Postdoc in Auditory Computational Neuroscience at The University of Melbourne

[David Grayden <grayden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Computational neural modelling of bottom-up information and top-down attention in auditory perception

Link to position: http://go.unimelb.edu.au/8npn

RESEARCH FELLOW
Position no.: 0032600
Employment type: Full-time Fixed Term
Campus: Parkville

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Melbourne School of Engineering
The University of Melbourne
Australia

Salary: Level A $61,138* - $82,963 p.a. (*PhD entry Level A.6 $77,290 p.a.) or Level B $87,334 - $103,705 p.a., plus 9.25% superannuation. The level of appointment is subject to the appointee's research record, qualifications and experience.

We are seeking a post-doctoral candidate for research in the area of mathematical and computational neuroscience in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The aim of this project is to address one of the great challenges of neuroscience, namely how information is processed in the brain. This project addresses fundamental cross-disciplinary issues of information processing in large-scale biological neural systems using mathematical and computational techniques. This is an area of research that is at the cutting edge of intelligent processing systems. An understanding of these mechanisms would have considerable implications in areas that span a range of complex biological and artificial neural systems, including automatic speech recognition, robotics, and machine learning all with applications in diverse areas.

We seek a highly motivated person with expertise in neuroengineering and/or neural modelling. In this role you will contribute to all aspects of the project, including the development of the neural network models and the analysis of the models for elucidation of the mechanisms used by the brain for the processing of sounds. This will involve obtaining the necessary neural and network parameters from the literature and our collaborators, constructing single-compartment neuron models that match biological data, developing the network models and analysing their behaviour and parameter dependence, assessing the computational consequences of attention and plasticity in the neuronal representation of sounds using measures from information theory. You will also co-supervise PhD, MPhil and Master of Engineering students.

You must be able to demonstrate clearly an ability to perform independent research. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential. Research expertise in the area of neural modelling of the auditory system will be advantageous but not essential. The position is open to both national and international applicants. The position will commence in 2014 for a period of up to 3 years.

Close date:   19 January 2014

Dr David B Grayden BE(Hons) BSc PhD
Associate Professor and Reader, Dept. Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Director, Biomedical Engineering
Director, NeuroEngineering Laboratory, Dept. Electrical & Electronic Engineering
Laboratory Leader, Bionics Laboratory, Centre for Neural Engineering

Melbourne School of Engineering
The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
T: +61 3 90353796; E: grayden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx | W: www.ee.unimelb.edu.au