[Comp-neuro] PhD student position on "Spatial Statistics Applied to Neuroscience" at UPM, Madrid

The Computational Intelligence Group at the Computer Science School of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM, http://www.upm.es/internacional) is looking for a PhD student. He/She will be working on "Spatial Statistics Applied to Neuroscience" within the Cajal Blue Brain project, the Spanish representation of the international ‘Blue Brain Project’. The candidate will join Programa de Formación Homologado de Becas-Contrato (Officially Approved Education Program of the Technical University of Madrid).

Details

• Topic: Spatial statistics in neuroscience, with special emphasis on spatial point processes
• Type of contract: Programa de Formación Homologado de Becas-Contrato de la UPM / Officially Approved Education Program of the Technical University of Madrid
• Length: 4 years (2 scholarship / 2 contract) based on full-time employment
• Salary:  the minimum fixed by the Program (1200 €/month) + bonus due to achievements
• Place: Facultad de Informática (UPM)
• Predicted date to start: November 1, 2012
• Closing date for applying: September 15, 2012   
• Send CV and letter of application to: mcbielza@fi.upm.es, pedro.larranaga@fi.upm.es
• Computational Intelligence Group website: http://cig.fi.upm.es/
• Cajal Blue Brain website: http://cajalbbp.cesvima.upm.es/

Requirements

• Academic degree: Graduate/Engineer
• Degree in: Statistics or Mathematics (preferably)/Computer Science
• Experience: Knowledge of R package will be of merit
• Languages: English (Spanish is not required)
• Other: Knowledge of Bayesian networks will be of merit

Tasks

• Analysis of 3D spatial distribution of different neuronal structures (synapses, spines...) from electron microscope images.
• Incorporation of marks: symmetric and asymmetric synapses, shape and size of spines...
• Bayesian networks to model spatial distributions with different kinds of marks.