3 PhD Positions, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017)

The projects are part of a EU-funded project on cellular trafficking (H2020 COSYN) and a national grant on neuromodulators. The PhD-projects will be integrated in these larger project groups.

Communication between neurons in the brain depends on the secretion of chemical messengers from synaptic and dense core vesicles and the trafficking of these vesicles to and within the synapse. Several genes involved in these processes are now firmly implicated in brain disorders like schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy and mental retardation. The aim of the projects is to unravel the mechanisms of vesicle trafficking and secretion in neurons and to analyze how these processes are affected by disease.

Tasks
All projects use cultured rodent and human neurons and modern genome editing to delete/modify candidate genes or introduce/correct disease-relevant variation. As main analysis tools, you will primarily use patch clamp electrophysiology and fluorescence imaging (project 1) or life cell imaging and cellular trafficking assays (project 2-3). All projects will test their main findings in more integrated models (brain slices and in vivo). You will be part of international research networks and will be able to exploit a variety of other analysis methods available within the networks. All projects are in Amsterdam and you will work primarily in Amsterdam with regular visits to the participating labs. The PhD-students will be trained on site and in specialized courses on campus.
During the PhD you will write several scientific publications that will be combined in a PhD thesis.

Requirements
We are looking for candidates that hold, or will soon hold, a master degree in (Medical) Biology, Biophysics or Physics, preferably with hands-on experience in (neuronal) cell culture and microscopy, and a strong motivation to pursue a career in science. Experience with cellular imaging and/or patch clamp physiology are an advantage.

Further details:
http://www.academictransfer.com