As a PhD candidate, you will work on interdisciplinary projects combining computational neuroscience and machine learning in order to gain insight into the computational principles of information processing in the primate visual system. The main element of the work will include the development of and experiments with deep (recurrent) neural network models, simulated agents, and theoretical work aimed at better understanding which representational features emerge in the model system. The computational work is compared against large-scale data from neuroscience experiments, including functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), as well as high-density electrophysiological recordings and behavioural experiments. Furthermore your work includes dissemination of the scientific results in high-impact outlets, assistance with the preparation of research grants, and the release of open datasets and analysis tools.

• A Master's degree in machine learning, computational neuroscience, and/or cognitive science.
• A passion for cognitive computational neuroscience and visual information processing in the brain.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills, as well as critical thinking.
• Advanced programming skills such as Python and/or Matlab (required).
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as Tensorflow and Pytorch (desirable).
• Experience with electrophysiological/neuroimaging data is a plus.
• High proficiency in spoken and written English.
• The ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• The willingness to learn in an interdisciplinary setting.

Fixed-term contract: You will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years.

• Employment: 40 hours per week.
• A maximum gross monthly salary of € 2.972 based on a 38-hour working week (salary scale P).
• The gross starting salary amounts to €2,325 per month, and will increase to €2,972 in the fourth year (p scale)
• In addition to the salary: an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Duration of the contract: you will be appointed for an initial period of 18 months, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years.
• The intended start date is 1 March 2020.
• You will be able to make use of our Dual Career Service: our Dual Career Officer will assist with family-related support, such as child care, and help your partner prepare for the local labour market and with finding an occupation.
• Are you interested in our excellent employment conditions?
• You will be part of the Donders Graduate School for Cognitive Neuroscience.

We want to get the best out of science, others and ourselves. Why? Because this is what the world around us desperately needs. Leading research and education make an indispensable contribution to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. This is what unites the more than 22,000 students and 5,000 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent and collaboration. You have a part to play!

Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen

Our research group aims to understand the computational processes by which artificial and natural agents can efficiently and robustly derive meaning from the world around us. We ask how the brain acquires versatile representations from the statistical regularities in the input, how sensory information is transformed in the cortical network, and which information is extracted by the brain to support higher-level cognition. To find answers to these questions, we develop and employ machine learning techniques to discover and model structure in high-dimensional neural data. As a target modality, we focus on vision, the most dominant of our senses, both neurally and perceptually. To gain insight into the intricate system that enables us to see, the group advances along two interconnected lines of research: machine learning for discovery in neuroimaging data, and deep neural network modelling of natural intelligence in artificial systems. This interdisciplinary work combines machine learning, computational neuroscience, computer vision, and semantics. Our work is therefore at the heart of the emerging field of cognitive computational neuroscience.

The group is based at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The Donders Institute is a world-class interfaculty research centre that houses more than 600 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. It was recently recognised as a 'very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent'. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.