4 years We have a vacancy for a talented PhD candidate to work on a project focusing on the application of advanced normative modeling methods for the analysis of the human visual system based on clinical neuroimaging data to better understand individual differences in visual functioning in daily life. The project is hosted by the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at the Radboud University Medical Center (Cognitive Neuroscience department) under the supervision of Dr. Koen Haak. You will be co-supervised by Prof. Christian Beckmann at the department of cognitive neuroscience, as well as by Prof. Carel Hoyng and Dr. Thomas Theelen at the department of ophthalmology. You will be part of the wider academic research environment and graduate school of the Donders Institute.

The overall aim of this project is to apply novel normative models (developed by other group members) of the human visual system to better understand an individual’s neural response to vision loss (through e.g. neural plasticity or neural degeneration) and how this response might explain individual differences in functional vision. You will acquire and analyze MRI and ophthalmological data from patients with eye-disease and link the resulting information (e.g. information about the integrity of the visual pathways, possible functional reorganization in the primary cortical visual areas) to individual variations in functional vision (i.e. how well a patient can still perform visual activities in daily life). Though this project will be focused primarily on clinical application and patient studies, it is also possible (but not necessary) for you to be involved in model development and validation.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Discuss, plan and perform research in a stimulating environment.
• Acquire and analyze MRI and ophthalmological data from patients with eye-disease.
• Apply novel normative models of the human visual system to understand the MRI data in the light of clinical knowledge and visual functioning in daily life.
• Publish findings in peer-reviewed journals and present at international scientific conferences.
• Finalize PhD training and project within a four-year contract.
• rk in an interdisciplinary team of international scientists.

The position is for 48 months and would ideally begin March 2022. Working at Radboud university medical center means that you are ahead of the curve and working together on the healthcare of the future. And there is more. Our secondary terms of employment are impressive. These are fully tailored to you thanks to our Employment Conditions Selection Model. At Radboud university medical center, you will be given trust, and you will take the responsibility to handle everything together. We provide annual courses, both professional and personal.

• In addition to your monthly salary and an annual vacation allowance of 8%, you will receive an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.
• If you work irregular hours, you will receive an allowance.
• As a full-time employee (36 hours per week), you are entitled to approximately 168 vacation hours (over 23 days) per year.
• Radboud university medical center pays 70% of the pension premium. You pay the rest of the premium with your gross salary.
• You get a discount on health insurance as well: you can take advantage of two group health insurance plans. UMC Zorgverzekering and CZ collectief.

In addition to our terms of employment, we also offer employees various other attractive facilities, such as childcare and sports facilities. Want to learn more? Take a look at the Cao UMC. The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world leading centre for cognitive neuroscience and offers a unique, multidisciplinary working and learning environment with opportunities for developing expertise in a diversity of research areas and techniques. The centre is equipped with three MRI scanners (3 x 3T) and access to a high field (7T) MR system plus a 275-channel MEG system, an EEG-TMS laboratory, several (MR-compatible) EEG systems, and high-performance computational facilities.

Research Institutes
At the moment there are more than 1,300 PhD candidates at our medical hospital. This number includes PhD candidates on our pay roll as well as external candidates (those employed somewhere else but researching on our premises).

• Radboud Institute for Health Sciences: ± 700
• Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences: ± 400
• Donders Center for Medical Neurosciences: ± 200

Read what it is like to do a PhD at the Radboud University Medical Center.

Radboudumc
Radboud university medical center is a university medical center for patient care, scientific research, and education in Nijmegen. Radboud university medical center strives to be at the forefront of shaping the healthcare of the future. We do this in a person-centered and innovative way, and in close collaboration with our network. We want to have a significant impact on healthcare. We want to improve with each passing day, continuously working towards better healthcare, research, and education. And gaining a better understanding of how diseases arise and how we can prevent, treat, and cure them, day in and day out. This way, every patient always receives the best healthcare, now and in the future. Because that is why we do what we do.

Read more about our strategy and what working at Radboud university medical center means. Our colleagues would be happy to tell you about it. #weareradboudumc As our ideal candidate you have a strong interest in clinical visual neuroscience and topics such as brain plasticity, neural degeneration, and visual functioning in daily life. You have a proactive attitude, good written and oral communication skills, and you are able to work effectively in an interdisciplinary team. You are in the possesion of a master’s level degrees in a discipline such as cognitive neuroscience, medicine, experimental psychology, biology, statistics, computer science, engineering, or other relevant field of study.

We are looking for highly self-motivated candidates who are curious and enthusiastic about scientific research and who will work together with others in our labs and in the institute to solve problems and contribute to high-quality neuroscience investigations.

Desirable

• Experience with acquisition of MRI data and/or low vision patient studies.
• An interest in clinical applications of advanced neuroimaging statistics and modeling.
• A demonstrable academic track-record would be a plus (e.g. publications in international journals).

All additional information about the vacancy can be obtained from Dr. Koen Haak. Use the Apply button to submit your application.