Postdoc in Computational Neuroscience – Priority Program 2041 Computational Connectomics

Conducting research for a changing society: This is what drives us at Forschungs­zentrum Jülich. As a member of the Helmholtz Association, we aim to tackle the grand societal challenges of our time and conduct research into the possibilities of a digitized society, a climate-friendly energy system, and a resource-efficient economy. Work together with around 6,400 employees in one of Europe’s biggest research centres and help us to shape change!

The Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) at the Jülich Research Center in Germany investigates the structure and function of the brain. The subinstitute INM-6 consists of 6 groups that conduct research in the field of computational and systems neuroscience. The Priority Program “Computational Connectomics” is a Germany-wide collaboration aiming at comprehensive descriptions of neuronal network connectivity and insight into its relationships to brain dynamics and function. The candidate will strengthen our team in the project “Cellular, connectional and molecular heterogeneity in a large-scale computational model of the human cerebral cortex”, which is embedded in the context of the Priority Program. It will be supervised by Prof. Sacha van Albada and is a collaboration with Dr. Alexandros Goulas (UKE Hamburg) and Dr. Timo Dickscheid (INM-1, Jülich Research Center). This collaboration links cytoarchitecture (Dr. Dickscheid) to connectomics (Dr. Goulas) and finally cortical network dynamics (Prof. van Albada). Simulations using the neural network simulation tool NEST on the Jülich supercomputers provide the unique opportunity for investigating spiking cortical models at the full density of neurons and synapses.

We are looking to recruit a

Postdoc in Computational Neuroscience – Priority Program 2041 Computational Connectomics Your Job:

• Extending and refining a large-scale spiking neural network model of human cerebral cortex
• Investigating the origins of area- and layer-specific cortical timescales and oscillations
• Supervising PhD and Master students
• Maintaining active collaborations with project partners
• Writing, documenting, and publishing high-quality simulation, analysis, and visualization scripts
• Presenting project results at national and international conferences
• Publishing project results in peer-reviewed international journals

Your Profile:

• Completed study (Master) in natural sciences, computer science or mathematics
• PhD in computational neuroscience
• Extensive experience with neural network simulations and analytical mean-field theory
• Excellent knowledge of cortical anatomy and physiology
• Structured and organized style of working
• Fluent in English, spoken and written
• Ability to work independently
• Good social and student supervision skills
• Willingness to travel

Our Offer:

We work on the very latest issues that impact our society and are offering you the chance to actively help in shaping the change! We support you in your work with:

• Comprehensive training courses and individual opportunities for personal and professional further development
• Extensive company health management
• Ideal conditions for balancing work and private life, as well as a family-friendly corporate policy
• Full-time position with the option of slightly reduced working hours and 30 days of annual leave
• Targeted services for international employees, e.g., through our International Advisory Service

We offer you an exciting and varied role in an international and interdisciplinary working environment. The position is initially for a fixed term of 1 year, with possible long-term prospects. Salary and social benefits are in conformity with the provisions of the Collective Agreement for the Civil Service (TVöD). Depending on the applicant’s qualifications and the precise nature of the tasks, salary grade EG 13 TVöD-Bund will apply.

Forschungszentrum Jülich promotes equal opportunities and diversity in its employment relations.

We also welcome applications from disabled persons.

We look forward to receiving your application until 23.05.2021 via our Online Recruitment System:

https://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Stellenangebote/_common/dna/2021-091-EN-INM-6.html?nn=363488

Questions about the vacancy?

Get in touch with us by using our contact form:

https://www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN/Careers/JobKontakt/_node.html?cms_jobid=2021-091

Please note that for technical reasons we cannot accept applications via email.

www.fz-juelich.de