Doctoral student at the Department of Diagnostic Radiology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Research group
The Medial Temporal Lab is headed by assistant professor Laura Wisse and focuses on neuroimaging in neurodegenerative diseases (https://www.multipark.lu.se/medial-temporal-lab). The lab closely collaborates with the Clinical Memory Research Unit and the Swedish BioFINDER Study Group, both headed by Professor Oskar Hansson, have world-class expertise in neurodegenerative diseases (www.biofinder.se).

We are now looking for a PhD student for our project “A new look at the amygdala in neurodegenerative diseases”. The PhD student will conduct research under the supervision of Laura Wisse, Oskar Hansson, Nicola Spotorno and Paul Yushkevich. Starting date for this full-time position is to be mutually agreed.

We aim to create a good work environment based on respect and consideration in our relation to each other. We strive to create an environment that promotes development and is stimulating to all employees.

Project description
Dementia is a major cause of disability and dependency in a growing older population, where not only cognitive symptoms but also neuropsychiatric symptoms greatly impact day-to-day living of patients and their caregivers. The brain region the amygdala plays an important role in cognitive decline but especially neuropsychiatric symptoms.
This PhD project focuses on gaining a better understanding of the accumulation of pathology and neurodegeneration in the amygdala and cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms as a result thereof in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. The project will utilize rich ex vivo datasets to gain a better understanding of the underlying pathologies, as well as large comprehensive in vivo datasets to characterize the role of imaging markers of the amygdala in changes in neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms.

Together, the proposed project will improve our understanding of disease mechanisms but also help improve our biomarkers to track changes in dementia for clinical trials and prognosis.

Work description
Main tasks include running automated pipelines for the segmentation of brain regions, the quality assessment of automated segmentations of the medial temporal lobe, statistical analyses, writing papers and presentation of results at national and international conferences.

The main duties of PhD students is to engage in their research studies, which includes participating in research projects and mandatory third cycle courses studies. The work duties can also include teaching and other departmental duties. Other assignments within the research group may also occur.

Qualifications
The following are required for the position:

- Master of Science, or a foreign qualification deemed equivalent, within medicine, biomedical science, psychology, neuroscience or a related field.
- Proficiency in oral and written communication in English.
- Strong communication, presentation and writing skills.
- Affinity with dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Merits include:
- Experience with MRI
- Experience within programming
- Experience of advanced statistical analyses

Others
The employment is limited in time, four years according to HF ch. 5, 7§ at 100 %.
Desired start date is May 1, 2023, or as agreed.

Eligibility
Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Type of employment
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.

Instructions for the application
The application must contain a personal letter describing how you fulfil the desired qualifications, a CV and diploma.