The Social Brain Lab has an exciting opportunity for a Postdoc in Electrophysiology to study empathy in rodents and human patients using the most advanced neural probes.

Project and methods
The social brain lab has pioneered the investigation of the mechanisms of empathy in rodents and humans. We now look for a talented electrophysiologist with a passion for signal processing to push the frontiers of our understanding of social cognition across species. You would have the opportunity to leverage the lab’s access to human ECoG and depth electrode patients to analyse existing and acquire new data to provide unique insights into how our brain processes the actions and emotions of others. In parallel, you would use the lab’s advanced single cell recording techniques in rodents, including the neuropixel probes, to conduct experiments in awake behaving rats to study emotional mirror neurons. Our lab offers an excellent, highly collaborative international team with expertise in optogenetics, calcium imaging, behavior and neuroimaging in humans and rodents to jointly explore what makes rats and humans prosocial. If you have a positive, flexible, energetic attitude and a strong affinity for social neuroscience and analyzing complex data, this could be a strong opportunity to develop an outstanding CV in the emergent field of social neuroscience.

Desired skills and experience

• PhD in behavioral neuroscience or related fields.
• Research experience with small animal behavioral studies.
• Experience with small animal surgeries.
• Experience in programing languages (Python or similar).
• Experience with electro-physiology and signal processing.
• Highly motivated, energetic, detail orientated and capable to work and troubleshoot independently and collaboratively.
• Have excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• At least one excellent publication

Salary
The starting salary for a postdoctoral researcher depends on experience and ranges from € 3,123.- to € 3,514.- per month before taxes.  This will be commensurate with experience and institutional guidelines based on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities; CAO NU) in scale 10.

A 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end bonus are excluded.

We offer travel expenses, paid parental leave, flexible working hours and 30 days paid leave per year by full time employment.

Starting date
As soon as the ideal candidate is identified.

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience is an Academy research institute. It conducts basic and strategic research in the neurosciences. It examines how the human brain makes awareness, perception, movement, learning, social interaction and other cognitive functions possible. It also studies how brain disorders can disrupt these functions.

Team
The project will be held at the Social Brain Lab (SBL), led by Christian Keysers and Valeria Gazzola at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience. The lab investigates the neural bases of empathy by combining human and animal experiments with last-generation imaging and neuro-modulatory techniques. The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (www.nin.nl) is the country’s leading fundamental neuroscience research institute. Both the PIs have an additional position at the University of Amsterdam, one of the top psychology departments in Europe. Together this provides a critical mass of experts in the most advanced neuroscience techniques, together with a dynamic multi-cultural environment. English is the working language of the research group and is extremely well spoken in the vibrant and international city of Amsterdam, creating an attractive, progressive and easy-to-integrate environment.

The SBL is highly diverse, with members from more than 8 nations (from South-America to India) with backgrounds ranging from physics to engineering with an emphasis on biology and psychology. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or status as disabled status, or genetic information.