15 fully-funded PhDs within the European Virtual Institute: Cerebellum and Emotional Networks (CEN)

A Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network

CEN is delighted to announce 15 fully funded PhD positions for talented and enthusiastic students. CEN is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network of 7 leading universities from UK, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden and 9 industry/charity partners, funded by the European Research Council.

CEN will address the contribution of the cerebellum in the control of emotions, and in particular fear and anxiety. CEN offers the unique opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in an outstanding interdisciplinary and international training and research environment, that will develop your skills and confidence to pursue a successful future career in academia, industry, hospitals, charities or NGOs.

Successful applicants will be offered a 3 year salary including mobility allowance and family allowance (if applicable) in line with the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Horizon 2020 requirements for Early Stage Researchers.

Structure of the programme

The 15 available PhD projects span cellular, circuit, computational and neuroimaging approaches to study cerebellar contributions to emotional behaviours in health and disease, training a new generation of scientists with expert knowledge in both basic and clinical research. Two or three PhD students will work on specific aspects of the scientific question at each location. About half of the projects deal with fundamental studies in rodent models, which will enable a detailed description of the brain network processes at the level of individual and selected groups of nerve cells. The other half of the projects will look at cerebellar functions in humans, in healthy volunteers and in patients with diseases of the cerebellum and those with emotional problems such as anxiety disorders.

In addition to using cutting edge techniques enabling discovery science, you will benefit from close network interactions across the consortium, including joint meetings and laboratory internships. You will also get first-hand experience of private biotech companies, NGOs, rehabilitation clinics and national and international patient self-help groups to broaden your horizons and provide you with an unrivalled opportunity to link academic research with commercial and not-for-profit organizations.

Eligibility Criteria

Innovative Training Networks are limited to researchers (Early Stage Researchers; ESRs) who, at the time of recruitment by the host organisation are in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. You must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of your host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to recruitment. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays and procedures for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not counted.

For more information on the projects and how to apply visit our website cenproject.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/

This Network is formed by 7 internationally recognised research institutions:

École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
University Hospital Würzburg, Germany
Università Pavia, Italy
University of Bristol, UK
University Hospital Essen, Germany
University of Edinburgh, UK
Uppsala Universitet, Sweden