Phd Student
Phd Student
Prof. Chin-Teng Lin
Become a postdoctoral researcher or PhD student at the Human-centric AI Centre (HAI) at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia and work in frontier research in the areas of deep machine learning, trusted AI, trustworthy human-autonomy teaming, natural BCIs, reliable GPT, extended reality and swarm intelligence. We are seeking applicants for PhD scholarships and postdoctoral research positions with prior experience and skills in some of the following areas: machine learning fundamentals and generative models, deep learning optimisation and reinforcement learning, brain-computer interfaces, drones and robotics, trusted AI, extended reality.
Marsa
The successful applicant will work on a multidisciplinary collaborative project aiming to determine the importance of cortical engram cells in memory formation and storage and probe the role of cortical memory engrams in the generation and retrieval of a sensory-based memory. The project as a whole combines computational modeling, electrophysiology, calcium imaging techniques, and molecular and behavioral experiments. First, the biophysical properties of engrams will be identified in a cortical area of interest, and their functional role will be unraveled in vivo. Then, computational modeling will be used to determine the role of engram cells during memory recall. This project is a collaboration between the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia (Prof. L. Palmer), and the University of Dublin, Ireland (Prof. T. Ryan).
Jenny
We are currently recruiting both a research technician and a fully funded PhD student to work on a Wellcome funded project 'How does the brain map sounds into the world?'. This Wellcome funded project uses a range of systems neuroscience and computational approaches to understand how auditory space is constructed in freely moving animals that are pursuing audio and audiovisual targets. The PhD student will be paid as a research assistant for four years, and have their fees funded at the UK rate.
N/A
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to study neural mechanisms of high-dimensional visual category learning. The lab generally seeks to understand the cortical basis and computational principles of perception and experience-dependent plasticity in the brain. To this end, we use a multimodal approach including fMRI-guided electrophysiological recordings in rodents and non-human primates, and fMRI and ECoG in humans. The PhD student will play a key role in our research efforts in this area. The lab is located at Ruhr-University Bochum and the German Primate Center. At both locations, the lab is embedded into interdisciplinary research centers with international faculty and students pursuing cutting-edge research in cognitive and computational neuroscience. The PhD student will have access to a new imaging center with a dedicated 3T research scanner, electrophysiology, and behavioral setups. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with the labs of Fabian Sinz, Alexander Gail, and Igor Kagan. The Department of Cognitive Neurobiology of Caspar Schwiedrzik at Ruhr-University Bochum is looking for an outstanding PhD student interested in studying the neural basis of mental flexibility. The project investigates neural mechanisms of high-dimensional visual category learning, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in combination with computational modelling and behavioral testing in humans. It is funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant (Acronym DimLearn; “Flexible Dimensionality of Representational Spaces in Category Learning”). The PhD student’s project will focus on developing new category learning paradigms to investigate the neural basis of flexible multi-task learning in humans using fMRI. In addition, the PhD student will cooperate with other lab members on parallel computational investigations using artificial neural networks as well as comparative research exploring the same questions in non-human primates.
Caspar Schwiedrzik
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to study neural mechanisms of high-dimensional visual category learning. The lab generally seeks to understand the cortical basis and computational principles of perception and experience-dependent plasticity in the brain. To this end, we use a multimodal approach including fMRI-guided electrophysiological recordings in rodents and non-human primates, and fMRI and ECoG in humans. The PhD student will play a key role in our research efforts in this area. The lab is located at Ruhr-University Bochum and the German Primate Center. At both locations, the lab is embedded into interdisciplinary research centers with international faculty and students pursuing cutting-edge research in cognitive and computational neuroscience. The PhD student will have access to a new imaging center with a dedicated 3T research scanner, electrophysiology, and behavioral setups. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with the labs of Fabian Sinz, Alexander Gail, and Igor Kagan. The Department of Cognitive Neurobiology of Caspar Schwiedrzik at Ruhr-University Bochum is looking for an outstanding PhD student interested in studying the neural basis of mental flexibility. The project investigates neural mechanisms of high-dimensional visual category learning, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in combination with computational modelling and behavioral testing in humans. It is funded by an ERC Consolidator Grant (Acronym DimLearn; “Flexible Dimensionality of Representational Spaces in Category Learning”). The PhD student’s project will focus on developing new category learning paradigms to investigate the neural basis of flexible multi-task learning in humans using fMRI. In addition, the PhD student will cooperate with other lab members on parallel computational investigations using artificial neural networks as well as comparative research exploring the same questions in non-human primates.
Prof. Dominik R Bach
The Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at University of Bonn is looking to recruit a postdoctoral fellow or PhD student to undertake high quality research and produce high-impact publications in a collaborative research project investigating human escape using wearable magnetoencephalography with optically pumped magnometers (OPM). The goal of the advertised position is to understand the neural control of human escape decisions in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment using an OPM-compatible HMD, in collaboration with the Wellcome Platform for Naturalistic Neuroimaging, which is part of the FIL at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK. The role includes conceptual design of naturalistic VR scenarios that allow MEG recordings, planning, conducting, and analysing MEG experiments, building robust pipelines for MEG analysis in naturalistic settings, and publication of research and development results.
