Positions in reaction-diffusion modeling of signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticy

Postdoctoral position in modeling of signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticy

A postdoctoral position is available in the Computational Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/) to study the signaling pathways involved in cerebellar long-term depression at the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. Main goal is to apply reaction-diffusion modeling to better understand how these signaling pathways operate under stochastic conditions in the presence of strong concentration gradients. Additional topics are inclusion of other forms of synaptic plasticity and of downstream signaling pathways in the models and to study the effect of anomalous diffusion on these pathways (Santamaria et al., Neuron 2:635-48, 2006).
Candidates should have experience with modeling signaling pathways. There will be ample opportunity to interact with other modelers in the lab who are working on several Purkinje cell and cerebellar related projects and with other scientists at OIST.
We offer attractive financial and working conditions in an English language environment. Duration of initial appointments will depend on previous experience, appointments can last up to 4 years and start begin 2008. More information about the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology is available at http://www.oist.jp/
Send curriculum vitae, summary of research interests and experience, and the names of three referees to Dr. Erik De Schutter at erik@oist.jp
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Scientific programming/PhD position in stochastic reaction-diffusion modeling
A scientific programming/PhD position position is available in the Computational Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/) to continue programming of the STEPS software. STEPS implements stochastic reaction-diffusion modeling as C++ implementation of the Gillespie Direct Method in a tetrahedral mesh and is controlled with a Python interface (Santamaria et al., Neuron 2:635-48, 2006). Future work involves parallelization, introduction of approximate methods (tau-leaping, Langevin equation), improvement of mesh generation, etc.
The candidate should have extensive programming experience, preferentially a degree in computer science, and have sufficient scientific training to understand the mathematical basis of the modeling methods used. We require an active interest in the scientific domain so that the software design can be further developed autonomously. The position can be filled either as a technician or to obtain a PhD degree in biomedical sciences.
There will be ample opportunity to interact with modelers in the lab who use the STEPS other modeling software.
We offer attractive financial and working conditions in an English language environment. Duration of initial appointments will depend on previous experience, appointments can last up to 4 years and start begin 2008. More information about the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology is available at http://www.oist.jp/
Send curriculum vitae, summary of research interests and experience, and the names of three referees to Dr. Erik De Schutter at erik@oist.jp