Postdoc Position: Automatic audiovisual monitoring of distress in laboratory rodents

1. Introduction

Research in animals has provided crucial insights into the brain's functioning and has enabled the development of treatments for many medical conditions. Studying animal behaviour is a central component in this research. Recent developments in artificial intelligence allow vastly refined tracking, which provides unprecedented insights into the emotive state of animals. A particularly important state is distress or pain, which animals might undergo due to experimental procedures or struggles with cage mates. We are developing a cutting-edge automatic monitoring system that will allow the study of audiovisual behaviour and in particular distress in real time. This system will become a key tool for the study of animal communication and well-being in particular in the context of the study of animal models for neurodevelopmental disorders. 

2. Job description

We are looking for a talented candidate to join our labs as a postdoctoral researcher in Neuroscience/Biology. Your project will be to spearhead validation of this audiovisual monitoring system, working closely with the developers of the system. Together with the validation you will study the neural basis of neurodevelopmental and stress-related disorders in animal models that are tested during specific social interactions.

The core of the project will consist of planning, conducting, analysing and publishing behavioural experiments with rodents, in particular their social interactions in terms of vocalizations and behavior, with neural recordings in a subset of experiments. The outcome of the project will have a positive impact on the understanding of social interactions in animal models for major psychiatric disorders and on the refinement of animal experiments through improved audiovisual monitoring. 

3. Profile

• You hold a PhD in Neuroscience, Biology or a related field.
• You have an excellent background in quantitative skills and data analysis.
• You have experience in programming (e.g. in Matlab, Python, or other languages).
• You have experience with animal handling and behaviour, and are preferable in possession of an ‘article 9’ licence for conducting animal experiments.
• You have published your work in international journals.
• You are highly motivated to perform scientific research.
• You are fluent in English and strong in communication and collaboration.

4. We are

You will be working with a team of supervisors, consisting of Prof. Judith Homberg and Associate Prof. Bernhard Englitz. Both are PIs at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour. Prof. Homberg is part of the Donders Centre for Medical Neuroscience and a leading expert in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Englitz is part of the Donders Centre for Neuroscience, and focuses on computational approaches in neuroscience, in this project in particular with respect to the tracking of social interaction of rodents. Both PIs are internationally renowned in their fields and are experienced in supervising and collaborating together. With this project we aim to propel the Donders Institute to the forefront of studying animal behaviour using machine learning, with a particular focus on distress monitoring. 

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of 2.5 years.
• Your salary within salary scale 10 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. 
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. 
• 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 Judith Homberg and Bernhard Englitz. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place in the week of 16 June. You will preferably start your employment on 1 December 2025.

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. If you wish to apply for a non-scientific position with a non-EU nationality, please take notice of the following information.