Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in Paris

[Romain Brette]

Postdoctoral position in Paris

A postdoctoral position in computational neuroscience is available in 
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris from October 2012, to work with Romain 
Brette (http://audition.ens.fr/brette/) in the Audition lab 
(http://lpp.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/hearing.php). The position is funded 
by the European Research Council (Starting Grant). The starting date can 
be discussed.

The position is open for several projects:

1) Bayesian approach to binaural sound localization.

The first part of the project is to understand the distribution of 
binaural cues for a given source location, considering a number of 
sources of variability (e.g. noise, acoustical environment, competing 
sources). The second part is to investigate how much of the behavioral 
results in the literature may be explained in terms of Bayesian 
inference, considering the natural distribution of binaural cues. The 
third part is to test the hypothesis with specific psychophysical 
experiments.

2) Learning structural codes.

We are developing models of sensory processing, based on the idea that 
the sensory system extracts invariant structures in the sensory signals. 
Examples of this idea are the periodicity structure in pitch-evoking 
sounds and the binaural structure in spatial hearing. Our hypothesis is 
that the neural correlate of structure is a specific synchrony pattern 
in a population of neurons, which can be decoded by coincidence 
detection. This project consists in investigating spike-based learning 
rules to perform this type of structural computation.

3) Structural computation in hearing

We have applied these ideas to pitch perception and ITD processing 
(sound source localization based on interaural time differences). We 
would like to investigate other potential applications in the auditory 
system, in particular: ILD processing (sound source localization based 
on interaural level differences), spectral cues in sound localization, 
recognition of auditory textures, envelope processing, perception of 
intonation (pitch changes). Non-auditory projects will also be 
considered. The project will consist in investigating the relevant 
structure in the sensory signals, designing spiking models, and ideally 
formulating experiments to test the theory. Psychophysical experiments 
can be performed in the lab. Physiological experiments in the auditory 
brainstem can be performed through a collaboration.

The lab is a friendly mixture of modelers and experimental 
psychologists. It is ideally located in central Paris, in the Quartier 
Latin, in close proximity with theoretical neuroscientists, 
psychologists and neurophysiologists.

The position is funded for two years with possible extension. Salary is 
commensurate with experience and the position carries a full social 
security and health coverage. Candidates should send their applications 
(including a brief letter of interest, a CV and the names and contact 
details of two or three references) to romain.brette at ens.fr. Please do 
not hesitate to contact me for further details on the specific projects.

Romain Brette
Associate Professor
DEC-ENS
29 rue d'Ulm
75005 Paris
http://audition.ens.fr/brette/
romain.brette at ens.fr