Following an agreement between the Dept. of Basic Medical Science, Neuroscience, and Sense Organs at the University of Bari Aldo Moro and a local biomedical software company, a PhD fellowship will be available in the Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience in the field of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. Candidates who are in the process of writing up their master thesis are welcome to apply. The expected call opening date is August 2017, with expected start in September/October 2017. 

The Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience is led by Prof. Alessandro Bertolino and Prof. Giuseppe Blasi and investigates the association of genetic variability with systems-level phenotypes, including Imaging and Magnetoencephalography, with a focus on Psychosis. The candidate will work in the lab of Brain Imaging, Networks, and Data mining (BIND) coordinated by Dr. Giulio Pergola, with the aim to investigate the biological basis of major psychiatric disorders by integrating multimodal data (genetic variation, gene expression, structural and functional MRI, and neuropsychology). The PhD project will address the relationship between co-expression networks and brain imaging, behavioral and clinical phenotypes (see for example Translational Psychiatry - DRD2 co-expression network and a related polygenic index predict imaging, behavioral and clinical phenotypes linked to schizophrenia).

The ideal candidate is a young graduate experienced in data mining or machine learning, or keen to work with these computational tools. A basic understanding of biology is necessary. Other skills desired for this position include statistics and coding, preferably in R. Experience with network analysis, machine learning software, neuroimaging toolboxes, and advanced statistics (e.g., bayesian statistics and model-free data mining) is a plus. 
We expect the successful candidate to be motivated and research-oriented. It is equally important to have a team-working attitude and a motivation to fit in the group. Knowledge of Italian is not required, although it may help with everyday life. 

Bari is a sunny city located by the sea in the east of southern Italy, and the third greatest city south of Rome. The cost of living is comparatively low with respect to Italian standards. The salary of the PhD candidate will be set according to the Italian law.
   
Please contact Dr. Pergola if you would like to have more information on the position as well as for help about the application for international students (giulio.pergola@uniba.it).