About the Project
We offer a A$5,000/year top up PhD studentship for competitive candidates interested in a newly-funded longitudinal imaging study mapping neural plasticity in cannabis dependence over time, at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
The proposed PhD project has 2 key aims:
The PhD student will use multimodal neuroimaging, psychosocial and cognitive data to:
(i) Investigate cross-sectional neurocognitive differences between recreational and problem cannabis users, and
(ii) Longitudinally map neuronal trajectories linked to progression from recreational use to cannabis dependence, and vice versa – with a focus on structural/functional connectivity.
To address these aims, the PhD student will work with data from a longitudinal multimodal imaging project comprising 90 cannabis users with varying levels of dependence and 30 controls, examined at 3 time-points over a 12 month period.
Your PhD tasks and respsonsibilities
- Participant recruitment and imaging, cognitive, and clinical assessments.
- Identifying multiple factors that predate/confer risk of cannabis use disorder onset using multimodal imaging (functional/structural connectivity), psychosocial, cognitive and genetic data.
- Disseminate study results via publication in high quality neuroscientific journals.
Who are we looking for?
Essential requirements:
- Highly motivated, with a strong interest in addiction, psychopathology and neurodevelopment;
- Excellent English written and verbal communications skills;
- Experience in psychological and cognitive testing; and
- Experience with statistical and computer programming skills (e.g., scripting, Matlab, LINUX).
Desirable skills:
- Experience in neuroimaging / biostatistics data analysis;
- Experience in writing publications in peer reviewed scientific journals; and
- A numerate background – e.g., a Master's degree in computer science, mathematics, engineering, medical image analysis or related discipline.
Research context
For full scholarship, the PhD student will need to be successful in attaining an Australian Federal Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. An additional $5,000 scholarship will be awarded for successfully attaining PhD candidature linked with the specified project.
The PhD post will be affiliated with School of Psychology, University of Wollongong. The student will work with and have access to a multidisciplinary team with high-level expertise in neuroimaging, neuroscience, addiction and mental health. There will have opportunities of training in high-level neuroimaging methods in specialised research centres.
Contacts
For more information on the project please contact:
Dr Valentina Lorenzetti [Email Address Removed]
Prof. Nadia Solowij [Email Address Removed]
Top-Up Studentship: $5000 funded from the University of Wollongong
Full Scholarship Opportunities: http://www.uow.edu.au/future/postgrad/costs/researchscholarships
Wollongong, NSW Australia: http://www.visitwollongong.com.au
For additional queries on the role, please contact Lisa Greenwood at [Email Address Removed]
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