PhD scholarships in Neuroscience at Aix-Marseille University

PhD scholarships for international students

The PhD Program in Neuroscience of Aix-Marseille University (AMU) offers 3 fully funded PhD scholarships (3 year-long) to students who validate a Master’s degree outside France.

Fronto-parietal and cortico-striatal neuronal interactions underlying interceptive movements in macaques (In2CoSt)

Project I7 – Supervised by Dr. Bjørg Elisabeth KILAVIK

Brief project overview: Interceptive movements must take into account the visual context and be rapid and accurate, even though the relevant information is typically highly variable (prey speed, size, position and trajectory…). In this project we will study intra- and inter-areal cortical and sub-cortical dynamics underlying interceptive movements in macaque monkeys. We will study eye-hand coordination, and the influence of manipulating the parameters of the task and consequently the predictability of the time and location of interception on the performance. We will record neuronal activity simultaneously from the different layers of premotor and parietal cortical areas involved in visuomotor integration with chronic 3D arrays. At the same time we will record the sensorimotor striatum, which receives input from these cortical regions and is involved in movement planning and control. Neuronal spiking activity and local field potentials (LFPs) will be analyzed to determine the interactions across cortical layers together with the inter-areal cortico-cortical and cortico-striatal communication. The results should permit an increased understanding of how neuronal activity is integrated in cortico-subcortical networks in order to adapt behavior in unpredictable conditions.

Candidate profile: A background in biology, neuroscience or engineering is optimal. The project will combine experimental work (training and recording from NHPs) and data analysis (matlab/python), providing an excellent opportunity to gain a solid experience in integrative neurosciences.

For more information about this project contact: bjorg.kilavik@univ-amu.fr
Application deadline April 10th 2022.
More information and application procedure can be found here:
https://neuro-marseille.org/en/Calls/2022-phd-scholarships-for-international-students/