PhD perceptual organization and learning in the human brain-KU Leuven 2009-2010

We have open positions available for one PhD student and one postdoc
to start anytime between 1 January 2009 and 31 October 2009. The
research will be centered on the use of functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying
perceptual organization and learning in the human brain, under the
supervision of Johan Wagemans and Hans Op de Beeck.

The PhD position is for a period of 4 years. Starting salary will be
in the range of 1500 euro per month after taxes. The main assignment
of the PhD student is to conduct and publish research using functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; possibly combined with EEG) related
to the topics of the project and to complete a PhD thesis. Teaching
and administration load will be minimal. Candidates should have a
Master degree in one of the many sub-disciplines of cognitive
neuroscience. They should have experience in conducting fMRI research,
preferably on topics related to the research program described below.

The postdoc position is for a period of one, two or three years,
depending on the candidate’s preference and on our evaluation of the
candidate’s capacities (funding is secured for 7 years and can even be
extended afterwards). More senior postdocs with academic ambitions are
also encouraged to apply. They can be given professorial rights,
including the right to be co-supervisor of PhD students and the right
to apply for grants as principal investigator. Starting salary depends
on prior academic experience, but will probably range between 2000 and
2700 euro per month after taxes. The main assignment of the postdocs
is to conduct and publish research using fMRI (possibly combined with
EEG) related to the topics of the project and to co-supervise the work
of PhD students. Teaching and administration load will be minimal.
Candidates should have a PhD in one of the many sub-disciplines of
cognitive neuroscience. They should have published fMRI research in
international journals on topics related to the research program
described below.

The vision group in our laboratory already includes several
researchers working on fMRI of visual perception (2 postdocs and 2 PhD
students) and combined fMRI-EEG measurements (1 postdoc), in addition
to vision researchers applying psychophysical and modeling approaches.
There are collaborations with several other fMRI labs in our university.

Research program

The positions are funded by a large and prestiguous grant (Methusalem
program of the Flemish Government), awarded to Johan Wagemans for
research on “Perceptual organization in the context of a dynamical and
hierarchical visual brain” It involves projects in collaboration with
Ralf Krampe, Hans Op de Beeck, Gert Storms, and Karl Verfaillie, all
colleagues at the Department of Psychology at the University of Leuven.

The general aim of our research program is to understand the processes
and mechanisms of perceptual organization in the context of what we
know about the dynamical and hierarchical way in which the brain
functions. More specifically, we want to understand (1) the different
processes and representations involved in the formation of groups,
patterns, shapes, objects, and events, by means of a systematic and
thorough study of the many different ways in which multiple elements
interact in space and time; (2) the mid-level processes and
representations involved in perceptual organization in relation to
low-level and high-level processes and representations; and (3) the
dynamics of perceptual organization at different time scales, incl.the
interactions between different processes and representations during
on-line stimulus processing, developmental questions, and plasticity
issues.

The major focus is on perceptual Gestalts but in some cases they are
studied in close interaction with sensorimotor behavior like
multi-finger sequencing and postural control, and with cognitive tasks
like category learning and categorization. The application of advanced
fMRI techniques and combined fMRI-EEG measurements is an important
part of the project, in addition to experimental psychology,
psychophysics, and quantitative modeling.

The majority of the research topics address basic research questions
but we will also devote considerable time and effort to three diverse
applications with high societal or cultural importance. More
specifically, we will study (1) the nature of visual processing in
autism, with a special emphasis on deficits in automatic Gestalt
formation and on enhanced processing of visual details; (2) the
interactions between perceptual and motor processes in the elderly, to
understand better how we can reduce or prevent decline in cognition
and action with age; and (3) the spontaneous and subtle use of
perceptually appealing Gestalt phenomena and the relation to aesthetic
pleasure in visual arts.

Leuven: the city and the university

The city of Leuven is an agglomeration of five communities (Leuven,
Heverlee, Kessel-Lo, Wilsele, and Wijgmaal) with around 90,000
inhabitants. Add to this 35,000 post-secondary and 11,000 high-school
students and it should come as no surprise that the streets are filled
with young faces and that the city lives at a student’s rhythm: hectic
weeks at the beginning of the academic year and relative calm during
vacation and examination periods. The city is an old, medieval city
with many colleges, cosy squares, shopping streets, and lots of
restaurants and cafes. The city center is quite friendly for
pedestrians and cyclists. Leuven is at 25 km from Brussels, with
frequent direct train connections, also to the international airport
at Zaventem and to the TGV station of Brussels South (Midi).

The university of Leuven is one of the oldest in the Low Countries
(founded in 1425) and ranked amongst the best in Europe. International
PhD students and postdocs have regularly acclaimed it one of the best
places in the world to live and work. For example, our university was
listed fifth in this year?s ranking of international institutions as
Best Places to Work for Academia (source:

http://www.the-scientist.com/bptw/).

Some useful links to find out more about the city and university of
Leuven:

http://www.kuleuven.be/english/living.html

http://www.kuleuven.be/vesta/

http://www.kuleuven.be/about/history.html

More information about our research can be found at
http://ppw.kuleuven.be/labexppsy/newSite/. Questions and applications
should be sent to johan.wagemans@psy.kuleuven.be before 15 December
2008. All applications should include a full CV and the names of at
least two academics who can be contacted for a reference. Feel free to
forward this message to anyone who might be interested in applying for
one of the positions.