PhD student in Cognitive Affective Neuroscience

We invite applications for a PhD project in the field of cognitive and affective neurosciences. This four-year position is part of a large Dutch consortium project on stress resilience in the workplace (DESTRESS). It is locally embedded in the Cognitive Affective Neuroscience laboratory (PI: Prof. dr. Erno Hermans) at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour in Nijmegen (the Netherlands). The position is funded for 48 months (starting soon but can be flexible).

DESTRESS is a Dutch consortium project on stress and resilience in the workplace, funded by a National Science Agenda (NWA) grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The multidisciplinary DESTRESS consortium consists of several scientific institutions, including Amsterdam UMC, Radboud university medical center, Radboud University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, UMC Utrecht, TNO, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, University of Groningen, Heidelberg University, and various industry and societal partners.

Why DESTRESS?
Stress poses a significant threat to the health of employees as well as the health of the organizations they work for. The resilience of employees and organizations is interconnected; an organization can only be resilient if its employees are. The key question is whether we can identify and address rising stress levels and decreasing resilience effectively and in a timely manner. Current methods for managing stress in employees and organizations are often ineffective, as stress is often noticed too late and there is usually limited shared problem ownership between employee, employer and occupational healthcare provider. Additionally, the sources of stress—whether from personal life, work, or both—are often not identified early enough.

DESTRESS aims to solve these issues with a consistent approach that integrates the perspectives of the employee, employer and occupational healthcare professional. The project focusses on the detection of stress at an early stage and uses artificial intelligence to identify early stress signals from individuals and their environment in a safe and responsible manner in order to facilitate a collaborative dialogue between employee, employer, and occupational healthcare professional. This PhD project will specifically focus on the identification of neuroimaging predictors of stress vulnerability and resilience in the workplace.

Tasks and responsibilities

• To proactively manage research tasks, data storage, collaborations, and supervision.
• To comply with the code of conduct for research integrity.
• To become an expert in your field of research and finalize a PhD thesis within four years.

Our ideal candidate would have a Master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience or an adjacent field (psychology, biology, biomedical sciences, computer sciences, or other relevant MSc). You have a strong interest in fundamental research in cognitive and affective neurosciences and/or its application to mental health and psychopathology.

In addition you possess the profile below:

• Experience in applying functional MRI (acquisition and analyses), including the use of Matlab, Python, SPM, FSL, and/or other software tools.
• Experience in acquisition and analysis of peripheral psychophysiological data (e.g., autonomic nervous system measures), using laboratory-based equipment and/or wearable biosensors.
• Experience in acquisition and analysis of ecological momentary assessment data acquired using smartphone-based surveys.
• The capacity to participate in an interdisciplinary and translational research environment.
• Interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate and communicate in academia.
• A proactive and goal-directed attitude and good organizational skills.
• Fluency in written and spoken Dutch and English.

Candidates who only partially meet this profile are nonetheless strongly encouraged to apply.

At Radboud university medical center, you build on your future. We are committed to providing the best care, education, and research. And we are true to our word, because we help you develop and seize opportunities and give you the room to grow. As an employer, we believe that employees should feel vital and happy at work in all stages of life. We are also committed to creating a healthy and safe working environment. Our employment conditions contribute to that. What we offer:

• Upon commencement of employment, you will start at scale 10A, step 0 (€ 3.017 based on a full-time appointment). Over a maximum period of 4 years, you will progress to scale 10A, step 3 (€3.824 based on a full-time appointment). You will also receive an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a 47% to 72% bonus for working unsocial hours.
• From 1 July 2025 an increase in salary with 3%.
• 176 vacation hours per year based on a 36-hour working week.

The project is embedded in the unique and excellent infrastructure of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. The Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging offers three 3 Tesla MRI systems, MR-compatible systems for recording EEG and peripheral psychophysiological measures, a 275-channel MEG system, an EEG-TMS laboratory, and state-of-the-art computational facilities. The Ernst Hahn Institute in Essen (Germany), a partner of the Donders Institute, provides access to a 7 Tesla system. All facilities are fully research-dedicated laboratories with excellent technical support. The Donders Institute furthermore provides a unique and stimulating learning environment for young researchers, including a high-profile graduate school and in-house methodological expert courses.

Research into stress and mental health is an important focus area at Radboud university medical center. Researchers working on this research program jointly organize regular discussion meetings and lectures to promote integration of research conducted within molecular, cellular, systems, behavioral, and clinical neurosciences as well as psychology and social sciences across campus.

Radboudumc
Welcome to Radboud university medical center (Radboudumc), where scientific breakthroughs are born through the curiosity and passion of our collaborating researchers in a vibrant environment. We believe trust and excitement are crucial elements to achieving our goals, and we approach our research as teams and with the utmost rigor to make a significant impact on health and healthcare. Our researchers are driven by their fascination with the biological, psychological, and sociological mechanisms underlying health and healthcare. They collaborate with partners from all over the world to improve health outcomes for all. Radboudumc unites patient care, research, education, and corporate learning, which allows us to approach our mission to shape the health and healthcare of the future in an innovative and person-centered way.

Our ambition is to lead the way in the pursuit of prevention, sustainability, meaningful care. We believe that through our research, we can significantly improve the health and well-being of society. Join us on our mission to make a difference in healthcare. Become a part of our community of gifted researchers, professionals or patient partners who are dedicated to making a real impact on population health and healthcare.

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.