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The Department of Psychiatry, RWTH Aachen University, Germany, is offering a *PhD position for 3 years in a DFG-funded project entitled:* *“Investigating the right and left temporo-parietal junction by system plasticity after induced lesions”* In an innovative combination of experimental and computational approaches, we will investigate the poorly understood difference between the left and right temporo-parietal junctions with its functional relation to the default mode network across a diverse set of psychological tasks. We will capitalize on data-driven methods that learn network patterns caused by temporary functional disruption of specific regions with a minimum of a-priori assumptions. The project is a joint endeavour between the Department of Neuropsychology at the MPI-CBS Leipzig (Dr. Gesa Hartwigsen) and the Department of Psychiatry of the RWTH Aachen University. What you would work on: You will learn and employ different machine-learning methods to address the functional relevance of the temporo-parietal junction across different domains. Plasticity-inducing TMS will be combined with functional neuroimaging to investigate short-term reorganization and changes in effective connectivity in different cognitive networks. What we expect: The candidate must hold a master’s degree (or equivalent) in computer science, neuroscience, or a related field. She / he is expected to be a talented, enthusiastic, willing-to-learn researcher. The ideal candidate will have a profound background in experimental psychology, solid programming skills, and experience in acquisition and analysis of neuroscientific or behavioural data. What we provide: The experiments will be conducted at the MPI-CBS in Leipzig, Germany, an internationally leading center for cognitive and imaging neuroscience equipped with a 7.0 T MRI scanner, several 3.0 T MRI scanners, a 306-channels MEG system, several TMS laboratories, tDCS, and several EEG systems. All facilities and data analysis are supported by experienced IT and physics staff. PhD students will have the possibility to benefit from the International Research Training Group IRTG2150. The PhD student will be integrated in an international and interdisciplinary team under the direct supervision of Danilo Bzdok. Starting date is August 1st, 2017 or later. Payment will correspond to salary grade 13/2 of the German Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Civil Services (65% TVL-13, http://bit.ly/1Rf8TjY). The RWTH Aachen is an equal opportunity employer, and international applicants are encouraged. Applications with the subject heading ‘PhD 08-17’ should be sent to: danilo(dot)bzdok(at)rwth-aachen(dot).de. The deadline for application submission is July 31th, 2017. The application should include the following documents (in a single PDF-file): · Cover letter describing personal qualifications and research interests · Curriculum vitae · Contact details of two personal references For further details, please contact: Prof. Danilo Bzdok, MD, PhD