One Ph.D. position is available within the National Ph.D. Program in ‘Theoretical and Applied Neuroscience’. The Ph.D. will be held in the Brain Dynamics Lab at the Biorobotics Institute of Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa (Italy) in collaboration with the Kelsch Group at the University Medical Center, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz (Germany). Understanding the dynamical systems governing neuronal activity is crucial for unraveling how the brain performs cognitive functions. Historically, various forms of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) have been proposed as simplified models of the cortex. Recently, due to remarkable advancements in machine learning, RNNs' ability to capture temporal dependencies has been used to develop tools for approximating unknown dynamical systems by training them on observed time-series data. This approach allows us to use time series of electrophysiological multi-single unit recordings as well as whole brain ultra-high field functional imaging (fMRI) to parametrize neuronal population dynamics and build functional models of cognitive functions. The objective of this research project is to investigate the neuronal mechanisms underlying the reinforcement and depreciation of perceived stimuli in the extended network of the mouse forebrain regions. The PhD student will carry out his/her/their studies primarily at the BioRobotics Institute of Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. The project will expose the student to a highly international and interdisciplinary context, in tight collaboration with theoretical and experimental neuroscientists in Italy and abroad. At the BioRobotics Institute, the research groups involved will be the Brain Dynamics Lab, the Computational Neuroengineering Lab, and the Bioelectronics and Bioengineering Area. Moreover, the project will be carried out in tight collaboration with the experimental group of Prof. Wolfgang Kelsch, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. During the PhD, the student will have the opportunity to spend a period abroad.