PhD student in neuroscience

PhD student in neuroscience

Are you interested in working with research around emotions and cognitive processes, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Medical Sciences is a large clinical institution with more than 250 employees and over 900 additional coworkers connected via the Uppsala University Hospital. The Department of Medical Sciences has a broad research profile with strong research groups in a number of different areas. The research carried out at the department is performed in close connection with the clinical activities at the Uppsala University Hospital, which includes both basic studies on the causes of a variety of illnesses and the development and evaluation of improved diagnostics and new treatment methods. More information about the Department of Medical Sciences can be found at www.medsci.uu.se.

At the department, the Psychiatry Research Group studies the major psychiatric disorders based on a gene-environment interaction model where psychiatric conditions are considered to arise due to an interplay between biological, psychological and social risk factors.

Within Psychiatry, the subgroup ” Experimental Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab” (ECAN) headed by Associate Professor Malin Gingnell and Associate Professor Andreas Frick investigates the neurobiology associated with emotional states and cognitive processes. We use experimental psychology in the lab, through Internet and during brain imaging (PET, MR, EEG, fNIRS) to gain a better understanding of emotion processing and cognitive processes in both healthy participants and patient groups.

The placebo effect, or the positive effect that can sometimes be the result of a treatment that is actually "supposed" to be ineffective, has been known in medicine for many hundreds of years. It can be less/more effective in different situations, but sometimes as much as 20-40% of a treatment effect can be attributed to placebo. In order to study how the placebo effect arises, this project uses both PET, fMRI and behavioral studies to map brain activity and dopaminergic signaling.

Duties
The position is based on laboratory work with human participants, and involves both psychophysiological assessments, PET, fMRI and TMS as well as work with recruitment and scheduling. Furthermore, compilation and analysis of data in several different modalities are part of the daily work. In addition to this, usual doctoral duties including courses etc.

Requirements
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• - have a psychology degree or a medical degree or a master's degree in psychology, medicine, biomedicine, statistics or computer science, or a similar background.
• - have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• - have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

Additional qualifications

Research experience of PET and/or fMRI, experience of working with psychophysiological measurement methods, a strong computational or statistics background, experience of practical research work with people are meritorious. A background as a clinical therapist in medicine/psychology is also highly advantageous. The project can be shaped according to the candidate's specific background and experience. Personal suitability with the ability to work independently, initiative, flexible and persistent, as well as the ability to work in a group is important. The work requires very good skills in Swedish and fluency in English.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date October 1st 2024 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: (Malin Gingnell malin.gingnell@uu.se).

Please submit your application by June 27th 2024, UFV-PA 2024/1648.