Connectionists: Two postdoctoral positions: modeling and analysis of slow-wave oscillations

[Maurizio Mattia]

Applications are invited for two two-year postdoctoral positions at the
Italian Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS) in Rome to
collaborate with Dr. Maurizio Mattia. The positions are funded by the
project CORTICONIC from FP7 of European Commission (www.corticonic.org), and
one of them will be co-supervised with Prof. Paolo Del Giudice (project PI
for ISS). The project aims to identify the multi-scale organization of the
cortex by analyzing and modeling the generation and propagation of slow
oscillations during sleep and anesthesia.

The postdoctoral researchers will develop models of cortical fields of
interconnected pools of spiking neurons to reproduce slow-wave oscillations
with propagation modes and variability comparable to the one observed in in
vivo experiments on rodents. This will allow to infer more general features
of the nervous tissue as an excitable medium and will inspire theory-driven
innovative strategies for electrophysiological data analysis to perform in
close collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Maria-Victoria
Sanchez-Vives in Barcelona.

The ideal applicants have a strong background in Physics or Applied
Mathematics, with experience in modeling biological systems and in analyzing
experimental data. Programming friendliness with MATLAB (or similar) is
desirable.

The contracts will start from the beginning of 2014 for full-time positions
with salary based on standard Italian regulations for 3rd level researcher.
The successful candidates will spend two years in ISS enjoying the awesome
marvels of our Eternal City, and joining a growing group of researchers in
theoretical neuroscience (neural.iss.infn.it) enriched by collaborations
with theoretical physicists and neurophysiologists working on primates and
humans at the nearby 'Sapienza' University of Rome.

To apply, send a brief statement of research interests, CV, and contact
information for two references to maurizio.mattia at iss.it and
paolo.delgiudice at iss.infn.it. Informal inquiries are also welcome.

_______________________
Maurizio Mattia, PhD

Complex Systems Modeling Sect.,
Technologies and Health Dept.,	phone : +39 06 49902513
Istituto Superiore di Sanità		fax : +39 06 49902137
v.le Regina Elena, 299	    		e-mail: maurizio.mattia at iss.it
00161 Roma, Italy	          		web :
http://neural.iss.infn.it