Connectionists: Positions in reaction-diffusion modeling of signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticy

[Erik De Schutter]

Postdoctoral position in modeling of signaling pathways involved in  
synaptic plasticy

A postdoctoral position is available in the Computational  
Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of  
Science and Technology (http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/) to study the  
signaling pathways involved in cerebellar long-term depression at the  
parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. Main goal is to apply  
reaction-diffusion modeling to better understand how these signaling  
pathways operate under stochastic conditions in the presence of  
strong concentration gradients. Additional topics are inclusion of  
other forms of synaptic plasticity and of downstream signaling  
pathways in the models and to study the effect of anomalous diffusion  
on these pathways (Santamaria et al., Neuron 2:635-48, 2006).
Candidates should have experience with modeling signaling pathways.  
There will be ample opportunity to interact with other modelers in  
the lab who are working on several Purkinje cell and cerebellar  
related projects and with other scientists at OIST.
We offer attractive financial and working conditions in an English  
language environment.  Duration of initial appointments will depend  
on previous experience, appointments can last up to 4 years and start  
begin 2008. More information about the Okinawa Institute of Science  
and Technology is available at http://www.oist.jp/

Send curriculum vitae, summary of research interests and experience,  
and the names of three referees to Dr. Erik De Schutter at erik at oist.jp
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Scientific programming/PhD position in stochastic reaction-diffusion  
modeling

A scientific programming/PhD position position is available in the  
Computational Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the  
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (http://www.irp.oist.jp/ 
cns/) to continue programming of the STEPS software. STEPS implements  
stochastic reaction-diffusion modeling as C++ implementation of the  
Gillespie Direct Method in a tetrahedral mesh and is controlled with  
a Python interface (Santamaria et al., Neuron 2:635-48, 2006). Future  
work involves parallelization, introduction of approximate methods  
(tau-leaping, Langevin equation), improvement of mesh generation, etc.
The candidate should have extensive programming experience,  
preferentially a degree in computer science, and have sufficient  
scientific training to understand the mathematical basis of the  
modeling methods used. We require an active interest in the  
scientific domain so that the software design can be further  
developed autonomously. The position can be filled either as a  
technician or to obtain a PhD degree in biomedical sciences.
There will be ample opportunity to interact with modelers in the lab  
who use the STEPS other modeling software.
We offer attractive financial and working conditions in an English  
language environment.  Duration of initial appointments will depend  
on previous experience, appointments can last up to 4 years and start  
begin 2008. More information about the Okinawa Institute of Science  
and Technology is available at http://www.oist.jp/

Send curriculum vitae, summary of research interests and experience,  
and the names of three referees to Dr. Erik De Schutter at erik at oist.jp