MRC-Funded Ph.D. Studentship in Neuroscience (Denison Group & Tan Group)
MRC BRAIN NETWORK DYNAMICS UNIT, NUFFIELD DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
MRC-FUNDED Ph.D. STUDENTSHIP in NEUROSCIENCE (DENISON GROUP & TAN GROUP)
Applications are invited from UK or EU residents to join a multidisciplinary team of scientists studying brain computer interfaces in order to improve quality of life for people with neurological disorders. The studentship is available from the start of academic year 2020/21 for 3 years and will be jointly supervised by Professor Timothy Denison and Dr Huiling Tan at the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford (MRC BNDU). The overall aim of the studentship project is to 1) design and apply instrumentation to identify and extract features in electrophysiological signals in real-time as feedback signals for closed-loop neuromodulation; 2) design and test different model-based multi-variate closed-loop control algorithms in Simulink; and 3) validate different control algorithms using custom hardware-in-the-loop for testing in patients. For further details about the project, contact Professor Tim Denison (timothy.denison@eng.ox.ac.uk) and Dr Huiling Tan (huiling.tan@ndcn.ox.ac.uk), or see the Denison Group page and Tan Group page.
Interested candidates should possess, or expect to receive, a 1st class or upper 2nd class degree (or equivalent) in a related scientific discipline, e.g. control engineering, engineering science, biological or physical sciences, medicine, computer science, mathematics. Previous experience in neuroscience research is essential.
The MRC BNDU is uniquely multidisciplinary, integrating exceptional research programmes that span clinical, experimental and computational neuroscience and bioengineering. The collective aim of the MRC BNDU is to understand the moment-to-moment interactions between nerve cells that are critical for brain functions, and to exploit these to develop novel therapies for disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
This Ph.D. (D.Phil.) studentship is funded by the Medical Research Council. To normally be eligible for a full award (stipend in addition to fees), a student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship. For further details about the MRC studentship funding and eligibility requirements for full and fees-only awards, please see: https://mrc.ukri.org/skills-careers/studentships/studentship-guidance/.
To be considered for this studentship, please submit an application for admission to the D.Phil. in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (course code RD_CU1), following the guidance at https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-clinical-neurosciences?wssl=1. On the application form, in the section headed ‘Departmental Studentship Applications’, please indicate that you are applying for a studentship and enter the reference code for a BNDU studentship "20CLINNEURO02WEB".
The closing date for applications is 12.00 midday UK time on Wednesday 4th March 2020.
