Postdoctorate Researcher (F/M)

The Paris Brain Institute ICM is a private foundation recognized as being of public utility, whose purpose is fundamental and clinical research on the nervous system, located in the heart of the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. 850 researchers, engineers, and physicians cover all the disciplines of neurology, intending to accelerate discoveries on brain function and the development of treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, depression, paraplegia, tetraplegia, etc.

POSITION

CONTEXT

Anyone who has experienced an all-nighter knows that sleep regulates our emotions. As an example, mood, anxiety, and stress disorders are all associated with the dysregulation of a specific phase of sleep: rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. Surprisingly, most sleep researchers focus on the other and most abundant phase of sleep, non-REM (NREM) sleep. In the past years, we have discovered an extreme pattern of neural and vascular activity, affecting virtually all brain regions (with a specific pattern in the amygdala, the brain “hub” involved in emotional processing) specifically occurring during REM sleep (see image). We aim to dissect the generative mechanism of these vascular surges and interrogate their function, in relation to emotional memory and brain clearance processes. We will use a set of innovative technologies including functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging, electrophysiology, fiber photometry and optogenetics in naturally sleeping rodents, as well as advance analysis methods

The MOVIT Team (Movement, Investigation, Therapeutics), led by Pierre Pouget and Emmanuel Flamand-Roze aims to investigate various aspects of motor and cognitive control, particularly inter and intra-subject variability in developmental and acquired disorders and in genetically related animal models. Within the team, Dr Antoine Bergel is an ATIP-Avenir Emerging Group Leader, looking to establish his independent research group in the coming years. He pioneered the development of functional ultrasound imaging coupled to electrophysiology (fUS-ephys) in freely moving rats, mice and reptiles. His lab will investigate the physiology of sleep, in particular rapid-eye-movement sleep, in relation with emotional memory and brain clearance processes using interdisciplinary approaches to understand and manipulate neurovascular processes at the whole-brain scale.

We Offer:

• a stimulating, interdisciplinary research environment at the heart of Paris
• access to all shared resources within the team and across the Paris Brain Institute
• training to develop high-level skills in behavioral neuroscience, physics, engineering and multimodal data analysis
• scientific training and support for grant writing and research independence financial support to grow your network /present at international conferences

Main MISSIONS

As a post-doctoral fellow supervised by the Research fellow, you will be in charge of:

Experimental work:

• Surgical training for combined functional ultrasound and electrophysiology experiments
• Postoperative care, handling and well-being monitoring in rats and mice
• Acquisition of multimodal data in freely behaving rodents during behavioral tasks (contextual fear conditioning, T-maze)
• Design and validation of closed loop optogenetics stimulations on neural and vascular processes
• Collaborative work with team members and core facilities

Data analysis:

• Multimodal Data Analysis including behavior (Deeplabcut), electrophysiological data (sleep scoring, spike sorting) and fUSi data (image processing)
• Documentation, traceability, and archiving of analyses and experiments on open-source repositories (GitLab, Git, Wiki)
• Initiative and design in new analysis techniques, possibly involving neural networks.

Presentation and dissemination:

• Active involvement in team tasks and events
• Literature review and bibliography (journal club)
• Presentation in team meetings and international conferences
• Student/Intern mentoring, implication in hiring other team members
• Writing of scientific articles
• Grant writing (e. g. Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions)
• Contribution to open-source team projects and resource sharing

PROFILE

KNOW-HOW

• At least one first-author publication or preprint in neurophysiology or neuroimaging
• Experimental expertise in rodent neurophysiology (surgeries, behavioral tasks)
• Programming skills (Matlab or Python)
• Interdisciplinary background is a plus
• English proficiency (French is not required)
• Proven ability to write scientific articles, give oral presentations and conduct projects

knowledge

• Cognitive neuroscience and/or neurophysiology
• Basics in wave Physics (ultrasound, light, electromagnetism)
• Advanced Data analysis methods and Statistics
• Legal and ethical framework of animal experimentation

SOFT-SKILLS

• Motivation and passion for neuroscience
• Autonomy and strong organizational skills
• Scientific curiosity
• Teamwork and communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Respect for ethical rules and regulatory obligations under the protocol

The Brain Institute is committed to combating all forms of discrimination. We guarantee an inclusive and respectful working environment for all diversities.

All our positions are open to individuals with disabilities.

CV to be sent directly through our Career site: