Fwd: EPSRC PhD Opportunity in Human Neuroimaging

Dear friends and colleagues, I would appreciate it if you could distribute the following PhD opportunity in human neuroimaging to your lists and to any talented STEM students you happen to be entertaining in your labs. Many thanks, Anastasia Dr Anastasia Christakou Centre for Integrative Neuroscience & Neurodynamics School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences University of Reading anastasia.christakou.org <http://anastasia.christakou.org> *PhD Studentship in Human Neuroimaging* http://www.reading.ac.uk/pcls-pgrabout.aspx The School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences invites applications for a 3-year EPSRC funded studentship to develop a platform for the integration of dynamic magnetic resonance spectroscopic and haemodynamic data in human brain imaging. Leveraging recent progress and ongoing work on dynamic models of neuronal activity and neurovascular coupling, the project aims to integrate data from magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and blood oxygen level-dependent functional MR imaging (BOLD fMRI). The project will develop, test and compare a series of computational models designed to simulate data that integrate structural, functional and neurochemical magnetic resonance measurements. The acquisition of structural, BOLD and spectroscopic data from cortical and subcortical structures will be optimised. The effectiveness of the best performing models will be tested in these different brain regions to examine whether the relationship between structural markers, haemodynamics and neurochemistry remains constant or changes systematically across neural tissue. A number of key questions in our ongoing work will be specifically addressed in this way, although the precise application of the project methodology will be tightly coupled to the interests of the student. The project will be at the forefront of efforts to reverse-engineer the MR signal to its neural constituents, addressing a significant methodological issue in modern neuroimaging applications. The studentship will be hosted in a cross-disciplinary, multi-centre environment under the primary direction of Dr Anastasia Christakou (Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics (CINN) and School of Psychology and Clinical Sciences (PCLS), University of Reading). The project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr Ying Zheng (University of Sheffield), Professor Tom Johnstone (University of Reading), and a number of external partners. The student will be affiliated to PCLS and based in the CINN at Reading. It is envisaged that the successful candidate will visit collaborators in the UK as well as internationally during the project. The ideal applicant will possess a postgraduate qualification in Mathematics, Engineering, Physical Sciences or other relevant background with a strong mathematical component; applicants with an undergraduate degree of 2.1 or above may also be considered. Excellent computer programming is highly desirable, as is a keen interest in human neuroimaging, dynamical systems theory, and methods development. The mathematical modelling work will involve iterative methods such as the expectation-maximisation algorithm. The developed mathematical models will be solved using appropriate numerical packages (e.g. MATLAB). The MR data acquisition development work will be undertaken in collaboration with senior scientists in the CINN and external collaborators, and will form a key aspect of the project. For further details or for an informal conversation about the scope of the project, please contact Dr Anastasia Christakou (anastasia.christakou(a)reading.ac.uk <mailto:anastasia.christakou@reading.ac.uk>). To apply for this studentship please submit an application for a ‘PhD in Human Neuroimaging’ to the University before 26^th July, 2013 – see http://www.reading.ac.uk/Study/apply/pg-applicationform.aspx. It is envisaged that interviews for short-listed candidates will be held on Monday 12^th August.