[Comp-neuro] Post Doc Positions in Computational Neuroscience available

[Thomas Nowotny]

2 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Positions in Computational Neuroscience

a) 3 years fixed term, full time - Ref 928
b) 3 years fixed term, part-time 50% fte - Ref 929

Salary range: Grade 7 £27,466 to £32,796 p.a. (pro-rata for part me)

are available at the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics (CCNR)
at the University of Sussex, UK.

Expected start date: As soon as possible

Closing date for applications: 12 January 2008

PLEASE FORWARD TO POTENTIAL CANDIDATES!

Job details:

The two post-doctoral positions are available in a new research initiative for 
modelling the pheromone system of the moth at the Centre for Computational 
Neuroscience and Robotics (CCNR) at the University of Sussex starting 1 
February 2008. Our objective in this project is to discover how insects use 
their sense of smell (olfaction) to find pheromone (chemicals emitted by living 
organisms to send messages to individuals of the same species) sources in a 
noisy and dynamic environment. The ability of a flying male moth to find a 
pheromone emitting mate is truly remarkable and well beyond our ability to 
replicate artificially. Investigating this system will substantially advance 
our knowledge in sensory systems and neuroscience in general and will have 
strong implications for biomimetic applications. The research initiative, 
funded by the French ANR and British BBSRC, is in conjunction with two French 
partners, the groups of Dr. Jean-Pierre Rospars at INRA, Versailles and of Dr. 
Dominique Martinez at LORIA, Nancy. You will work on computational modeling of 
the pheromone-detecting centre of the moth brain - the antennal lobe. The work 
plan includes opportunities to analyze original experimental data from one of 
the French partners and building computational models as well as to develop 
your own research directions. An 80-core computer cluster is available at the 
CCNR for numerical work and will be extended to 120 cores for this project.

For the full time position, emphasis will be on building detailed and 
increasingly simplified one-glomerulus models to analyze the specific 
information processing strategies in the moth. Another important part of this 
work will be the development of suitable data fitting and model simplification 
methods.

The part-time position will focus on the amplification and noise-suppression 
problem in the pheromone system, starting from general models of convergent 
neuronal networks with noise. Later you will join forces with the other 
research fellow and analyze the specific example of the moth on the 
one-glomerulus level.

Successful candidates must hold a PhD or equivalent degree in a quantitative 
science discipline. We are looking for candidates with a strong mathematical 
and computational neuroscience background. Knowledge of the olfactory system 
would be a plus but is not a requirement. Both positions require a good 
knowledge of a higher object oriented programming language (preferably C++). 
The positions will involve occasional travel to France.

For informal inquiries about the positions, please contact Dr. Thomas
Nowotny, CCNR, Informatics, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton BN1
9QJ, t.nowotny at sussex.ac.uk. Please provide a CV with publication list with 
your application form and include a description of your scientific interests 
and future aspirations in the 'additional support' section.

Interviews are anticipated for end of January 2008

For full details and how to apply see 
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/staffing/personnl/vacs/vac928_929.shtml

The University of Sussex is committed to equality of opportunity

-- 
Dr. Thomas Nowotny
RCUK Academic Fellow		phone: +44-1273-678593
University of Sussex 		fax: +44-1273-877873
Brighton BN1 9QJ, UK		http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/users/tn41