[Neuro-IT] PhD and postdoctoral stipends in vision or computational neuroscience

[Fred Hamker]

Several PhD and postdoctoral stipends in vision or computational  =

neuroscience are available at the Dept. of Psychology, University of  =

M=FCnster, Germany in association with a European consortium concerned  =

with high-level visual scene understanding. The consortium aims at an  =

active view on scene perception combining computer vision,  =

computational neuroscience, robotics, visual psychophysics,  =

oculomotor function, and neurophysiology. It is formed by partner  =

labs in Germany, Italy, Spain, and Belgium.

The groups of Prof. Markus Lappe and Dr. Fred Hamker in M=FCnster  =

pursue a theoretical and model-driven approach to experimental  =

psychology/neuroscience in the field of visual perception and its  =

cognitive control. We form an interdisciplinary research community  =

with members coming from psychology, biology, computer science,  =

electrical engineering, mathematics and physics. More information  =

about the groups can be found at http://wwwpsy.uni-muenster.de/ =

Psychologie.inst2/AELappe/en/.


Applications are invited for the following projects:

A. Oculomotor commands in visuo-spatial awareness. This project  =

investigates the contribution of motor signals of saccadic eye  =

movements to the awareness of visual space. We hypothesize that motor  =

signals used for saccade execution are also used for the perception  =

of spatial locations, and that, because these motor signals are  =

plastic, perceptual awareness of peripersonal space is dynamic as  =

well. Using saccadic adaption as an experimental paradigm the project  =

will study the shaping of perceptual space by sensorimotor  =

contingencies. Depending on the interest of the candidate the project  =

can be pursued with either experimental or computational approaches.

B. Joint attention in a common workspace. Cooperative behavior  =

between interacting humans can form a shared workspace and a shared  =

control of attention within this workspace by using eye movements and  =

knowledge about the contingencies of the shared task. Social  =

cognition and mirroring networks are important for this. In human- =

human experiments this project will clarify how shared workspace/ =

shared attention is established and maintained between partners and  =

how it depends on task settings and sensorimotor contingencies.  =

Concurrent eye- and hand-tracking of two actors sharing a visual- =

spatial task will be used to experimentally monitor attention and  =

performance of both actors simultaneously.

C. Model of attention tracking based on action planning and eye  =

movement observation. The principles of human shared attention shall  =

be used to construct a computational model of cooperative behavior  =

that monitors the overt attention of a cooperation partner and  =

predicts the partner=92s actions in a well-defined interaction  =

scenario. This project is linked to project B and will make use of  =

the experimental data obtained in that project.

D. Cognitive control of visual perception. Vision requires high-level  =

cognitive control in form of visual-visual and visual-reward  =

associations, specifically when vision is embedded into a task that  =

requires to interact with the environment. This computational project  =

aims at developing a neuro-computational model of cognitive control  =

based on the present knowledge of the prefrontal cortex and basal  =

ganglia. For more information see: http://wwwpsy.uni-muenster.de/ =

Psychologie.inst2/AELappe/personen/hamker_perception.html

E. Dynamic model of object recognition in the near workspace. In this  =

computational project we will develop algorithms for learning  =

receptive fields at different levels of abstraction in visual  =

processing, including stereo information for depth perception and  =

color. The learned receptive fields will be compared to observations  =

made in different brain areas of human and monkey. For more  =

information see: http://wwwpsy.uni-muenster.de/Psychologie.inst2/ =

AELappe/personen/hamker_category.html


The positions are available for up to 3 years (from March 2008 or  =

later) and are funded according to guidelines for stipends from the  =

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. A degree in psychology, computer  =

science, electrical engineering, physics, mathematics or biology is a  =

prerequisite. Experience in programming (C++, Matlab), applied  =

mathematics, and neural modeling is of significant advantage. PhD  =

candidates are encouraged to apply for the interdisciplinary PhD  =

Program of the Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Behavioral and Cognitive  =

Neuroscience (www.occ-muenster.de)

Please send applications by January 15th 2008 per email (PDF  =

preferred) to mlappe at psy.uni-muenster.de (projects A - C) or  =

fhamker at uni-muenster.de (projects D and E).

The university is an equal opportunity employer. Women are encouraged  =

to apply. Disabled applicants will receive priority in case they have  =

equal qualifications.

--------------------
Dr. Fred H Hamker
Institute of Psychology
Westf. Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster
Fliednerstr. 21
D-48149 M=FCnster
Germany

Tel:+49 (0)251/83-34171
Fax:+49 (0)251/83-34180
email: fhamker at uni-muenster.de
www: http://wwwpsy.uni-muenster.de/Psychologie.inst2/AELappe/personen/ =

hamker.html



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