Research Assistant for Rodent Psychophysiology NIN Amsterdam

Research Assistant (Netherlands Institute Neuroscience)

to determine markers of emotional states in rodents

Are you interested in understanding what animals feel by leveraging advanced techniques to read facial expressions using machine learning in combination with electrocardiogram, respiration, and startle reflex potentiation? The powerful methods available in rodents make them the primary species to understand the neural mechanisms of emotions and empathy, but we cannot simply ask rodents what they feel. If you want to help us understand what they feel, and prepare yourself to later join a competitive PhD program, then consider joining the Social Brain Lab in an exciting collaboration with UCSD’s Sanford Center for Empathy and Compassion. If you are curious, have a passion for working with animals, like finding patterns in complex datasets, and wish to work in a vibrant, international, interdisciplinary, and highly collaborative environment at the forefront of social and affective neuroscience, then this position might be ideal for you.

What you will be doing

As a research assistant, you will be a critical part of a subteam within the laboratory, composed of you, another PhD-student, and three postdocs, that examine what animals feel when they witness the distress of others and what brain mechanisms trigger this feeling. The team studies the brain network recruited when rats and mice witness fear reactions of others. Your aim will be to refine our ability to read out what the witness feels while witnessing the distress of others by combining a palette of readouts that have traditionally been used in humans, including facial expressions, pupil dilation, heart rate and its variability, respiration, and startle potentiation. You will work closely with another research assistant that will examine similar readouts in humans witnessing the distress of others.

During your research assistantship you will have the opportunity to:

• Learn to use cutting-edge computer-vision tools to provide fine-grained analyses of facial expressions and behavior from more experienced team members
• Learn to perform surgeries to implant electrodes to measure electro-cardio and electro-myograms.
• Gain experience in stereotactic surgeries to perform head-fixed experiments in mice
• Closely collaborate and coordinate with other members of the team in Amsterdam and our collaborators at UCSD consortium
• Coauthor your findings in open-access scientific journals
• Actively participate in simultaneous measurements of neural activity using neuropixel probes
• Prepare yourself for a competitive PhD program in affective or social neuroscience

What you will be contributing

We are looking for an enthusiastic team-player, who:

• Has a research master in the field of neuroscience or related fields
• Preferably has an Article 9 license to work with rodents
• Enjoys working with rodents
• Enjoys advanced data analyses and statistical inferences
• Enjoys learning new techniques
• Functions well both in a team as well as independently, and possesses good communication skills
• Enjoys finalizing projects and writing papers

What we are offering

In this 6-month project, you will have the opportunity to learn state-of-the-art research skills from leaders in the field. You’ll enjoy working in a close-knit team of scientists that values an open culture where everybody feels free to ask questions and make suggestions. In particular, you can expect to:

• Learn a highly valued skill: to analyze behavior and psychophysiological paradigms to showcase the emotional skills of animals.
• Training in performing surgeries and empathy-related paradigms in rodents
• Help you become an expert in social neuroscience in rodents
• The opportunity to work with leading researchers at the intersection between social and affective neuroscience
• You’ll be part of a community of research assistants, PhD-students, and postdocs within the Social Brain Lab working on related projects using a variety of methods
• Guidance, support, and mentoring from three postdocs and at least two PIs
• A full-time employment contract for 6 months with good Terms of Employment

Your Workplace

The Social Brain Lab (SBL) at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

This will be your main home, where your main supervisors, Prof. Christian Keysers and Dr. Valeria Gazzola, will be working on a daily basis and where you will work closely with another PhD-student and three postdocs on related projects. The Social Brain Lab is the result of the joint venture of the research groups of Christian Keysers and Valeria Gazzola, aiming at shedding light on the neural mechanisms of empathy by combining studies in humans and rodents. The SBL is funded by multiple European (ERC, Marie Curie), Dutch (VENI/VIDI/VICI, Gravitation, XL) and international (Sanford Center for Empathy and Compassion) grants, and is characterized by an unusually diverse environment, with members from all over the world, backgrounds (ranging from philosophy to engineering with an emphasis on biology and psychology), and neuroscientific techniques (spanning from ultra-high field fMRI in humans to single-cell recordings in rodents). The SBL is appreciated for its collaborative, enthusiastic and supportive environment, where people strive to become successful, recognized, and appreciated scientists.

For more information, please contact Laura Hammock at l.hammock@nin.knaw.nl

Application procedure

Please submit your motivation letter and curriculum vitae no later than 15 November 2024.

Evaluation of candidates will begin immediately, and within 2 weeks from November 15, you will be informed whether you passed the first round or not. Shortlisted candidates will receive, taking into account candidates’ availability, a short assignment to be done within 48h. Based on the results of the assignment, we will organize a 1h Zoom interview followed by a visit on site for the best candidates. We foresee a final decision to be communicated within three months after the first submission date. If no excellent candidate can be identified, we might re-advertise the position.

About the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and KNAW

The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience is the country’s leading fundamental neuroscience research institute, in the international and progressive city of Amsterdam. The institute is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences (KNAW). The institute provides a critical mass of scientists (spanning more than 27 nationalities) and neuroscience facilities, in a highly interactive, dynamic, multi-cultural environment, with English as the working language.

Diversity & Inclusion

The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.