Belgium: PhD Position on Reporter GENE IMAGING in Songbird Brain 2007

The University of Antwerp is a knowledge centre with 3.400 co-workers that performs ground-breaking and innovative research of international standing. The university takes special care to ensure optimal support and supervision of students, and pays constant attention to educational innovation. The university is an autonomous pluralistic institution that is committed to the enhancement of an open, democratic and multicultural society, and it pursues an equal opportunities policy.

The Bio Imaging Lab at the University of Antwerp is seeking to fill the following full time vacancy (m/f) available from March 2007: PhD position in songbird neurology

Job description:
The Research in the Bio Imaging Lab is focussing on in-vivo neuro MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of animal models for neurodegeneration (rat and mice models for Alzheimer, Parkinson, Huntington Disease..etc) and neuroregeneration for which the songbird brain is a superior model (adult neuroplasticity and neurogenesis).

The project aims at achieving in-vivo visualisation and quantification of adult neurogenesis in the canary brain under variable circumstances (seasonal and hormonal changes, input of growth factors etc..). Within this project the imaging tools will not be limited to in-vivo MRI, but will be complemented by in-vivo Bioluminescence imaging and ex-vivo Fluorescence imaging and Immunohistochemistry for validation of the in-vivo tools.

Profile and requirements:
A successful applicant should have a Master in Biomedical, Biological or Bio-Molecular Sciences or related, good communication skills to interact in different research fields, determined to reach the proposed aims and not scared of learning new cutting edge imaging techniques.

We offer:
The PhD position has a 12-month initial employment basis, and may be renewable for up to four years upon positive evaluation the first year. The position is based in the University of Antwerp (Antwerp, Belgium) but offers the opportunity to visit and collaborate with research groups from KUL, Max Planck Institute in Munich and LUMC in Leiden.

Interested?
Please send your application, which should include your CV, motivation and the contact information of two references to:

Prof Dr A. Van der Linden
Bio-Imaging Lab
University of Antwerp
Groenenborgerlaan 171
B-2020 Antwerp
Belgium
TEL. +32 3 265 32 30
FAX. +32 3 265 32 33
E-mail: Annemie.VanderLinden@ua.ac.be

Review of applications will begin as soon as possible and will continue until the position is filled.

For more information on the activities of our research group please consult our website: http://webhost.ua.ac.be/biomag/