Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine – Cognitive Neuroscience (INM‑3; headed by Prof. Gereon Fink) – at the Forschungszentrum Jülich investigate the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive (dys-)function in healthy subjects and patients suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders. Functional imaging (PET, MRI) and electrophysiological methods (EEG, TMS, tDCS) are combined with computational approaches.
Postdoc – Systems Neuroscience / Computational Neurology
Your Job:
The successful candidate will investigate how neural information processing within the human motor system is impaired by (non-)pathological aging under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Silvia Daun.
Compared with sensory, cognitive, or affective-emotional systems, the motor system’s output is directly quantifiable and comparable across species. When studying the neural mechanisms underlying motor control, behavioral readouts across species offer the potential to overcome one grand challenge in neuroscience: bridging the gap between molecular, cellular, and systems levels.
Importantly, the motor system is affected in many, if not all, neurological and psychiatric disorders. Hence, a more comprehensive understanding of the motor system will further our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying neurological and psychiatric disorders. Likewise, neuropsychiatric diseases allow novel insights into the motor system’s (dys-)function and testing models of motor control.
The successful candidate will be part of a collaborative research center (CRC1451), located at the University of Cologne, that brings together neuroscientists investigating genetic factors, cellular and synaptic as well as systems/neural network processes underlying motor control in animals and humans, in both health and neuropsychiatric diseases.
This includes:
- The successful candidate will be part of the Project INF of the CRC1451: Data Management for Computational Modeling. Within this project, they will develop data-driven, cross-species and cross-scales computational models of motor control based on data collected in the individual and central projects of CRC1451. The rich data collection contains behavioral and kinematic data of humans and mice (locomotion); fMRI, EEG and TMS data from healthy subjects and patients (with stroke, Alzheimers’ or Parkinsons’ disease as well as tic disorders) as well as electrophysiological recordings from mice
- Presentation and publication of the results
- Interaction with team members and collaborators from Psychology, Medicine, Biology and Computational Neuroscience
- Participation in the CRC1451 events
Your Profile:
- Completed study (Master's) in Computer Science, Computational Neuroscience, Physics, Mathematics, Biomedical Engineering
- Outstanding doctoral degree in one of the above disciplines
- Significant programming skills (preferably in Matlab or Python)
- Strong, long-standing experience in data-driven computational modeling
- Keen interest in understanding the motor system
- Proven scientific achievements as evidenced by publications in international, peer-reviewed journals
- Interest in combining basic research and translational research on patients
- Good command of English
- High social competence and organizational talent
- High motivation
Our Benefits for You
- Meaningful tasks: The position offers a varied and diverse role in an international environment
- Work-life balance: Optimal conditions for balancing work and private life, as well as a family-friendly company policy. The option of flexible working (in terms of location) is generally available after consultation and in line with upcoming tasks and (on-site) appointments
- Vacation: You will receive 30 days of vacation plus additional days off (e.g. between Christmas and New Year's)
- Flexibility: Flexible working time models, including options close to full-time, allow you to tailor your working hours to suit your individual needs
- Knowledge & further training: Your professional development is important to us – we provide targeted, individual support
- Health & well-being: Your health is important to us. You can look forward to a comprehensive occupational health management program with a wide range of offerings – e.g., a beach volleyball court, running groups, yoga classes, and much more. In addition, our company medical service and an experienced social counseling team are available to assist you on site
- Campus experience: Our research campus in the countryside creates ideal conditions for collegial exchange and sporting activities right on site. Our cafeteria offers a wide range of options – you can enjoy a relaxing lunch break with a lake view
- Successful start: It is important to us that you quickly settle into the team and are given structured training for your tasks. We also support you from the very beginning and make your start easier with our Welcome Days and Welcome Guide
- Fair remuneration: Depending on your existing qualifications and the tasks assigned to you, you will be classified in pay grade 13 of the TVöD Bund (Collective Agreement for the Public Service). All information on the TVöD Bund collective agreement can be found on the BMI website. The monthly salaries in euros can be found on page 74 of the PDF download
- Additional benefits: Benefit from attractive additional services such as a company pension scheme with employer contribution. In addition to the basic salary, there is an additional year-end bonus under the collective pay agreement amounting to 75% of a monthly salary, as well as capital-forming benefits
- Support for international employees: Our International Advisory Service makes it easier for international employees to get started
- Career Center: You will receive explicit support with regard to your career development opportunities
- Fixed-term: The position is initially for a fixed term of 2 years
In addition to exciting tasks and a collegial working environment, we offer you much more https://go.fzj.de/benefits
We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation/identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.
The following links provide further information on diversity and equal opportunities: https://go.fzj.de/equality and on specific support options for women: https://go.fzj.de/womens-job-journey. International applicants can find more information here: https://go.fzj.de/job-journey-internationals
We look forward to receiving your online application by 2026-11-05.
Contact:
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Please note that for technical reasons we cannot accept applications by e-mail.