Postdoctoral Fellowship (08) at Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands

We are seeking an enthusiastic researcher for a two-year postdoctoral position to engage in highly interdisciplinary and innovative neuroscience research. The project is funded by an NWO grant and is a collaboration between the Donders Institute (Faculty of Science, Radboud University) and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, together with international collaborators.

The project involves the development of multichannel optical probes on micro-photonic chips for submicron-scale optogenetics, the development of a neuron–computer interface system, and the use of iPSC-derived human neurons for all-optical physiology. The overall aim is to establish an all-optical experimental platform to investigate how ensembles of synaptic inputs are integrated through non-linear dendritic processes.

Neurons receive ensembles of synaptic inputs with spatiotemporal patterns. The resulting neuronal responses (firing patterns) are highly non-linear due to the dynamic properties of dendritic signal processing. Investigating this input–output transformation is essential for understanding how neurons function within neural networks.

We seek a motivated postdoctoral researcher with expertise in neurocomputational models of adaptive learning. You will be funded by an ERC Advanced Grant entitled ’HEART2ADAPT: Autonomic balance for adaptive decision making’. Together with a team of postdoctoral researchers and PhD candidates we will investigate how people make approach-avoidance decisions under states of threat.

Why do some people stay calm and make flexible decisions under pressure, while others freeze or flee? ‘HEART2ADAPT’ is on a mission to find out. We are building a new model to understand how the body’s autonomic stress state shapes the way we respond to danger – and how this balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity guides adaptation in ever-changing environments.

Using cutting-edge tools to track brain and body activity in real time – think heart rate, posture and advanced neuroimaging – we will explore how stress affects decision-making. We will also test causal mechanisms through pharmacological interventions and transcranial ultrasound stimulation.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will contribute to a collaborative ZonMW open competition project (a team of two postdoctoral fellows embedded in two different institutes) dedicated to dissecting gametocyte development in vivax-type malaria parasites. To unveil unique parasite biology, we will combine state-of-the-art omics, gene editing, and imaging technologies in a highly collaborative setting.

We need your expertise in applying and integrating various omics approaches (single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics). Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to develop novel ideas and work on additional independent projects that align with this research theme.

Arab societies have witnessed tremendous shifts over the past decade-and-a-half. From the high hopes nurtured during the Arab Spring to the violent wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Gaza, the Arab public has experienced a period of immense upheaval.

These societal developments are echoed at the intellectual level. As a younger generation of intellectuals from various backgrounds – writers, artists, podcasters, journalists and academics – is entering the fray, their work will no doubt reflect these experiences. Reacting to the widely sensed disconnect between the intellectuals of the pre-2011 era and the ideals of the revolutions, many are seeking to break with the 20th century debates about how to balance the demands of (Western) modernity with the need to preserve cultural authenticity. Disillusioned by the discrepancy between the West’s liberal, democratic values and its policies in the region, Arabs are looking for alternative ideas and frames for understanding themselves, their societies, and their place in the world.

As a junior postdoctoral researcher you will participate in a consortium project called ’Smart technologies for personalised home care for neurological paediatric patients (RE:HOME)’. This project, involving partners from France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, is funded by Interreg North-West Europe (NWE), a European Territorial Cooperation programme contributing to a better quality of life and well-being of all NWE citizens. The aim of the RE:HOME project is to build and test a rehabilitation platform that enables home rehabilitation in a safe and controlled way through personalised feedback and monitoring of health data, rehabilitation progress and quality of life. For more information, see here.

Within this project, you will be involved in developing algorithms for monitoring and assessing perception and motor behaviour in the hospital and home setting, with an emphasis on sensorimotor integration within the perception-action cycle. Patient studies will be performed to explain human functioning, understand disorders and test new technologies.

As a postdoctoral researcher you will work with Dr Magdalena Kedziorek and Dr Steffen Sagave on a project related to homotopy theory. The position is part of the project ‘Symmetry on the interface of topology and higher algebra’, which is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). You will be expected to communicate your findings through publications in peer-reviewed journals.

You will be encouraged to take part in the activities of the algebraic topology group and the mathematical community in general, by participating in conferences, workshops and seminars. There is no teaching load; however, participation in teaching activities is advised (for up to 10% of your working time). You will mentor PhD candidates and have direct contact with undergraduate students.

Radboud University is looking for a Research Assistant to join the multidisciplinary team at the Donders Institute. The study involves organising acquisition of behavioural and neuroimaging (fMRI) data from six-year-old children during a visit to the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging. You will be responsible for planning and implementing the behavioural and neural measurements. There is the possibility of being involved in the analysis of those measurements. 

This project builds on the notion that social experiences early in life are crucial for the development of human communication skills. The project uses natural variability in early-life social experiences as a tool to understand how different sociocultural environments guide the development of human communicative capacities. We plan to test the long-lasting effects of those experiences on the human ability to communicate. The specific goal of the project is to identify which features of children’s sociocultural environment influence their ability to coordinate with other people later in development