"Postdoc Position: Neurobiology of Speech Production at the Donders Centre for Cognition"

Job description

Join our cutting-edge research team to unravel the neural pathways of speech in Parkinson’s disease, combining advanced MRI, speech analysis and neuromodulation to drive impactful scientific discoveries.

We invite applications for a postdoctoral position within a funded research programme investigating the neuroanatomy of speech production and speech deficits in Parkinson's disease. The project combines advanced diffusion MRI tractography, detailed acoustic and behavioural speech analyses, and neuromodulation using deep brain stimulation (DBS).

The overarching aim is to identify the subcortical–cortical networks underlying vocalisation, articulation and speech coordination, and to understand how these networks are disrupted in Parkinson's disease and modulated by DBS. The project integrates high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI, spherical deconvolution tractography, voice and speech feature extraction, and multivariate embedding approaches (e.g. UMAP) to link brain connectivity with individual speech phenotypes.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will play a central scientific role in the project. You will:

• Lead and conduct advanced diffusion MRI analyses (including spherical deconvolution tractography) to map basal ganglia–cortical connectivity.
• Analyse speech and voice recordings from Parkinson's disease patients, extracting acoustic and behavioural speech features.
• Integrate neuroimaging, speech and clinical data using multivariate and machine-learning approaches (e.g. UMAP).
• Investigate the effects of deep brain stimulation on speech production in relation to individual connectivity profiles.
• Coordinate closely with clinical collaborators, speech and language therapists, and international partners.
• Lead scientific publications and present findings at international conferences.

You will be supervised by Dr Stephanie Forkel and work within a highly interdisciplinary team spanning neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery and speech-language pathology.

Requirements

We are looking for an enthusiastic and independent researcher with a very strong background in systems or cognitive neuroscience.

Essential qualifications

• A PhD degree in neuroscience, cognitive science, biomedical engineering, or a related field.
• Strong experience with neuroimaging, particularly diffusion-weighted MRI and/or MRI.
• Demonstrated expertise in speech production, auditory-motor integration or language neuroscience.
• Experience working with clinical populations or translational research settings.
• Strong programming skills (e.g. Python, MATLAB, R) and experience with statistical modelling or machine learning.
• A strong publication record and excellent scientific writing skills in English.

Desirable qualifications

• Dutch language proficiency.
• Evidence of having independently developed or maintained analysis pipelines.
• Experience with voice and acoustic analysis (e.g. Praat).
• Familiarity with neuromodulation methods (e.g. DBS, TMS) or electrophysiology (EEG/ECoG).
• Experience with multivariate or dimensionality-reduction techniques (e.g. UMAP).
• Experience supervising students or coordinating research projects.

Conditions of employment

We will give you a temporary employment contract of 3 years. Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week. You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions: Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.