PhD opportunities and Posdoc positions

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN,DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE NEURAL INFORMATION PROCESSING GROUP
MACHINE LEARNING / NEURAL NETWORKS
The successful candidate is expected to join the ongoing  projects of the Neural Information Processing Group  (http://ni.cs.tu-berlin.de/).  Potential research areas include Learning on Structured  Representations, Active and Semisupervised Learning or  Reinforcement Learning.

Since the position involves some teaching obligations, candidates must have good German language skills.

Starting date: April 1st, 2011
Salary level: TV-L E13
The position of for five years.

Candidates should hold a recent Diplom or Master degree (for the PhD position) and PhD degree (for the postdoctoral position) and should have excellent mathematical and
programming skills. Candidates with good knowledge and with research experience in Machine Learning / Neural Networks will be preferred.

Application material (CV, list of publications, abstract of  Diplom- / Master- / PhD-thesis, copies of certificates and  two letters of reference) should be sent to:

Prof. Dr. Klaus Obermayer,
FR 2-1, Technische Universität Berlin
Franklinstrasse 28/29, 10587 Berlin
e-mail: oby@cs.tu-berlin.de

All applications received before February 15, 2011, will be  given full consideration, but applications will be accepted  until the position is filled.

TUB seeks to increase the proportion of women and  particularly encourages women to apply. Women will be  preferred given equal qualification.

Disabled persons will be preferred given equal qualification.

BERNSTEIN CENTER FOR COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE BERLIN

1 PhD / Postdoc Position

COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE
The successful candidate is expected to study computational  models of visual processing, and will join ongoing  collaborations of the Neural Information Processing Group (http://ni.cs.tu-berlin.de/) with experimental groups who  work with animal models as well as with human subjects.

Since the position involves some teaching obligations,  candidates must have good German language skills.

Starting date: April 1st, 2011
Salary level: TV-L E13
The position of for five years.

Candidates should hold a recent Diplom- or Master-degree  (for the PhD position) and PhD degree (for the postdoctoral  position) and should have excellent mathematical and
programming skills. Candidates with good knowledge and with  research experience in Computational Neuroscience will be  preferred.

Application material (CV, list of publications, abstract of  Diplom- / Master- / PhD-thesis, copies of certificates and  two letters of reference) should be sent to:

Prof. Dr. Klaus Obermayer,
FR 2-1, Technische Universität Berlin, Franklinstrasse 28/29,
10587 Berlin,
email: oby@cs.tu-berlin.de,

All applications received before February 15, 2011, will be  given full consideration, but applications will be accepted  until the position is filled.

TUB seeks to increase the proportion of women and  particularly encourages women to apply. Women will be  preferred given equal qualification.

Disabled persons will be preferred given equal qualification.

PHD POSITION IN SYSTEMS NEUROSCIENCE IN BARCELONA:
STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS OF CORTICAL CIRCUITS AND THEIR IMPACT ON  PERCEPTION.

Applications are invited for a PhD position in the ‘Cortical  Circuit  Dynamics Group’ at IDIBAPS (Institut D’Investigacions  Biomèdiques August  Pi i Sunyer), in Barcelona. The 4 year position, funded by  an FPI grant  by the Spanish Ministry of Science, starts Sept. 2011 and is  aimed to  investigate the role of noise in perception and decision making.

Our lab is generally interested in elucidating the neural and circuit  mechanisms underlying auditory processing and perception. In  particular,  we investigate the integration of feed-forward sensory  inputs and  top-down signals into coherent percepts, in the presence of  ongoing  activity generated by local circuit dynamics. We focus on  the role of neuronal noise and synchrony on this process as well as its dependence on brain state. We combine population cortical recordings in  rats with  with quantitative analysis and computational modeling.

Our lab is part of the Systems Neuroscience Unit (http://www.idibaps.org/research/708/systems-neuroscience)  in IDIBAPS (http://www.idibaps.ub.edu/eng/home.php) where we benefit  from a regular
interaction with the labs of Dr. Albert Compte  (http://complab.fcrb.es/)
and Dr. David Robbe  (http://neuro.fcrb.es/BasalGangLab/RobbeLab). This unit is part of a larger and growing community of Systems and  Computational Neuroscience groups in Barcelona  (http://www.barcelonaneuroscience.com) which organizes
weekly seminars  and meetings. Many of the groups in this community share a
common  general interest on the study of neural network dynamics.  IDIBAPS is one
of the largest biomedical research institutes in Spain and  is located in  the heart of Barcelona’s business and art nouveau district,  and it is  minutes away from a variety of restaurants, cafes, shopping  areas and  the beach (15 minutes bike ride).

The ideal candidate has a degree in Physics, Mathematics,  Computer Science, Neuroscience or similar and combines a solid  background in  neurobiology and quantitative analysis skills. Programming  skills and  strong motivation to learn experimental as well as computational  state-of-the-art techniques would be an advantage. For further  information about this position, visit  http://neuro.fcrb.es/delaRochaLab. Application letters  including a CV,  research experience, a short statement of research  interests, and  contact details of two referees should be sent by email to Dr. Jaime de  la Rocha (jrochav@clinic.ub.es) before February 15th 2011.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: GRADUATE PROGRAMS
COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE

Doctoral Program “Sensory Computation in Neural Systems” and Master
Program “Computational Neuroscience”

Application deadline: March 15, 2011.
Begin of Courses: October/November 2011
http://www.computational-neuroscience-berlin.de

*Doctoral Program*
The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin and the TU Berlin invite applications for *4 fellowships* of the Research Training Group “Sensory Computation in Neural Systems” (GRK 1589/1).

Doctoral candidates will develop computational methods for the study of sensory computation, focusing on time and dynamics, and apply these in experiments by combining techniques and concepts from computational neuroscience, cognitive science, machine learning, and system neurobiology.

The training group offers a structured supervision complemented by a teaching and training program. Each student will be supervised by two investigators with complementary expertise and will be associated with the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin (http://www.bccn-berlin.de/) a leading research center dedicated to the theoretical study of neural processing.

Candidates are expected to hold a Masters degree (or equivalent) in a relevant subject (e.g., neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, physics, etc.) and have the required advanced mathematical background.

Candidates selected in the first application step will be invited for lab visits and an interview, expected to take place in June 2011. The fellowships of approximately 1500 ?/month (with additional children allowances if applicable) will be granted for up to three years.

*Master Program*

The Master program offers ten places per year, has a duration of 2 years and is fully taught in English. The curriculum is subdivided into ten modules, whose content includes theoretical neuroscience, advanced programming, data acquisition and computational analysis, machine learning, and modeling of experimental data, with a strong focus on a complementary theoretical and experimental training. Three lab rotations and a master thesis are accomplished in the second year. The aim of the
program is to grant the students an interdisciplinary education and an early contact to the neurocomputational research environment.

Requirements: BSc or equivalent degree, (typically in the natural sciences, in an engineering discipline, in cognitive science, or in mathematics), certificate of English proficiency, proof of sufficient mathematical knowledge (i.e. at least 24 ECTS credit points).

For further information concerning the graduate programs and the application procedure, see http://www.computational-neuroscience-berlin.de or e-mail graduateprograms@bccn-berlin.de .