Research project
To carry out the two trials and mechanistically study the brain activity connected to the musical NF the PhD candidate will be working on a wide range of tasks:

• write the trial protocols, and acquire agreement from the ethical committee;
• recruit the subjects and pilot the headphone and NF set;
• develop the paradigms and measurements for EEG, fMRI and neuropsychological tests;
• carry out, analyse, describe and publish the data acquired by these two trials.

This offers the candidate the opportunity to become broadly skilled as clinical neuroscience researcher, with a special expertise in interventional and mechanistic memory- and aging related research, which is a field of increasing scientific and societal importance.

Job description
This PhD project is a unique chance for the brightest and pro-active, hands on master students, who are highly interested in cognitive neurosciences, and who really want to have impact on scientific progress in the field of cognitive decline in aging. As dementia currently is the most threatening problem for older persons, and effective therapy is still lacking, we look for groundbreaking new ways to improve our understanding of memory deficits and next dementia.

When you are genuinely intrigued by the possibility to study brain aging physiology with state of the art neuroscience methods, this is a very interesting PhD project for you. Next, you should be excited on working with a team of clinicians, neusoscientists and technicians, as this is a multidisciplinary projects hosted by the department of Geriatric Medicine and Radboudumc Alzheimer Centre within the Donders Institute for Medical Neurosciences.

• Master’s degree cognitive neurosciences, medical biology, technical medicine or related studies, with clinical, technical and statistical/computational training;
• Excellent communication skills, which enable the PhD student to successfully carry out the two trials with older individuals;
• Passion for mechanistic research, especially connected to cognitive neurosciences;
• Well-developed social skills and team-spirit: strong ability to connect with other research groups;
• Skilled in writing academic English, best if evidenced by having published a scientific article(s);
• You recognise yourself in the Radboud way of working.

The PhD candidate selected is ambitious and passionate to meet our scientific neurofeedback aims, and also connects with our global health improvement goals, enjoys working on the project deliverables, at the same time develops him/herself by acquiring new (research) skills, thereby growing to an excellent clinical and neurosciences researcher with a generic perspective and innovative design testing competencies.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Terms of employment
The project will appoint a PhD candidate for 4 years in total, scale 10A. Your performance will be evaluated after 1 years according to the Donders PhD track. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by another 3 years. You will be ranked in the Dutch university job-ranking system (UFO) as a PhD-student (promovendus). Read more about the Radboudumc employment conditions.

Upon commencement of employment we require a certificate of conduct (Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag, VOG) and there will be a screening based on the provided CV. Radboud university medical center’s HR Department will apply for this certificate on your behalf.

Application
You should submit a motivation letter (max. 1 page), a CV (including a list of grades obtained during your MSc study), and the names of two persons who can provide references. We may start the selection process with short (15 min) interviews.

Radboudumc (university medical center)

Radboudumc strives to be a leading developer of sustainable, innovative and affordable healthcare to improve the health and wellbeing of people and society in the Netherlands and beyond. This is the core of our mission: To have a significant impact on healthcare. To get a better picture of what this entails, check out our strategy film.

Our key strength is medical life-sciences and clinical practice, with an impressive infrastructure comprising state-of-the-art technology platforms and (translational) research facilities. The Radboudumc is therefore uniquely positioned in the emerging Euregio and Dutch healthcare infrastructure to play a leading role in the new healthcare paradigm of prediction, prevention and personalised medicine.

The Radboudumc focuses on scientific health challenges of today, with an eye on emerging diseases of the future.

Read more about what it means to work at Radboudumc and how you can do your part.

https://www.radboudumc.nl/EN/Pages/default.aspx

Department of Geriatric Medicine

The project will be closely connected to the internationally highly recognized scientific work of the project leaders: the neuro-imaging scientists Dr. Rene Scheeringa and Prof. Christian Beckmann, the clinical neuropsychologist Prof. Roy Kessels, and the technical physician Dr. Fokke van Meulen and geriatrician Prof. Marcel Olde Rikkert, as well as the innovation engineers from Philips Research: Ir. Ad Denissen and Ir. Sander Pastoor. The PhD student will primarily carry out the work at the research group of the department of Geriatric Medicine, but will also get trained and inspired by scientists working at the Donders Institute, Centres for Cognition and Medical Neuroscience.

Radboudumc
Radboudumc strives to be a leading developer of sustainable, innovative and affordable healthcare to improve the health and wellbeing of people and society in the Netherlands and beyond. This is the core of our mission: To have a significant impact on healthcare. To get a better picture of what this entails, check out our strategy film.

Read more about what it means to work at Radboudumc and how you can do your part.