PHD Position Neuroscience

Logo of EURAXESS

Job offer

• JOB - Netherlands - University of Groningen via AcademicTransfer - Posted on: 22 August 2026

Page contents

22 Aug 2026

University of Groningen

Research Field

Neurosciences » Neurobiology Neurosciences » Neurophysiology

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Application Deadline

17 Sep 2026 - 22:00 (UTC)

Country

Netherlands

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

38.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Understanding how patterns of neural activity give rise to behavior is a central challenge in neuroscience. Most of what we know about this relationship comes from rodent experiments performed under tightly controlled laboratory conditions. While these approaches are essential for identifying neural mechanisms, they capture only a fraction of the behavioral repertoire animals display in more complex environments.

What are you going to do?

In this project, you will investigate how neural population activity relates to behavior across environments ranging from standardized laboratory assays to large outdoor enclosures. Using miniaturized calcium imaging, you will record the activity of large populations of neurons in freely behaving mice and determine how neural activity relates to moment-to-moment behavioral changes.

A major component of the project will make use of large outdoor mouse enclosures at the University of Groningen. These environments allow mice to express a rich repertoire of species-typical behaviors, including exploration, shelter use, social interactions and responses to changing environmental conditions. You will combine RFID tracking, multi-camera recordings and deep-learning-based behavioral analysis to identify reproducible behavioral states and understand how they vary ac...