Excellence ASTROTECH PhD Project in Modeling the Neuron-Glial-Vascular Unit

I am happy to announce that the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM) in Bilbao (Spain) is opening one Excellence Ph.D. Fellowship as part of the H2020 ASTROTECH Consortium. The Fellowship is for a 3-year project to be carried out at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) under the supervision of Drs. Maurizio DE PITTA (BCAM) and Christophe BERNARD (Aix-Marseille University).

The project aims to “Computational Glioscience approaches to volume signalling transmission in the Neuron-Glial-Vascular Unit (NGVU)” to develop a mathematical model of neuron-glial-vascular interactions based on biophysical principles of volume transmission in the brain parenchyma. The candidate will collaborate tightly with industry representatives and will implement the model in an open-source simulation platform adopted in the clinical practice. The candidate, in conjunction with biologists and medical doctors, will test the NGVU model built by this project by brain-wide simulations of epileptic seizures, with emphasis on new venues for their diagnosis and treatment.

We are seeking excellent candidates with multi-disciplinary interests in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, Biology and Medicine. An essential requirement is capacity for mobility. The candidate’s reference residence will be in Spain at BCAM, with an enrolment in the University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU) to obtain a doctoral degree. She/He will spend extensive periods of time out of Spain, including mandatory training of 1 to 3 months, respectively at Aix-Marseille University (Marseille, France), at University of Bari Aldo Moro (Bari, Italy), at Italian Research Council in Rome (Italy), and at CODEMART (Romania). Furthemore, the candidate will be required to participate in mandatory training schools and technical workshops (2-3 per year) organized by the ASTROTECH Consortium at different locations in Europe, for the entire duration of the project.

The ASTROTECH Consortium (http://www.astrotechproject.eu) is a European high-level training-by-research consortium federating world-leading European groups working to develop new technologies to explore astrocyte functions in the brain. Becoming Ph.D. candidate of the network offers unique training and interaction opportunities with other ASTROTECH members, in addition to the specific research conducted at the host labs.

The fellowship comes with a competitive salary within the prestigious Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions scheme, including funds to participate to training and conferences.

Selection process.

The top-ranked candidates will be interviewed orally, and the successful candidate will be chosen based on a competitive, equal-opportunities procedure.

Interested candidates are encouraged to make a parallel inquiry, writing to me directly (Email object: “ASTROTECH PhD Position”), including a CV along with the name of two references and any other information that they may wish to share.

Contact: Maurizio DE PITTA, mdepitta at bcamath.org

Requirements for application.

• MSc degree, preferably in Physics, Mathematics, Engineering or Computer Sciences.
• High proficiency in spoken and written English.

Skills.

• Proven record of excellence in the Master’s training.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with ability to effectively communicate ideas to an heterogeneous audience of biologists, medical doctors, and physicists.
• Ability to work in a fast-changing, international environment.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Openness towards inclusive science, racial and LGBTQ+ minorities.
• Excellent capacity for planning, independence, and creativity.
• Programming proficiency in at least one of the following languages: Python/C++/Julia.
• Familiarity with HPC and GPU/CUDA programming is a plus.
• The preferred candidate will have a strong interest in neurobiology and aims to pursue a career in multidisciplinary research in neurosciences, quantitative medicine or computational psychiatry.

Application deadline is June 30, 2021, 2pm CET (UTC+1)

Starting Date is November 2021.

Open ASTROTECH Info day: May 26, 9.45am — 1pm CET (UTC+1)
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/653571365

Application is submitted online through the BCAM portal:
http://www.bcamath.org/en/research/job/phd-position-for-h2020-project-astrotech

For more information:
https://sites.google.com/site/mauriziodepitta/jobs?authuser=0

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Maurizio De Pitta’
https://sites.google.com/site/mauriziodepitta/home