2 PhD positions available at the Bioengineering Institute of the University Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain in the framework of the “European Network for integrated TRAINing on Innovative Therapies for VISion RestoratiON” (ENTRAIN VISION) project funded by the European Commission (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions). This project involves 10 universities, research organisations and companies from 8 European countries, in collaboration with other European partners from the public and private sector, and aims to a unique European network of researchers, clinicians and industrials for restoring vision in blind patients.
Rehabilitation of sensory and/or motor functions in patients with neurological diseases is more and more dealing with artificial electrical stimulation and recording from populations of neurons using biocompatible chronic implants. Motivated by the success of cochlear implants for deaf patients, we are now facing the challenge of creating a visual neuroprostheses designed to interface with the occipital visual cortex as a means through which a limited, but useful visual sense could be restored to many profoundly blind individuals. PhD students will collaborate in the framework of a clinical trial to evaluate the usefulness of a cortical visual prosthesis based on intracortical microelectrodes (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02983370). The individual projects aim to: (ESR9) Design and development of a bioinspired visual encoder optimized for cortical visual neuroprostheses; (ESR10) Develop new strategies to provide meaningful and useful information to a cortical visual neuroprosthesis based on intracortical microelectrodes, that can be specifically adapted for every patient’s individual needs.
Interested applicants, with a strong motivation in applied neuroscience, should contact Prof. Eduardo Fernández and submit by email (to: ): a curriculum vitae and a brief statement of their scientific interests. Furthermore, they should send an email to: , stating their interest in one of the two open positions (ESR9 or ESR10).
Job Information
Closing date: 13 April 2020
Employment start date: 1 September 2020
Duration: 3 years
Email:
More information: http://www.entrain-vision.eu/
