12 Ph.D. positions at Marie Curie Research Training Network FLiACT

The Marie Curie Research Training Network FLiACT will start on the 1 st  of  January  2012  and  will  run for four years, supported by the European Commission. This initiative will host 12 Ph.D.  students.

The long-term scientific goal of FLiACT is to understand how the brain processes information and controls behaviour. Focusing on one genetic model organism, the fruit fly  (Drosophila melanogaster), the  FLiACT  fellows  will  seek  to  elucidate  how  neural  circuit  computation  directs stereotypical behaviours and how circuit-function relationships are genetically encoded.

Research will be conducted in 8 European academic laboratories and 3 private companies with different expertise in systems neuroscience. Through personalized projects, visitor exchanges and workshops, the fellows will receive theoretical and practical training in disciplines  ranging from molecular and behavioural neurogenetics, electrophysiology and bioengineering. The fellows will  benefit from career mentoring from the FLiACT  community  to  increase  their  prospects  in  both  the academic and the private sectors.

Each  FLiACT  fellows  will  be  offered  a  highly  competitive salary in addition to  travel  and  mobility allowances. Fellows will enrol in the international Ph.D. programme of  the host  institute or the  local university.

The  FLiACT  is  an  equal  opportunity  initiative  committed to promote gender balance in science. 

Applications from non-EU members are welcome. Citizens and long-term residents of European countries may not be eligible to apply in the institution of their home country (see  www.fliact.eu).

Candidates holding a degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or Mathematics can apply for the following 12 projects:

Genetic and evolutionary basis of sensory diversity

• Molecular basis of sensory memories
• Neural control of behavioural changes in larvae
• Bilateral nature of sensory systems
• Multimodal sensory integration in courtship song
• Neural representation of olfactory inputs
• Neuronal basis of the evolution of sensitivity to specific odours
• Effects of internal states on sensory input processing
• Mapping of circuit-function relationships in adult flies
• The fly as a model system for human diseases
• New assays to study sensory behaviour
• Novel methods for functional imaging

Eligibility:

International