Connectionists: Post Doc Positions in Computational Neuroscience available

[Thomas Nowotny]

2 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Positions in Computational Neuroscience

a) 3 years fixed term, full time - Ref 928
b) 3 years fixed term, part-time 50% fte - Ref 929

Salary range: Grade 7 £27,466 to £32,796 p.a. (pro-rata for part me)

are available at the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics (CCNR)
at the University of Sussex, UK.

Expected start date: As soon as possible

Closing date for applications: 12 January 2008

PLEASE FORWARD TO POTENTIAL CANDIDATES!

Job details:

The two post-doctoral positions are available in a new research initiative for 
modelling the pheromone system of the moth at the Centre for Computational 
Neuroscience and Robotics (CCNR) at the University of Sussex starting 1 
February 2008. Our objective in this project is to discover how insects 
use their sense of smell (olfaction) to find pheromone (chemicals emitted 
by living organisms to send messages to individuals of the same species) 
sources in a noisy and dynamic environment. The ability of a flying male 
moth to find a pheromone emitting mate is truly remarkable and well beyond 
our ability to replicate artificially. Investigating this system will 
substantially advance our knowledge in sensory systems and neuroscience in 
general and will have strong implications for biomimetic applications. The 
research initiative, funded by the French ANR and British BBSRC, is in 
conjunction with two French partners, the groups of Dr. Jean-Pierre 
Rospars at INRA, Versailles and of Dr. Dominique Martinez at LORIA, Nancy. 
You will work on computational modeling of the pheromone-detecting centre 
of the moth brain - the antennal lobe. The work plan includes 
opportunities to analyze original experimental data from one of the French 
partners and building computational models as well as to develop your own 
research directions. An 80-core computer cluster is available at the CCNR 
for numerical work and will be extended to 120 cores for this project.

For the full time position, emphasis will be on building detailed and 
increasingly simplified one-glomerulus models to analyze the specific 
information processing strategies in the moth. Another important part of 
this work will be the development of suitable data fitting and model 
simplification methods.

The part-time position will focus on the amplification and 
noise-suppression problem in the pheromone system, starting from general 
models of convergent neuronal networks with noise. Later you will join 
forces with the other research fellow and analyze the specific example of 
the moth on the one-glomerulus level.

Successful candidates must hold a PhD or equivalent degree in a 
quantitative science discipline. We are looking for candidates with a 
strong mathematical and computational neuroscience background. Knowledge 
of the olfactory system would be a plus but is not a requirement. Both 
positions require a good knowledge of a higher object oriented programming 
language (preferably C++). The positions will involve occasional travel to 
France.

For informal inquiries about the positions, please contact Dr. Thomas
Nowotny, CCNR, Informatics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1
9QJ, t.nowotny at sussex.ac.uk. Please provide a CV with publication list 
with your application form and include a description of your scientific 
interests and future aspirations in the 'additional support' section.

Interviews are anticipated for end of January 2008

For full details and how to apply see 
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/staffing/personnl/vacs/vac928_929.shtml

The University of Sussex is committed to equality of opportunity

-- 
Dr. Thomas Nowotny
RCUK Academic Fellow		phone: +44-1273-678593
University of Sussex 		fax: +44-1273-877873
Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK		http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/users/tn41