Postdoctoral Research Associate in Behavioural Neuroscience
Applications are invited to join the team of MRC BNDU collaborator Professor Mark Walton to investigate how neural and neurochemical activity in the striatum encode the costs and benefits of acting.
The successful candidate will work on a new collaborative research project between the team of Professor Walton (Department of Experimental Psychology) and those of MRC BNDU Group Leaders Professor Rafal Bogacz and Professor Peter Magill. Primarily based in the Walton laboratory (part of the Behavioural Neuroscience Unit based at the Department of Experimental Psychology), the successful candidate will be integrated with the Bogacz and Magill Groups in the MRC BNDU and will also be a member of the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging.
The primary role of the postholder will be to take forward and develop a programme of work to investigate how the neural circuits in the basal ganglia represent, use and learn the information about the costs and benefits of alternative choices during decision making. To do this, the project will use experimental techniques to record activity from defined populations of striatal neurons, as well as from axons of dopaminergic neurons, while mice perform cost-benefit decision making tasks in order to test precise predictions derived from computational models. The postholder will work in parallel with a theoretical programme, based in the Bogacz Group, which will develop computational models based on the acquired data.
The successful candidate will hold, or be close to completion of, a Ph.D. in a discipline closely related to behavioural neuroscience, with extensive experience of neurosurgical techniques and performing neural recordings in mice. You will also have experience of training and supervising students, an excellent academic track record, and be proficient in programming.
This is a full-time fixed-term post (end date of 30th June 2022), externally funded by the BBSRC, to start on 1st July 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter. This post is a University Grade 7 (07S) position with a starting salary of between £32,236 and £39,609 per annum (commensurate with experience).
Informal enquires are encouraged and can be directed either to Mark Walton or Rafal Bogacz.
Applications for this vacancy are to be made online. More information
The closing date for applications for this post is 12 midday UK time on Friday 5th April 2019.
