Connectionists: PhD Student for fMRI decoding of mental state

[Marcel van Gerven]

PhD Student for fMRI decoding of mental state

We invite applications for a PhD position at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. You will be working on the NWO project Sparse Learning of Deep Models which aims to improve the decoding of what someone perceives or imagines from brain activity alone. In this project, you will develop probabilistic machine learning methods and collect fMRI data at the institute's 3 Tesla MRI facility. The project will be headed by Dr van Gerven in collaboration with Prof. Heskes (Computer Science) and Dr Thirion (Neuroimaging).

You are highly motivated and have a Master’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Cognitive Neuroscience, or a related field of study. Experience with Matlab programming and data analysis is a must. Experience with functional magnetic resonance imaging and/or machine learning is highly desirable. You should have a demonstrated interest in and qualification for scientific research, be able to work in an interdisciplinary team in an international context, and have excellent writing skills in English.

You will be appointed as a PhD student for a period of four years. Your performance will be evaluated after 18 months. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years. As part of the contract, you will participate in educational activities (i.e. teaching students). Formal application deadline is May 31st, but applications will be considered until the position is filled. Starting salary is € 2,042 per month; the salary will increase to € 2,612 per month in the fourth year.

Strategically located in Europe, Radboud University Nijmegen is one of the leading academic communities in the Netherlands. A place with a personal touch, where top-flight education and research take place on a beautiful green campus in modern buildings with state-of-art facilities. The Faculty of Social Sciences is one of the largest faculties at Radboud University Nijmegen. The faculty currently employs about 650 employees. The faculty’s ambition is to become one of the top social science institutes in Europe, providing high-quality research programmes and study programmes that rank among the best in the Netherlands. The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour consists of three research centres, the Centre for Cognition, the Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging and the Centre for Neuroscience. The Donders Institute focuses on state-of-the-art cognitive neuroscience, with a multidisciplinary approach, and offers excellent lab and neuroimaging facilities, PhD supervision and courses and technical support. The project is embedded within the research group Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, which is part of the Centre for Cognition.

Contact information:
dr. Marcel van Gerven
m.vangerven at donders.ru.nl
http://www.ru.nl/fsw
Radboud University Nijmegen