Connectionists: PhD in Computer Neuroscience

[Compsens]

PHD POSITION: COMPUTER ANIMATION AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY FOR  
THE STUDY OF ACTION AND SOCIAL PERCEPTION

(Hertie Institute / Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of  
Tuebingen, Germany)

The Section for Computational Sensomotorics at the Center for  
Integrative Neurosciences (CIN) and the Hertie Institute for Clinical  
Brain Research (HIH) at the University of Tuebingen invites  
applications for a PhD student for a project developing novel  
technology for the study of action and social perception exploiting VR  
technology. VR and computer animation combined with state-of-the-art  
machine learning approaches (including deep learning) offer novel  
possibilities for the investigation and understanding of the neural  
basis of the perception of actions and social signals. The project  
aims at the development of novel learning-based technologies and  
models for human and animal experiments that investigate social  
perception and the perception of facial and body movements. The  
project is funded for a duration of 3 years.


What we offer:
•	possibility to obtain a PhD in Neuroscience in the International  
Graduate Training Center for Neuro-science in Tuebingen (offering > 40  
courses in almost all relevant fields of neuroscience and ML) or of a  
PhD in Computer Science at Tuebingen University
•	top scientific environment (HIH among top 3 European institutions  
for clinical brain research; CIN is a Research Cluster as part of  
German Excellence Initiative; Bernstein Center for Computational  
Neuroscience; Tuebingen hosts 3 Max Planck Institutes: Biological  
Cybernetics, Intelligent Systems, and Developmental Biology)
•	collaborations with leading international partners in neuro- and  
computer science (including M.I.T, KU Leuven, Imperial College, etc.)

What we are looking for:
•	person with Masters degree in Computational Neuroscience or a  
related discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Physics,  
Mathematics, Cognitive Science, Mathematical Psychology, etc.)
•	highly-motivated person with enthusiasm for research, high degree of  
independence, and motivation of self-driven pursuit of difficult  
problems
•	strong mathematical background and basic programming skills (at  
least in C++ , MATLAB or Python) and ideally some knowledge in  
Computer Graphics or Computer Vision; willingness to learn relevant  
techniques and software tools for computer animation, computer vision  
and deep learning
•	interest in action and social perception, related technical and  
neuroscience applications
•	English speaking and writing skills.

Committed to Equal Opportunities.

Interested candidates should send their application, including a CV,  
all marks from studies, 2 letters of reference, and a short research  
statement of about one half page (explaining how your skills might  
support a project on learning of hierarchies in motor control) to:

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    Prof. Dr. Martin Giese
    Section for Theoretical Sensomotorics, Dept. for Cognitive Neurology
    Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research &  Center for  
Integrative Neuroscience
    University of Tuebingen, Otfried-Müller Str. 25, D-72076 Tuebingen
    GERMANY

    Tel.: +49 7071 2989124
    Email: martin.giese at uni-tuebingen.de
    Web: http://www.compsens.uni-tuebingen.de/