Postdoctoral Research Associate: Development of a Multi-Physics Neural Net Platform
Key words: Surface and Electrical Engineering, Nanotechnology, Microfluidic, Biophysics, Neural Network recording.
The Institute of Electronic Microelectronics and Nanotechnology of Lille (IEMN-CNRS, France) is seeking for a talented postdoctoral candidate at the interface between mechanical and electrical engineering, microfluidic and nanotechnology research fields. The position is open for 12 months (possibility for 6 months extension) and will start as soon as the position will be filled.
General context: The project aims at developing a hardware platform with embedded measurement features for biological neural network probing. This project intends to realize a physical substrate with microfluidic patterning for cultured cells (i.e. neurons and glial cells) organization. This platform will be the foundation for multi-purpose probing of the biological brain network such as mechanical stress response (flexible substrate), electrical activity recording (embedded microelectrodes), chemical stimulation (microfluidic accesses) and optical measurements (transparent substrate). This measurement platform will be benchmarked on a traumatic brain injury study (TBI) and will serve as a basis for future exploration in both neurosciences and computing research areas.
This postdoctoral position offers a strong interdisciplinary experience between engineering, nanotechnologies and biology. The project has been recently founded by a CNRS/University of Lille grant (PEPS) and is strongly support by the Labex Alzheimer (JPA research centre).
Environment: The candidate will work in a state of the art cleanroom environment and will have full access to the micro&nanofabrication platform of the IEMN laboratory. She/He will work in close collaboration with experts from nanotechnology and microfluidic research fields and will interact directly with JPArc(http://www.crjpa.lille.inserm.fr) and University of Mons (http://hosting.umons.ac.be/php/sgabriele/website) laboratories, both having a strong experience in neural cell cultures and biological systems recording.
Candidate profile: The postdoc candidate will be in charge of the technological development of the multi-physics neural net platform. His/Her first objective will be to design and fabricate the multiphysic device and its performance assessments. Then, under the supervision of electrophysiologists and neuroscientists, the plateform will be used for neural net probing and sensing.
Experience in micro/nano fabrication in a clean room environment is mandatory. Skills among the following research fields : micro-nanofabrication processes, mechanical engineering (flexible substrate for stretching), electrical engineering (design of electrodes for cells recording) and microfluidic (design of microfluidic chamber for neural cells). In addition, experience and strong interest in biology, especially in cell cultures and associated characterization methods will be a plus.
Contact : fabien.alibart@iemn.univ-lille1.fr; yannick.coffinier@univ-lille1.fr
Salary : Based on CNRS salary grid ~2100 euros/month after taxes.
Post-doctoral position at IEMN Lille on Neuromorphic Molecular/Organic Devices
The job: A post-doctoral research position is open in the “molecular nanostructures & devices” group at the Institute for Electronics Microelectronics and Nanotechnologies, a CNRS laboratory located at the university of Lille – France. The position is open for one year (renewable one year).
The selected candidate will work with physicists, nanotechnologists, chemists and biologists to develop and neuro-inspired iono-organic devices. This work is part of a recently launched EU-H2020-FET OPEN project aiming to develop biocompatible sensing devices to detect and classify complex behavioral changes in ion concentrations on the biological scales at the cell level or higher (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/196951_en.html). We are proposing an entirely novel concept to use reservoir computing for this sensing purpose. Strong collaborations with the project partners (e.g. Chalmers University, Basel University, Univ. of Angers, CEA-LIST Saclay, TU Dresden, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, etc…, 8 partners in the consortium) are expected during the post-doc.
Main work program and objectives: In the group, we aim at developing several neuro-inspired iono-organic memristors and devices with a growing complexity in term of behavior and functions. Especially, we will explore the possibility to use organic electronic materials in which ions are mobile and their motion inside a film can be used to control local electrical conductivity. We will also combine these ionic materials with nanoparticles which can trap electrical charges. Only sparse results were published on neuro-inspired devices made of these materials, albeit their abilities to gradually change their electrical conductivity upon ion/electron exchanges made them promising materials for memristive-like device. In this project, these devices will serve as an interface between the biological part and the computing part (reservoir computing) of the entire system, detecting ions and doing locally some basic data treatments.
The candidate: We are seeking for a talented candidate with a PhD in device physics or nanoelectronics or nanotechnology, with proved experiences and skills in device fabrication and relevant electrical characterizations, both at the device and nanoscale level. Specific skills in organic or molecular devices/electronics will be highly appreciated. The position requires a good autonomy and initiative to work in a multidisciplinary area. Good communication skills in English are also mandatory.
