The Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG) has a PhD position in cross-cultural neuroimaging of cannabis dependence.

The personal and societal burden associated with cannabis use disorders (CUDs) is in sharp contrast with our limited knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. Moreover, there is growing worldwide concern surrounding the impact of changes in cannabis legalization on CUDs. The goal of this PhD project is to unravel the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cannabis use and dependence. The project is part of a collaborative longitudinal neuroimaging study with the University of Texas Dallas, which specifically aims to identify reliable neurobiological mechanisms in two independent cohorts of individuals with CUDs, and test whether cannabis culture moderates these brain-behavior associations. This project will be a team effort, and you will work in close collaboration multiple researcher in Amsterdam and Dallas. Maintaining close contact with the Dallas site, you will be responsible for conducting and managing the fMRI study in Amsterdam, including recruitment of daily cannabis users, scanning, and data management and analysis. Measures of brain activity, connectivity and structure will eventually be combined with behavioral data to study the association between quantity of cannabis use, cannabis dependence severity and the brain over time. As such, you will learn to handle different modalities of neuroimaging data. Besides research related activity, you will also be involved in teaching for one day a week, including supervision of student research projects and assistance in addition/neuroscience related courses.

You have:

• (or are about to obtain) a MSc degree in psychology or a related field such as cognitive neuroscience, psychobiology, or biomedical science;
• neuroimaging experience;
• a strong interest in the neuroscience of addiction and cannabis;
• affinity with teaching;
• strong analytical and statistical skills;
• a good command of written and spoken English;
• good project management skills;
• excellent social skills and team spirit.
• affinity with programming (e.g., R, Matlab, Python, Presentation).

The position starts in the summer of 2018 and is initially for one year. Extension of the contract after the first year to a total of four years depends on satisfactory performance. The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with the salary scales for PhD candidates at Dutch universities, i.e. ranging from €2,222 in the first year to €2,840 in the final year. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Department of Psychology

The Department of Psychology is part of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG), the largest educational and research institution in the social sciences in the Netherlands. The Faculty serves 7500 students in numerous Bachelor and Master programs in Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Social Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, and Educational Sciences. Psychology is situated centrally in Amsterdam, and hosts program groups focusing on social, organizational, developmental, clinical, statistical, and cognitive psychology. It offers excellent facilities for undertaking research in a broad range of areas, including a range of psychophysiological, behavioral, EEG and TMS laboratories, as well as a 3T and 7T MRI scanner.

http://www.uva.nl/en/disciplines/psychology