Ph.D. Student in Munich/Germany

I am looking for a PhD student to investigate the synaptic basis of birdsong. Birdsong is a fascinating learnt motor skill. Songbirds learn from tutors the complex motor sequences performed by their vocal organ, the syrinx, during singing. These are under the control of specialized neural networks in the brain.

The synaptic basis of song production and song learning in networks that control singing is still poorly understood. We have found that electrical synapses, one of the two modalities of synaptic communication found in nervous systems, are present in the neural circuits controlling birdsong. Are you interested in investigating the role played by electrical synapses in learning and producing new songs?

Research will involve electrophysiological, behavioral and molecular techniques at both the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, which comprise vibrant neuroscience and behavioral research environments. The thesis will be supervised by Dr. Pepe Alcami in the departments of Prof. Benedikt Grothe and Prof. Manfred Gahr.

A letter of application, a c.v. and the name of two persons that can be contacted for reference letters should be submitted to Pepe Alcami (alcami@bio.lmu.de) by June 15.