Retina

Matthew Chalk

A postdoctoral position is available for a project with Matthew Chalk (https://matthewjchalk.wixsite.com/mysite), at the Vision Institute (www.institut-vision.org/en/), within the Sorbonne Université, in Paris, France. The project will involve investigating principles of neural coding in the retina. Specifically, the project will investigate how different coding objectives, such as optimising efficiency or encoding predictive information, can explain the diverse ways that neurons in the retina respond to visual stimulation. The project will extend previous work by Chalk et al. to develop a general theory of optimal neural coding (Chalk et al. PNAS 2018, Chalk et al. 2022 biorxiv). For this, we will use a range of computational techniques including gaussian processes (Goldin et al. 2023 PNAS) and information theory. The project is part of an exciting interdisciplinary collaboration between theorists and experimentalists at the Vision Institute (Olivier Marre; http://oliviermarre.free.fr), and Thomas Euler (https://eulerlab.de) and Philip Berens (https://www.eye-tuebingen.de/berenslab/) at Tuebingen University. The Vision Institute is a stimulating environment for brain research. It brings together in a single building researchers, clinicians and industrial partners in order to discover, test and develop treatments and technological innovations for the benefit of visually impaired patients. The candidate will have a PhD with a strong, quantitative background (ideally in fields such as machine learning, theoretical neuroscience or physics). They will have a good grasp of oral and written English (French is not required). Most of all, they will enjoy tackling new problems with enthusiasm and as part of a team. The position is funded for three years. Applications should include a CV, a statement of research interests (~ 1 page), and two letters of recommendation. Electronic submissions in pdf-format are preferred and should be sent to Matthew Chalk (matthewjchalk@gmail.com). Feel free to ask any informal questions about the position if you are interested.