Description:

We are seeking an enthusiastic PhD student with a strong interest in understanding sensory mechanisms and their alteration in autism. The PhD position is supervised by Prof. Dr. Katharina von Kriegstein at the Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at TU Dresden, Germany.

Tasks: The task of the successful candidate involves using high-resolution neuroimaging to investigate how changes in the visual thalamus (LGN) in autism affect visual sensory processing. This knowledge is expected to contribute to a better understanding of sensory overload symptoms in everyday life in autism. The project builds on previous work by our group (listed here ) and particularly our recent finding of LGN alterations in autism ( Schelinski et al., 2024 PNAS ).

Requirements: Candidates should have experience with at least one experimental method of cognitive neuroscience (e.g., psychophysics, functional or structural MRI, neurostimulation), analysis software (e.g., JASP, SPM) or programming language (e.g., matlab, python). Experience with special populations (e.g., autism spectrum) would be an asset but is not essential. PhD student candidates must have a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, or a related field.

The setting: TU Dresden is one of eleven German Universities of Excellence. It provides an outstanding scientific infrastructure. The successful candidate will be based at the Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience . Experiments will be performed at the TUD Neuroimaging Centre ( NIC ). The NIC is equipped with a research-only MRI machine (Siemens 3T Prisma), MRI-compatible EEG, eye-tracking and noise-cancellation headphones, and a neurostimulation unit including TMS, tDCS, and tFUS. The experimental facilities are supported by experienced physics and IT staff. For computational work, there is access to the Centre for Information Services and High Performance Computing at TU Dresden. The TU Dresden Graduate Academy offers a comprehensive training programme and individual career advice for early career researchers. The Dresden-concept Welcome Centre facilitates the start in Dresden for international researchers. The TU Dresden is an equal opportunities employer, committed to the advancement of individuals without regard to ethnicity, religion, gender, or disability.

The position: The PhD position is fully funded (E13 TV-L 75%) and available at the next possible date. It is initially for three years, with possible extension.

More information: The official job advertisement and instructions how to apply can be found at this link .

Address: Technische Universität Dresden Chemnitzer Str. 48b 01187 Dresden Germany

Email: katharina.von_kriegstein@tu-dresden.de