A postdoctoral position is available at the Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience (NeuroPSI, Saclay) and the Vision Institute (Paris) for a collaborative project on sensory coding of complex naturalistic stimuli in the mouse somatosensory cortex.
The project aims at understanding the biological implementation of high-level cognitive functions like object form and movement recognition through the tactile sensory modality. A particular accent will be put in studying functional properties of a sensory system using naturalistic inputs to gain ethological relevance.
The experimental part of the project, namely the electrophysiological recording of the responses of primary and secondary somatosensory cortex neurons to complex stimuli in both anaesthetized and awake head-posted animals, will be performed in the laboratory of Dan Shulz (NeuroPSI, https://neuropsi.cnrs.fr/en/departments/icn/group-leader-daniel-e-shulz/). The analytical part of the project, that is the use of a perturbative method and a machine learning approach to predict and understand the cortical responses to complex stimuli, will be performed in the laboratory of Olivier Marre (Institut de la vision, Paris, http://oliviermarre.free.fr/).
NeuroPSI (https://neuropsi.cnrs.fr/en/homepage/) and the Vision Institute (https://www.institut-vision.org/en/) are stimulating and interdisciplinary environments for
brain research.
The candidate should hold a PhD with a neurophysiology background (previous experience in electrophysiology is preferred). The candidate should have a good grasp of oral and written English (French is not mandatory)
The position is funded for two years and is open immediately. Salary will be commensurate with experience and according to CNRS standards. Applications should include a CV, a statement of research interests (~ 1 page), and names and contact information for two references (one at least from outside of the applicant’s home institution). Please send electronic submissions in pdf-format to Dan Shulz (daniel.shulz@cnrs.fr) and Olivier Marre (olivier.marre@inserm.fr).
