Connectionists: PhD position in theoretical modeling of the cerebellar network

[Nicolas Brunel]

PhD position in theoretical modeling of the cerebellar network

A PhD position in computational neuroscience is available in the
cerebellum group of the biology department of Ecole Normale Superieure
(Paris, France), starting from September 2010.  The PhD will be
supervised by Boris Barbour, Nicolas Brunel and Stephane Dieudonne.

Project:

The mechanisms of operation of the cerebellar cortex remain elusive,
in spite of extensive experimental and theoretical research in the
last decades. The goal of this project is to advance our understanding
of the dynamics of this structure using theoretical tools.  The
project will consist in: (1) build simplified models for each cell
type of this structure, using experimental data obtained in ENS; (2)
build a network model using previously obtained single cell models,
known anatomy, and data about synaptic connectivity obtained in ENS;
(3) investigate the dynamics of the network model, using both
analytical tools and large-scale numerical simulations. The dynamics
of the model will be compared with available in vivo data.

For more details about the group, see:
http://www.biologie.ens.fr/neurocb/
http://www.neurophys.biomedicale.univ-paris5.fr/~brunel/

Requirements:

The applicant should have a strong background in physics and/or
applied mathematics, and good programming skills.

Previous exposure to neuroscience is preferred but not required.

The applicant cannot be French, nor have resided in France in the
last 3 years.

To apply:

Please send CV and letter of interest to the following three addresses:
boris.barbour at ens.fr
nicolas.brunel at parisdescartes.fr
stephane.dieudonne at ens.fr

Please also arrange for at least two reference letters to be sent
to the same addresses.

Deadline for application: June 30, 2010.

-- 
Laboratory of Neurophysics and Physiology
Universite Paris Descartes, CNRS UMR 8119
45 rue des Saints Peres 75270 Paris Cedex 06
Tel (33).1.42.86.20.58 - Fax (33).1.49.27.90.62
nicolas.brunel at parisdescartes.fr
www.neurophys.biomedicale.univ-paris5.fr/~brunel