PhD Scholarship in Neuromechanics and Motor Control of Birdsong
We are looking for a biomechanics/engineering/neuroscience
PhD candidate to study motor control and biomechanics of
sound production in songbirds.
The songbird has proven an invaluable model system to answer some of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience. Especially in studies aiming to understand the neural basis of vocal production learning, a form of imitation learning with strong parallels to human speech learning, songbirds have become a widely used experimental model system. However, we lack mechanistic insights into the function of the motor circuits that generate song.
The PhD fellow will use combined in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo approaches studying effects of muscle recruitment on sound production. Experimental techniques from biomechanics, neuroscience and voice science will be used, such as high-speed imaging, 3D stereoscopy, muscle mechanics, EMG, sound and kinematic analysis.
The PhD fellow will work under the supervision of Dr Coen P.H. Elemans at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense, Denmark. The Elemans Lab is part of the Sound and Behaviour Group embedded in the Department of Biology, SDU. Our group studies sound communication in all its aspects in a wide range of animals from insects to whales. The applicant is expected to interact with the whole Group, and excellent social skills will be prioritized.
The songbird has proven an invaluable model system to answer some of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience. Especially in studies aiming to understand the neural basis of vocal production learning, a form of imitation learning with strong parallels to human speech learning, songbirds have become a widely used experimental model system. However, we lack mechanistic insights into the function of the motor circuits that generate song.
The PhD fellow will use combined in vivo, in vitro and ex vivo approaches studying effects of muscle recruitment on sound production. Experimental techniques from biomechanics, neuroscience and voice science will be used, such as high-speed imaging, 3D stereoscopy, muscle mechanics, EMG, sound and kinematic analysis.
The PhD fellow will work under the supervision of Dr Coen P.H. Elemans at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense, Denmark. The Elemans Lab is part of the Sound and Behaviour Group embedded in the Department of Biology, SDU. Our group studies sound communication in all its aspects in a wide range of animals from insects to whales. The applicant is expected to interact with the whole Group, and excellent social skills will be prioritized.
Deadline: August 30, 2016
For more detailed information visit: www.sdu.dk/en/service/ledige_stillinger
or contact Dr Coen P.H. Elemans (coen@biology.sdu.dk).