Dear all,

We are delighted to announce an opening for a 4 years joint PHD position at Umeå center for functional brain imaging (UFBI) and Aging research center (ARC) under the supervision of Alireza Salami, PhD, Lars Nyberg, PhD, and Lars Bäckman, PhD. The research focus is on network-specific effect of age and dopamine on resting-state functional connectivity utilizing two large longitudinal cohort studies known as BETULA and COBRA. These two datasets are extremely unique in terms of number of imaging modalities, extensive battery of cognitive tests as well as the number of participants. For instance, COBRA is a longitudinal multimodal imaging study, started in 2013. The study will follow a large cohort (n=190) of 63-67 year-old randomly selected from the population registry in Umeå over a 10 year period. Cognitive performance, functional (including resting state fMRI and PET) and structural brain integrity (DTI and T1) will be assessed at three measurement points, each separated by 4.5 years. The successful PHD candidate should employ different “network-science” approaches, such as independent component analysis (ICA) and graph theory to provide new insight into the interplay among age, different RSN measures, dopamine, and various neuropsychological measures. Applicants should have second-cycle background in biomedical engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, biostatistics, psychology, cognitive science, or some other relevant area. Basic knowledge in neuroscience and cognitive psychology is a requirement. Interest and prior knowledge in statistics are needed. Experience with functional neuroimaging in general and prior research experience in at least one of the three imaging modalities (resting-state fMRI, task-based fMRI, and diffusion tensor imaging) is a major plus. Some experience in neuroimaging analysis methods (SPM/Matlab, FSL, AFNI, ICA, graph theory, shell scripting etc.) is strongly preferred, though further training in imaging analysis will be a key component of the PHD training. The applicant must also be efficient, thorough, a good communicator in English, and enjoy working in an international and dynamic team. The application deadline is April 24, 2014 and the position start date is flexible between July and September 2014. The successful applicant will be affiliated both at Karolinka institute and at Umea University. S/He will be mainly settled down at ARC in Stockholm. Interested applicants should formally apply as described in the ad bellow: https://ki.mynetworkglobal.com/en/what:job/jobID:34724/where:4/

Best /Alireza Salami