Would you like to capitalise on recent advances in artificial intelligence and conduct cutting-edge research into computational/cognitive neuroscience? Then join the collaborative and supportive work environment of the Donders Institute as a PhD candidate. You will be able to put your ideas to the test and push your boundaries. You do this in a collaborative, multidisciplinary and supportive work environment, with a diverse international staff.

Recent advances in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning have put artificial neural networks firmly on the map as a promising approach to both model and understand biological brains. This PhD project aims to harness the recent progress in AI to build computationally explicit models (Artificial Neural Networks, ANNs) that embody the principles of predictive coding. The ultimate goal is to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying our remarkable perceptual abilities by comparing artificial and biological networks, in terms of neural and behavioural representations during naturalistic perceptual conditions.

As a PhD candidate you will use a computational approach to model and predict neural responses within the human visual system as well as behavioural performance, and test the neural and behavioural implications of different predictive neural architectures. The experimental and computational work will be conducted at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands). You will be supervised by a team of computational and cognitive neuroscientists with complementary expertise: Prof. Floris de Lange, Dr Micha Heilbron and Dr Lea-Maria Schmitt. You will be an active team member of the Predictive Brain Lab, a research group examining how the brain combines prior knowledge and incoming information to generate perceptual experience and make decisions.

• You have an MSc in cognitive neuroscience, artificial intelligence, or a related field.
• You have an affinity with programming and possess demonstrable experience with techniques for quantitative data analysis (e.g. Matlab or Python).
• You are highly motivated to conduct interdisciplinary empirical research at the intersection of AI/Machine Learning and Cognitive Neuroscience.
• You have good collaborative and communication skills.

Fixed-term contract: You will be employed 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 (4 year contract) or 3.5 years (5 year contract).

• It concerns an employment for 0.8 - 1.0 FTE.
• The gross starting salary amounts to €2,541 per month based on a 38-hour working week, and will increase to €3,247 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be employed 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 (4 year contract) or 3.5 years (5 year contract).
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Care Services. Our Dual Career and Family Care Officer can assist you with family-related support, help your partner or spouse prepare for the local labour market, provide customized support in their search for employment  and help your family settle in Nijmegen.
• Working for us means getting extra days off. In case of full-time employment, you can choose between 29 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the legally allotted 20.

The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Research at the Donders Institute is focused around four themes: 1. Language and communication, 2. Perception, action and control, 3. Plasticity and memory, 4. Neural computation and neurotechnology. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience, including the developmental research facilities of the Baby and Child Research Center, advanced neuroimaging, eye movement registration, and motion- tracking labs. The Donders Institute has been assessed by an international evaluation committee as 'excellent' and recognised as a 'very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent'. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary, supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute. You will be part of the Donders Graduate School for Cognitive Neuroscience.

Radboud University
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 24,000 students and 5,600 employees at Radboud University. And this requires even more talent, collaboration and lifelong learning. You have a part to play!