September 2023: PhD and Postdoc positions in infant neuroimaging.

How does the human mind develop? The Foundations of Cognition (FOUNDCOG) project has acquired the largest cohort of awake infant fMRI to date, with 134 infants at 2 months old. The study is longitudinal, with 90 having also visited for a scan at 9-months-old. In this post, you will analyse these data, with the goal of better characterising the development of the brain and its functions, and how it is disrupted by brain injury. You will analyse neuroimaging results and interpret them by comparing them to computational models of learning from artificial intelligence, publish papers and disseminate the findings. 

PhD Including Stipend and Fees

Supervised by Prof. Rhodri Cusack, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin. Investigate which neuroimaging markers in the first year of life best predict individual differences in cognitive outcome at 2 years of age using the Foundations of Cognition (FOUNDCOG) dataset. FOUNDCOG is a longitudinal neurodevelopment study of infants born at term (80%) and preterm infants that spent time in the neonatal intensive care (NICU) (20%). Awake fMRI is acquired at 2 months and 9 months of age with subsequent cognitive follow up at 18 and 24 months.
 
Details
• Position is jointly funded by funded by The FOUNDCOG ERC Advanced Grant and Siemens Healthineers.
• Annual stipend of €25,000 and EU Fees.
• To apply send Cover Letter, CV, sample of academic writing and two references to: admin@cusacklab.org

Also see poster.

• Deadline: Selection will begin Oct 1, 2023 and remain open until a suitable candidate is found.
Starting date: Mar 1, 2024 or sooner

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Standard Duties and Responsibilities

•  analysing neuroimaging data from infants
• relating the results to computational deep neural network models
• writing and submitting manuscripts to present data and advance theories of infant development
• presenting your work at national and international seminars and meetings
• contributing to the growth of the methodological and intellectual expertise of the team 
• outreach to patient advocacy groups, clinicians, and other interested parties

​Salary and Benefits 

• Appointment will be made at IUA Post-Doctorate Researcher pay scale at a point in line with Government Pay Policy [€41,209 to €53,091 per annum], appointment will be made no higher than PD2 point 4. 
• Benefits include a pension contribution and PRSI social insurance. 
• Fixed-term full time, post ends June 2025.

Person Specification

• Qualifications The candidate must hold a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, computer science, or a relevant discipline, at the time of beginning employment. 
• Knowledge & Experience  cognitive neuroscience or developmental psychology (highly desirable) computer programming in Python (highly desirable) neuroimaging and neuroimaging methodology (desirable) knowledge of computational modelling or artificial intelligence (desirable) 

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Further details
See document

​Application Procedure 

• Applicants should submit Cover Letter, CV, sample of academic writing and contact details of 2 referees (including email addresses), to: Tamarin Holloway, admin@cusacklab.org 
• Deadline: Selection will begin September 21, 2023 and post will remain open until a suitable candidate is found 
• Starting date: As soon as possible  
• End date: ​June 2025