Description

We are recruiting a research assistant to for the project “The neural and cognitive mechanisms of adaptive and maladaptive emotion-behaviour interactions in naturalistic tasks” (EMOBB), funded by a 5-year ERC Starting Grant (PI: Jacqueline Scholl, Chargée de recherche at Inserm). The post will be held at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (CRNL), employed through the Institut National de la Santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm). For more information on our lab’s broader research framework, please visit sites.google.com/view/jacqueline-scholl.

Summary of EMOBB:

Deciding what to do when for how long – self-organizing one’s behaviour – is an important feature of daily life. Emotions arise providing short-cuts, for example you immediately feel fear and start to flee when you see a dangerous animal that could chase you, you do not have to carefully consider all possible behaviours. The ERC project EMOBB will establish the computational, cognitive and neural underpinnings of the rich interplay between emotions and self-organized behaviour. For this EMOBB will combine novel naturalistic tasks with measures of emotions, using computational modelling. EMOBB will relate the computational measures to individual differences in real-life behaviours and emotional traits (e.g. anxiety, depression). EMOBB will test the causal role of brain networks by combining functional magnetic resonance brain imaging (fMRI) and non-invasive ultrasound brain stimulation (TUS). In the future, the project will have an impact on psychiatry research, identifying targets for treatment studies and tools for studies predicting treatment outcomes. 

Job description

We are looking for a research assistant who has a passion for developing novel experimental designs (cognitive tasks) for measuring cognitions, emotions, individual differences (e.g. psychiatric/psychological traits), brain activity and advanced data analysis (developing computational models). The researcher will join a team and larger collaboration network at the interface between computational cognitive neuroscience and psychiatry. The research assistants career development will be supported in several ways: this project will aim to publish several high impact papers and include presentations of the work at international conferences, the research assistant will receive training in methods and conceptual frameworks through many clubs and working groups at the CRNL. The main duties of the research assistant  will include:

• Assisting with Experimental design and conception (including coding of experimental tasks)
• Assisting with Data acquisition (behavioural testing online, FMRI, TUS)
• Assisting with Advanced data analysis (computational modelling)
• Presentation of work at scientific meetings
• Support of day-to-day activities in the lab 

Duration: 11 months fixed term in the first instance. 

Remuneration according to the current grid.

To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to Jacqueline.scholl@inserm.fr. Please include “ERC-Application-ResearchAssistant” in the subject line.

Starting date: 1st of October 2025 (please get in touch as soon as possible to allow administrative delays)