Prof. Dominik R Bach
The Hertz Chair for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at University of Bonn is looking to recruit a postdoctoral fellow or PhD student to undertake high quality research and produce high-impact publications in a collaborative research project investigating human escape using wearable magnetoencephalography with optically pumped magnometers (OPM). The goal of the advertised position is to understand the neural control of human escape decisions in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment using an OPM-compatible HMD, in collaboration with the Wellcome Platform for Naturalistic Neuroimaging, which is part of the FIL at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK. The role includes conceptual design of naturalistic VR scenarios that allow MEG recordings, planning, conducting, and analysing MEG experiments, building robust pipelines for MEG analysis in naturalistic settings, and publication of research and development results.
Prof Dominik Bach
The Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience at University of Bonn is looking to recruit a postdoctoral fellow and a PhD student to undertake high quality research and produce high-impact publications in a collaborative research project investigating the mechanisms of human aversive learning (a pre-clinical model of anxiety disorders) in a big-data approach. The project is led by Prof Dominik Bach. The goal of the advertised positions is to (a) conduct an fMRI mega-analysis of multi-voxel threat representations, using existing data from the ENIGMA consortium, and (b) adapt and improve methods to infer threat learning from psychophysiological and behavioural data in fMRI and ambulatory settings. The position involves a close collaboration with the Department for Imaging Neuroscience (FIL) at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK, where part of the team is based. The role includes implementing fMRI analysis pipelines in HALFpipe, coordination with participating sites to obtain and process data, mega-analysis of threat representation geometry, implementing and developing psychophysiology and behavioural analysis pipelines using PsPM/Matlab, CogLearn/VRthreat/R, and statistical modelling (e.g. Rstan), and publication of research and development results.
The SIMple microscope: Development of a fibre-based platform for accessible SIM imaging in unconventional environments
Advancements in imaging speed, depth and resolution have made structured illumination microscopy (SIM) an increasingly powerful optical sectioning (OS) and super-resolution (SR) technique, but these developments remain inaccessible to many life science researchers due to the cost, optical complexity and delicacy of these instruments. We address these limitations by redesigning the optical path using in-line fibre components that are compact, lightweight and easily assembled in a “Plug & Play” modality, without compromising imaging performance. They can be integrated into an existing widefield microscope with a minimum of optical components and alignment, making OS-SIM more accessible to researchers with less optics experience. We also demonstrate a complete SR-SIM imaging system with dimensions 300 mm × 300 mm × 450 mm. We propose to enable accessible SIM imaging by utilising its compact, lightweight and robust design to transport it where it is needed, and image in “unconventional” environments where factors such as temperature and biosafety considerations currently limit imaging experiments.
Trends in NeuroAI - Unified Scalable Neural Decoding (POYO)
Lead author Mehdi Azabou will present on his work "POYO-1: A Unified, Scalable Framework for Neural Population Decoding" (https://poyo-brain.github.io/). Mehdi is an ML PhD student at Georgia Tech advised by Dr. Eva Dyer. Paper link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.16046 Trends in NeuroAI is a reading group hosted by the MedARC Neuroimaging & AI lab (https://medarc.ai/fmri | https://groups.google.com/g/medarc-fmri).
Imaging the subcortex; Microstructural and connectivity correlates of outcome variability in functional neurosurgery for movement disorders
We are very much looking forward to host Francisca Ferreira and Birte Forstmann on December 14th, 2023, at noon ET / 6PM CET. Francisca Ferreira is a PhD student and Neurosurgery trainee at the University College of London Queen Square Institute of Neurology and a Royal College of Surgeons “Emerging Leaders” program laureate. Her presentation title will be: “Microstructural and connectivity correlates of outcome variability in functional neurosurgery for movement disorders”. Birte Forstmann, PhD, is the Director of the Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center, a Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Amsterdam, and a Professor by Special Appointment of Neuroscientific Testing of Psychological Models at the University of Leiden. Besides her scientific presentation (“Imaging the human subcortex”), she will give us a glimpse at the “Person behind the science”. You can register via talks.stimulatingbrains.org to receive the (free) Zoom link!
