4 Research Project positions at Department of Psychology (UvA): : Brain-Behavior Relationships in Population Neuroscience / Comparing Deep Neural Networks and Brain Representations / Modeling Human Visual Development with Deep Learning / Neural Convergence of Vision and Language

Project 1)

Master’s Research Internship: Brain-Behavior Relationships in Population Neuroscience

H.Steven Scholte, Henk Cremers, Jan Henk Kamphuis

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam

Project Duration 5-6 months (full-time) or equivalent part-time. Intern or thesis.

Start date: Flexible Location: University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology

Project Overview 

Join our research team in exploring the relationships between psychological characteristics and brain structure/function using a comprehensive dataset from a representative Dutch population sample. This dataset, recently published by us in Nature Scientific Data, combines neuroimaging data with extensive psychological and demographic measurements.

Research Questions

·       How do different psychological constructs map onto brain structure and function?

·       Which psychological variables show stronger neural correlates: cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence) or personality traits?

·       Can the degree to which these variables are correlated with brain activity be considered a proxy for the distance between the psychological construct and neuroscientific measurement?

What You’ll Do 

·       Work with a rich dataset combining neuroimaging and questionaire / behavioural measures.

·       Develop and validate predictive models using machine learning techniques

·       Apply cross-validation methods to ensure robust findings

·       Contribute to our understanding of brain-behavior relationships

Required skills & courses

·       Programming experience (preferably Python)

·       Courses: NeuroImaging | Bold-MRI  and/or Cognitive AI | NeuroImaging

What We Offer 

·       Access to a unique, high-quality dataset

·       Experience with state-of-the-art analysis methods

·       Supervision by experts in neuroimaging and psychological assessment

·       Opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research in cognitive neuroscience

·       Potential for publication and conference presentations

How to Apply 

Send your CV, motivation letter, and academic transcript to [staat bij de werkgever] or sign up for the internship market. 3 research master students can work on this project.

Project 2)

Master’s Research Internship: Comparing Deep Neural Networks and Brain Representations

Dr. H.Steven Scholte

Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam 

Project Duration 5-6 months (full-time) or equivalent part-time. Intern or thesis.

Start date: Flexible Location: University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychology

Project Overview 

Join our research exploring the systematic comparison between artificial neural networks and human brain activity. While the relationship between deep neural networks (DNNs) and neural representations has been studied, we lack a comprehensive evaluation of alignment methods. This project investigates how different DNN components correspond to brain representations using multiple comparative techniques. Your work will advance our understanding of both human cognition and artificial intelligence by determining optimal methods for comparing artificial and biological neural networks.

Research Questions 

·       How to best determine the alignment between deep neural networks and brain activity.

What You’ll Do 

·       Implement and compare three different similarity measures between three different DNNs on three different types of brain data.

·       This will be done for different, and combined, layers of DCNNs.

·       Contribute to , and set, methodological best practices in computational cognitive neuroscience.

Required skills & courses

·       Programming skills and capable of working with data  and datamanagment.

·       Some experience with deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch).

·       Background in computer science, cognitive science, or neuroscience.

·       Understanding of linear algebra and statistics.

·       Courses: Cognitive AI & NN and/or Cognitive AI & NeuroImaging

What We Offer 

·       Work with state-of-the-art deep learning models

·       Access to high-quality neuroimaging datasets

·       Training in advanced computational methods

·       Contribution to an active research field

·       Potential for publication and conference presentations