing operations of cortical sensory brain circuits which integrate incoming sensory data from the retina with internal signals such as prediction and attention. As well as the normal function and assembly of these circuits, was have an interest in how they may misassemble and malfunction in conditions such as amblyopia (a developmental disorder of the visual system) and psychosis in schizophrenia.

The candidates will be trained in the use state-of-the-art in vivo brain imaging, optogenetic and virtual reality approaches to measure and perturb neural circuits in awake behaving mice at cellular resolution at the scale of thousands of individual neurons.

For the PhD project a number of lines are research are possible and the precise project will be agreed in discussion with the candidate. We welcome applicants with an interest in experimental systems neuroscience from a range of computational and experimental backgrounds to please get in touch if you are unsure of your suitability. Please apply with a CV, letter of motivation (max 1 page) including any specific lines of research you would to pursue, and if possible a letter of recommendation (from someone you have previously worked with) or if not a reference who can be contacted.

The position requires a high level of English fluency and a relevant Masters qualification.

More details of our research can be found here: https://www.ransonlab.net