Postdoctoral position in Neurosciences in Italy

A position is available for a full-time, up to two years, Post-Doctoral Fellow fully funded by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena (Italy) on the project “The neuroanatomical correlates of political attitudes and behaviors” at the Department of Neuroscience, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (tutor: Prof. Paolo Nichelli).

Our team explores the neuroanatomical correlates of complex social behaviors, using both fMRI and clinical research on patients with degenerative disorders. The project is an international collaborative effort including our team and the research group leaded by Jordan Grafman (Cognitive Neuroscience Section of the NINDS, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA). It is aimed to investigate the brain mechanisms that underlie politics and to create and standardize tests that measure and evaluate possible political beliefs’ changes in neurodegenerative diseases. The successful candidate will have access to the research facilities and available equipment in the laboratory including behavioral/psychophysical testing and 3T fMRI. He/she will be also requested to collaborate with the research group at the NIH.

The post-holder will be responsible for
(1) the design, conduct, analysis and writing-up of experiments in conjunction with the Principal Investigators,
(2) disseminating the results at international conferences and
(3) participating to the day-to-day running and scientific activity of the research group (conferences, seminars, journal clubs).

We are seeking a post-doctoral scientist who will be mainly involved in the both fMRI and clinical studies. The candidate will be experienced in autonomous scientific work. He/she will have a good background in clinical neuropsychology and a strong motivation to learn functional imaging techniques or, alternatively, previously acquired experience in functional imaging techniques and a strong interest in clinical neuropsychology.

Deadline: for application January 29, 2009.

To apply:
Contact: Prof. Nichelli at
nichelli@unimore.it