2 PhD positions as part of interdisciplinary collaborations are available in Laura Busse’s group at the Department of Biology II of the LMU Munich. We study neural circuits of visual perception in awake, behaving mice, where we combine extracellular electrophysiological recordings with genetic tools for circuit manipulation.

The first position is part of the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Center Robust vision: Inference Principles and neural mechanisms. In collaboration with Philipp Berens (data analysis, University of Tübingen) and Thomas Euler (retinal imaging, University of Tübingen), the project builds upon Roman Roson*, Bauer* et al. (2019), and will investigate how feedforward, feedback, and neuromodulatory inputs dorsolateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the thalamus shape visual representations. The project will include opportunities for in vivo extracellular recordings in mouse dLGN, optogenetic manipulations of cortico-thalamic feedback, and advanced modeling approaches (in Philipp Berens’ lab). A second, complementary PhD position based primarily in Tübingen will have a computational focus and will focus on modeling of the experimental findings.

The second position is part of the DFG-funded Priority Program Computational Connectomics and will be done in collaboration with Dr. Tatjana Tchumatchenko at the University of Bonn and Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt. The project combines questions from neurobiology and theoretical neuroscience. It will exploit simultaneous thalamic / cortical recordings and optogenetic manipulations to investigate how feedforward inputs and recurrent connectivity in the thalamocortical loop shapes population activity in the primary visual cortex. The successful candidate will perform extracellular recordings and optogenetics in mice, use quantitative data analysis and collaborate with our theory partner in Bonn/Frankfurt on theoretical network analyses.

Interested candidates are welcome to establish contact via email to busse@bio.lmu.de. Both positions offer a thriving scientific environment, a structured PhD program and numerous opportunities for networking and exchange.

Applications will need to go through the LMU Graduate School of Systemic Neuroscience (GSN online application, https://www.gsn.uni-muenchen.de). The deadline for applications is February 15.

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