The 15th David Smith Lecture in Anatomical Neuropharmacology: Professor Tim Bliss, "Memories of long term potentiation
The David Smith Lectures in Anatomical Neuropharmacology, Part of the 'Pharmacology, Anatomical Neuropharmacology and Drug Discovery Seminars Series', Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford. The 15th David Smith Award Lecture in Anatomical Neuropharmacology will be delivered by Professor Tim Bliss, Visiting Professor at UCL and the Frontier Institutes of Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, and is hosted by Professor Nigel Emptage. This award lecture was set up to celebrate the vision of Professor A David Smith, namely, that explanations of the action of drugs on the brain requires the definition of neuronal circuits, the location and interactions of molecules. Tim Bliss gained his PhD at McGill University in Canada. He joined the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London in 1967, where he remained throughout his career. His work with Terje Lømo in the late 1960’s established the phenomenon of long-term potentiation (LTP) as the dominant synaptic model of how the mammalian brain stores memories. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1994 and is a founding fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He shared the Bristol Myers Squibb award for Neuroscience with Eric Kandel in 1991, the Ipsen Prize for Neural Plasticity with Richard Morris and Yadin Dudai in 2013. In May 2012 he gave the annual Croonian Lecture at the Royal Society on ‘The Mechanics of Memory’. In 2016 Tim, with Graham Collingridge and Richard Morris shared the Brain Prize, one of the world's most coveted science prizes. Abstract: In 1966 there appeared in Acta Physiologica Scandinavica an abstract of a talk given by Terje Lømo, a PhD student in Per Andersen’s laboratory at the University of Oslo. In it Lømo described the long-lasting potentiation of synaptic responses in the dentate gyrus of the anaesthetised rabbit that followed repeated episodes of 10-20Hz stimulation of the perforant path. Thus, heralded and almost entirely unnoticed, one of the most consequential discoveries of 20th century neuroscience was ushered into the world. Two years later I arrived in Oslo as a visiting post-doc from the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London. In this talk I recall the events that led us to embark on a systematic reinvestigation of the phenomenon now known as long-term potentiation (LTP) and will then go on to describe the discoveries and controversies that enlivened the early decades of research into synaptic plasticity in the mammalian brain. I will end with an observer’s view of the current state of research in the field, and what we might expect from it in the future.
MBI Webinar on preclinical research into brain tumours and neurodegenerative disorders
WEBINAR 1 Breaking the barrier: Using focused ultrasound for the development of targeted therapies for brain tumours presented by Dr Ekaterina (Caty) Salimova, Monash Biomedical Imaging Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) - brain cancer - is aggressive and difficult to treat as systemic therapies are hindered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Focused ultrasound (FUS) - a non-invasive technique that can induce targeted temporary disruption of the BBB – is a promising tool to improve GBM treatments. In this webinar, Dr Ekaterina Salimova will discuss the MRI-guided FUS modality at MBI and her research to develop novel targeted therapies for brain tumours. Dr Ekaterina (Caty) Salimova is a Research Fellow in the Preclinical Team at Monash Biomedical Imaging. Her research interests include imaging cardiovascular disease and MRI-guided focused ultrasound for investigating new therapeutic targets in neuro-oncology. - WEBINAR 2 Disposition of the Kv1.3 inhibitory peptide HsTX1[R14A], a novel attenuator of neuroinflammation presented by Sanjeevini Babu Reddiar, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences The voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv1.3) in microglia regulates membrane potential and pro-inflammatory functions, and non-selective blockade of Kv1.3 has shown anti-inflammatory and disease improvement in animal models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Therefore, specific inhibitors of pro-inflammatory microglial processes with CNS bioavailability are urgently needed, as disease-modifying treatments for neurodegenerative disorders are lacking. In this webinar, PhD candidate Ms Sanju Reddiar will discuss the synthesis and biodistribution of a Kv1.3-inhibitory peptide using a [64Cu]Cu-DOTA labelled conjugate. Sanjeevini Babu Reddiar is a PhD student at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. She is working on a project identifying the factors governing the brain disposition and blood-brain barrier permeability of a Kv1.3-blocking peptide.
Neurotoxicity is a major health problem in Africa: focus on Parkinson's / Parkinsonism
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most present neurodegenerative disease in the world after Alzheimer's. It is due to the progressive and irreversible loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra Pars Compacta. Alpha synuclein deposits and the appearance of Lewi bodies are systematically associated with it. PD is characterized by four cardinal motor symptoms: bradykinesia / akinesia, rigidity, postural instability and tremors at rest. These symptoms appear when 80% of the dopaminergic endings disappear in the striatum. According to Braak's theory, non-motor symptoms appear much earlier and this is particularly the case with anxiety, depression, anhedonia, and sleep disturbances. In 90 to 95% of cases, the causes of the appearance of the disease remain unknown, but polluting toxic molecules are incriminated more and more. In Africa, neurodegenerative diseases of the Parkinson's type are increasingly present and a parallel seems to exist between the increase in cases and the presence of toxic and polluting products such as metals. My Web conference will focus on this aspect, i.e. present experimental arguments which reinforce the hypothesis of the incrimination of these pollutants in the incidence of Parkinson's disease and / or Parkinsonism. Among the lines of research that we have developed in my laboratory in Rabat, Morocco, I have chosen this one knowing that many of our PhD students and IBRO Alumni are working or trying to develop scientific research on neurotoxicity in correlation with pathologies of the brain.