The lab: The “molecular nanostructures & devices” group is mainly interested in the electronic properties of organic nanostructures and molecular-scale electronics devices. The group consists of 6 permanent researchers and 8 PhD students and post-doc researchers. IEMN is a widely recognized nano-technology research centres in France with world-class clean-room equipments, electrical characterization and simulation capabilities, near-field scanning probe platform. Our group is well equipped with a platform for “materials and organic devices”, we have a large experience for molecular materials and nano-devices fabrication and characterization. For more details: www.iemn.univ-lille1.fr ; http://ncm.iemn.univ-lille1.fr
Salary : CNRS post-doc gross salary is max 3502€/month depending on experience.
To apply: Applicants should send by e-mail: A detailed curriculum-vitae, a summary of their research works, a detailed list of publications, conferences, etc…, letters of recommendation. To: Dominique Vuillaume, research director at CNRS, head of the “molecular nanostructures & devices” group: dominique.vuillaume@iemn.univ-lille1.fr
Position available October 1, 2015. Seeking will continue until the position is filled.
Post Doctoral Position at IRCICA Lille on Bio-Inspired Circuits for Information Processing
A two years fully funded Post Doctoral position is available at the Research Institute on Software and Hardware Devices for Information and the Advanced Communication (IRCICA), a Research Unit (USR-3380) associating CNRS and the University of Lille. This project is a part of BRAIN program that gathers multidisciplinary scientists.
Project description: The aim of this project is the development of ultra low power circuits and systems for information processing. For many applications, energy efficiency of information processing and communication becomes one of the main quality factors. The current technology, based on binary coding, Von Neumann architecture and CMOS technology, has now reached its limits and the scaling down rules (R. Dennard, 1974) that guided the evolution of the micro- and nanoelectronics for almost 40 years cannot be anymore applied today.
It becomes thus urgent to propose new paradigms of information processing capable of reducing the energy consumption in a drastic way while improving the performances as well. The connection of recent advances in neuroscience and nanodevice manufacturing suggests the possibility of designing and manufacturing radically new architectures with efficiency exceeding several orders of magnitude current systems. This approach has extraordinary potential because all living beings are organized to minimize energy consumption and optimize performance. These bio-inspired or neuromorphic architectures incorporate the principles of operation currently known of the brain, that is large network of interconnected neurons and information coding by pulses. Artificial networks of silicon neurons and synapses are excellent candidates to build neuro- or bioinspired architectures compatible with current CMOS technology while bringing required efficiency and adaptability. They are also well suited for the implementation of synaptic mechanisms such as LTP (Long Term Potentiation) and LTD (Long Term Depression) as well as unsupervised learning algorithms known from neuroscience as «Spike -Timing -Dependent Plasticity» (STDP).
Applicant will design and characterize ultra low power neuron circuits taking into account the following constrains:
- Use of advanced silicon technology.
- Very simple neuron circuit to be integrated at very large scale.
- Operating at low voltage for an ultra low power consumption.
- Able to reproduce the generation and propagation of the action potential.
- Capable to mimic the memristive properties of synapses.
This project has a multidisciplinary character, with the vision to ultimately incorporate the whole development chain from the theoretical analysis through numerical simulations up to circuit design, fabrication and characterization. This project will be conducted in the framework of the BRAIN program, a regional partnership involving multi disciplinary academic teams from several laboratories of Lille University (IRCICA, IEMN and CRIStAL) and it will be associated to the national initiative ‘BioComp’ and the European flagship ‘HBP’
Job requirements: Talented, enthusiastic candidates with excellent analytical and communication skills are encouraged to apply. A PhD degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics or a related discipline is required, as well as a strong background in electronic devices and Circuit design. Experience in neuroscience, non-linear dynamics and computational methods are of benefit.
Conditions of employment: We offer a fully funded two-years Post Doctoral position in an attractive research environment, a possibility to access and work in a research infrastructure having experimental facilities at the best European level and international collaboration with other scientific groups.
Information and application: For more information on this Post Doctoral position and application please contact Pr. Alain Cappy (alain.cappy@ircica.univ-lille1.fr).
Deadline for application: Application should be made as soon as possible. The vacancy is open until a suitable candidate has been found. Planned starting date of the project is January 1st, 2016.
Post-doc fellowship with Benoit Cottereau on computational neurosciences and stereoscopic vision
Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Toulouse, France
Starting date: September – December 2015
A postdoctoral research position is available to work with Benoit Cottereau (CNRS Researcher) in the ECO-3D team of the CerCo laboratory (Toulouse). The aim of the project is to develop new models of stereoscopic vision in primate that automatically become selective to the most frequently occurring 3D properties of their visual environment (e.g. 3D motion direction). These models will possibly be validated through experimental data (psychophysics and brain imaging in both human and non-human primates).
The applicant should hold a solid background in computational neurosciences, signal processing as well as skills in programming.
Knowledge on vision in primate would be highly appreciated.
The city of Toulouse is an attractive city with high quality of life located in the south west of France (close to the Pyrenees, the
Mediterranean sea and the Spanish border).
The position is for 18 months with standard French salaries. Applications should be sent to benoit.cottereau@cerco.ups-