Postdoc Position: Network Neuroscience of Language at the Donders Centre for Cognition

1. Introduction

Join the ERC project EMERGENCE and uncover how language emerges from large‑scale brain networks. Work with cutting‑edge neuroimaging and advanced modelling to reveal the neurobiological principles shaping human language.

2. Job description

The ERC project investigates language as an emergent, distributed brain function, integrating white-matter connectivity, functional neuroimaging and individual variability. The overarching aim is to understand how language functions arise from large-scale brain networks and how these networks differ across individuals. The project combines advanced diffusion MRI tractography, functional imaging and multivariate analytical approaches to characterise language networks beyond classical localisationist models.

As a postdoctoral researcher you will join the ERC Consolidator project EMERGENCE, which investigates how language networks arise from multi-scale neurobiological variability. The position focuses on integrating multimodal neuroimaging (structural MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, functional MRI, and receptor-enriched connectomics) to characterise individual differences in language organisation across healthy populations. You will lead advanced preprocessing and modelling pipelines, including tractography, connectome construction, neurotransmitter-weighted network modelling and embedding approaches (e.g. low-dimensional morphospace analyses, UMAP) to identify latent principles of language network architecture.

You will be responsible for designing and implementing reproducible analysis workflows, contributing to hypothesis development, supervising junior team members (PhD candidates and research assistants) and coordinating data integration across existing large-scale datasets (e.g. HCP). The role requires close collaboration with computational neuroscientists, clinicians and international partners, ensuring methodological rigour, open-science compliance and high-impact dissemination through publications and conference presentations.

Beyond technical expertise, you are expected to contribute to the project's conceptual development by advancing theory at the intersection of variability, connectivity and language function. You will actively participate in mentoring and community-building within the Language and Communication research theme across the Donders Network, helping to establish a sustainable and internationally visible research line in neurobiological models of language emergence.

You will be supervised by Dr Stephanie Forkel (PI) and work in close interaction with PhD candidates, collaborators and international partners.

3. Profile

We are looking for an independent, highly motivated researcher with a strong background in cognitive or systems neuroscience (conceptually and methodologically) and an interest in the neurobiology of language.

Essential qualifications

• You have a PhD in neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, biomedical engineering or a related field.
• You have strong experience with neuroimaging (diffusion MRI and/or fMRI).
• You have demonstrated expertise in quantitative data analysis.
• You have strong programming skills (e.g. Python, MATLAB, R).
• You have an excellent command of spoken and written English.
• You have a strong publication record appropriate to career stage.

Desirable qualifications

• You have experience with white-matter tractography or network-level analyses.
• You have familiarity with multivariate or dimensionality-reduction techniques.
• You have experience working in collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. 

4. We are

The Clinical Neuroanatomy of Language group, led by Stephanie J. Forkel, is embedded within the Donders Centre for Cognition at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. Our team investigates how language emerges from the architecture of the human brain, combining advanced neuroimaging, computational modelling and clinical neuroscience. We study variability as a core biological principle, integrating multimodal MRI and connectomics across healthy individuals and neurological populations.

As part of the Donders Network, we operate within a highly interdisciplinary research environment that brings together cognitive neuroscience, clinical neuroscience, artificial intelligence and behavioural science. The Institute provides state-of-the-art imaging facilities, high-performance computing infrastructure and a vibrant international community of researchers spanning basic and translational domains. Our group collaborates closely with clinical partners and international networks, contributing to large-scale datasets and open-science initiatives.

We are a collaborative, methodologically rigorous, and conceptually driven team committed to reproducibility, mentorship and scientific impact. By bridging theory, methodology and clinical relevance, we aim to shape the next generation of neurobiological models of language and communication.

The Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour is a world-class interfaculty research centre that houses more than 700 researchers devoted to understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of the human mind. Research at the Donders Institute is focused around four themes: 1. Language and communication, 2. Perception, action and decision-making, 3. Development and lifelong plasticity, 4. Natural computing and neurotechnology. Excellent, state-of-the-art research facilities are available for the broad range of neuroscience research that is being conducted at the Donders Institute. The Donders Institute has been assessed by an international evaluation committee as ‘excellent’ and recognised as a ‘very stimulating environment for top researchers, as well as for young talent’. The Donders Institute fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary and supportive research environment with a diverse international staff. English is the lingua franca at the Institute.

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of 1 year.
• Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Stephanie Forkel. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application. We look forward to receiving your application.

As part of the application process, shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit a short technical assignment demonstrating their ability to analyse neuroimaging data using multivariate or embedding approaches (e.g. UMAP) in a manner relevant to the ERC project. The first interviews will take place on Monday 13 April. Any second interview will take place on Monday 20 April. You will preferably start your employment on 1 June 2026.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates. 

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