PhD studentship in Computational Visual Neuroscience – How Specific Classes of Retinal Cells Contribute to Vision: a Computational Model

Number of awards:
1

Start date and duration:
25 September 2017 for a three year PhD.

Overview:
The studentship is part of an interdisciplinary project to dissect out how specific classes of retinal neurones contribute to visual function.

The goal of the PhD is to analyse and model the effects of silencing subpopulations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs, the cells that connect the eye to the brain via the optic nerve) on the population response of the retina to visual stimuli.

The overall project is at the interface between experimental and computational neuroscience. The experimental work will be done in Dr Sernagor’s lab in Newcastle and the computational work in Dr Bruno Cessac, head of the Biovision team (INRIA Sophia Antipolis, France; https://team.inria.fr/biovision/).

The PhD project will involve the mathematical analysis of how silencing sub-populations of RGCs (with pharmacogenetics) impacts on the global retinal response to visual stimuli; a simulation platform will be developed, allowing to reproduce the experimental findings and to anticipate new effects. The student will be registered in Newcastle, but is expected to spend most of her/his time in France, on the French Riviera, with regular visits to Newcastle (funding is available for these visits).

Sponsor:
Leverhulme Trust

Name of supervisor(s):
Dr Bruno Cessac (INRIA Sophia Antipolis, France) and Evelyne Sernagor (Newcastle University, Institute of Neuroscience (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ion/))

Eligibility Criteria:
You must have a theoretical profile (physics, computer science) and have achieved at least a 2:1 honours degree or international equivalent. You must have an MSc or MRes in a subject relating to computational neuroscience with good skills in C or C++ coding and be ready to work with experimentalists.

The award is available to UK/EU applicants only.

How to apply:
You must apply through the University’s online postgraduate application system (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/). To do this please ‘Create a new account’.

Only mandatory fields need to be completed. However, you will need to include the following information:

insert the programme code 8300F in the programme of study section
select ‘PhD in the Faculty of Medical Sciences – Neuroscience as the programme of study
insert the studentship code IN090 in the studentship/partnership reference field
attach a covering letter and CV. The covering letter must state the title of the studentship, quote the studentship reference code IN090 and state how your interests and experience relate to the project
attach degree transcripts and certificates and, if English is not your first language, a copy of your English language qualifications.