Connectionists: Postdoctoral position in computational systems neuroscience, SKKU, South Korea

[Hansem Sohn]

Dear Colleagues,


Natural Intelligence Laboratory (https://natural-intelligence-lab.github.io/)
has open positions for postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. Led
by Hansem Sohn (https://hansem.github.io), the lab investigates how
biological neural networks perform computation and generate intelligent
behaviors. Specifically, we have two research projects :


   1.

   Neural population dynamics of relational inference

How does the brain make inferences based on relations between objects? To
tackle this question, we have collected electrophysiology data from the
posterior parietal cortex while animals performed a visual search task
based on object relations. The prospective postdoc/student is expected to
analyze the data to study how the cortical population dynamics unfold
during the relational inference. The data was collected using high-density
linear probes (up to two Neuropixels) and will also provide a unique
opportunity to study the role of cortical laminar structures. Ideal
candidates will have a strong background in analysis of electrophysiology
data, advanced statistical methods, and neural network modeling but
opportunities to learn these will be provided. This will be a collaboration
with Dr. Mehrdad Jazayeri at MIT.


   1.

   Cortical processing of domain-general numerical information

In this project, we will tackle the following questions.

- How does the brain represent ecologically relevant numerical information
(e.g., number of apples) and perform computations based on those
representations in a compositional manner?

- Is there a neural circuit dedicated to numerical information processing,
and is it common across different modalities of quantities such as number,
time, and space?

- What is the role of the prefrontal and posterior parietal cortex in
processing numerical information? Are they rather independent modules or
parts of a big recurrent network?

- Do humans and non-human primates share similar neural mechanisms for
magnitude processing?

We will use multiple approaches including careful design of behavioral
tasks, computational modeling with Bayesian theory and artificial neural
networks, large-scale electrophysiology, and state-of-the-art fMRI for both
humans and non-human primates. Ideal candidates have extensive experience
in more than one of the approaches but the lab will provide opportunities
to learn new techniques.

Research topics are not limited to the above-mentioned projects and open to
new proposals. Competitive salary or stipend (together with the tuition for
graduate students) will be provided.

The lab is supported by Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Center for
Neuroscience Imaging Research (CNIR), which houses multi-species animal
facilities, multiple MRI scanners (3T, 7T), and cutting-edge
neurophysiology systems. We offer a highly open, interactive, and
collaborative research environment to promote innovative science.
Sungkyunkwan university is a top-tier higher education in South Korea,
located near its vibrant capital, Seoul (30 minutes drive).

If you are interested in working in the lab, please send a cover letter
(stating why you are interested) and your CV/resume to hansem [at]
g.skku.edu. The lab is committed to promote diversity and an inclusive
environment. We value passion, strong work ethic (get things done!),
scientific rigor and integrity, creativity (think outside the box!), and
independence.

-- 
Hansem Sohn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU),
Suwon, Republic of Korea
+82-10-3822-1481
hansem at skku.edu
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