Integrated neuro-mechanical modelling of C. elegans

The microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is a relatively simple animal, with a small and fully mapped anatomy and nervous system. Dubbed the “hydrogen atom” of systems neuroscience, it is also the subject of intensifying efforts to model this creature completely. We are interested in understanding the neuromechanical control of locomotion in this animal. We are particularly interested in integrating our understanding of motor control and coordination between the head and along the body of the animal. This requires the construction and testing of computational models of the dynamics of neural circuits that are integrated within a biomechanical framework.

We are interested in developing and implementing the models, validating them against experimental observations, performing dynamical systems analysis, e.g. to identify targets and modes of modulation, and generating experimentally testable predictions. Specific projects will be chosen from the scope and remit of the project, but tailored to individual interests and skills. We study the neuromechanical basis of behaviour in the nematode worm C. elegans. Research combines biological experiments, mathematical and computational modelling of the neural control as well as investigations of the physics of the worm and its interaction with the environment.

You will join a multi-disciplinary, dynamic, and creative group within the School of Computing at the University of Leeds, with close ties to the Fluid Dynamics Centre for Doctoral Training and to the Hope Laboratory in the Faculty of Biological Sciences, where additional biological experimental facilities are housed.