PhD Candidate: Integrating Biopsychological Data to Capture Individual Differences at the Donders Centre for Cognition

Do you have a strong interest in developing and studying new tools to integrate neurobiological and/or psychological information to better capture individual differences? Do you have strong communication skills and see yourself working at the intersection of psychology, cognitive neuroscience and computational science? If so, the SAMBA research group has a position for you as a PhD candidate.

The project is embedded in Dr Inti Brazil’s SAMBA research group, part of the Donders Centre for Cognition, which in turn is part of the Donders Institute. The main focus of the group’s research programme is on combining approaches from experimental psychology, cognitive neuroscience (e.g. neuroimaging), computational modelling and statistical modelling methods to study how impairments in neurobiological and psychological functioning underpin antisocial and maladaptive behaviours. The project targets individuals from the general community, psychiatric patient populations, incarcerated offenders, and forensic psychiatric populations. It will be conducted in close collaboration with the UICS group led by Dr Max Hinne.

This multifaceted position offers excellent possibilities for career development. You will be involved in the development of a novel toolkit for fusing cognitive performance and neuroimaging measures to capture individual differences, using advanced Bayesian statistical methods.

One of your tasks will be to contribute to finalising the development of this methodological toolkit. You will then apply the toolkit to existing datasets containing various cognitive performance and/or neuroimaging variables from different populations to conduct empirical research. You will publish the results in scientific journals. The research project will be focused on improving the characterisation of populations at risk of engaging in antisocial behaviours.

This position also encompasses dissemination activities, in which you will play an important role in building a bridge between scientists and national societal partners. You will also be given the opportunity to gain experience in providing training to other researchers in the application of the toolkit.

As part of your duties (10%) you will assist in, for example, teaching courses in the Psychology Bachelor’s and Master’s Pprogramme.

Requirements:

• You have a Master’s degree in Mathematical Psychology, Human Cognitive Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Biology, Computer Science or a related field.
• You have experience in quantitative analysis of cognitive performance data.
• You have a demonstrable affinity with using mathematical models and/or machine learning methods.
• You are experienced at programming in Python and R.
• You have an excellent command of written and spoken English (C1 level).
• You have a good command of written and spoken Dutch or the willingness to learn Dutch within a short period of time.
• You have the capacity to work in an interdisciplinary and translational research environment.
• You possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• You are proactive and have a goal-directed attitude, good organisational skills, and the ability to get things done.

Non-essential but desirable skills:

• You are well acquainted with mathematical modelling (particularly Bayesian modelling).
• You have experience with programming in MATLAB and/or Javascript.
• You have experience with analysing large datasets with cognitive, behavioural and neuroimaging data.

Excellent candidates who only partially meet this profile are nonetheless encouraged to apply.

Salary Benefits:

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

38 hours per week

Houtlaan 4