The candidate will work on an imaging and cognition study of Positive Valence Systems (PVS) in psychotic syndromes, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, USA). It involves two studies. First, to examine the PVS domain, and in particular reward circuits and behaviour, we recruited a large genetically informative cohorts comprising of approx. 250 individuals (including SCZ patients, BP patients, their first-degree relatives and controls). Using functional MRI (fMRI) we aim to characterize the neural correlates of the ventral striatum of the reward circuit during the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task in relation to diagnostic category and symptom dimensions.

In addition, we aim to better understand the PVS system through online assessment of other PVS components (reward valuation, effort valuation, action selection/decision making) using the Bandit task and the EEfRT). Second, we have set up an online study where we invite patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, their relatives and controls to perform the same tasks online from home. For both studies, we have built on two already existing cohorts in collaboration with the University Medical Centre Utrecht and recruited new participants. The candidate will work together withanother postdoc to organize datamanagement, process and quality check the MRI, cognition and clinical data, develop research questions, analyse the data and publish the findings.

You have a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on (functional) neuroimaging. A good command of English (oral and written) is required as are excellent communication skills. Command of Dutch is a pre. Writing skills must be excellent and experience with different neuro-imaging methods and processing pipelines, programming (i.e. R, Matlab, python or C) and (multivariate) statistics is mandatory.

You should have a high level of motivation and commitment to produce accurate and high-quality work and have excellent interpersonal, organizational, analytical, and documentation skills. It is important that you can work both independently and within a team. Experience with supervision of bachelor or master students is a pre. The department of CAPP stimulates adherence to the principles of Open Science and evidence of such practices by the candidate is recommended.

• You will receive a contract for 1 year.
• he gross monthly salary will be between € 3.493,- of € 5.504,- (scale 10 ), depending on your level of education.
• Working from home is an option.
• Excellent fringe benefits, such as a 13th month that is already paid out in November and an individual travel expense package.
• Pension insurance with ABP, we take care of 70% of the monthly contribution.

Erasmus MC

The Erasmus MC stands for a healthy population and excellence in healthcare. By conducting groundbreaking work, we aim to push boundaries through leading the way in research, education and healthcare. We have access to the latest equipment and techniques in a state-of-the-art environment. The department of CAPP is the only independent department for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology in the Netherlands that is integrated within a university medical center.

Research in the department of CAPP department focuses on general population samples and clinical epidemiology (in populations at risk for severe mental illness, psychiatrically ill children and adolescence as well as somatically ill youth with psychiatric or psychological problems).

CAPP is part of the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences (NIHES). The department is leading in Europe as far as standardized diagnostic assessment procedures are concerned and is internationally one of the strongest centers conducting etiological epidemiological research in the field of child psychopathology. The department of CAPP brings together clinical services, research, education and training to offer care and treatment, based upon reliable research evidence. The department of CAPP has extensive collaborations with the department of Neuroscience, Clinical Genetics, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Neurology.