[visionlist] PhDs at Cardiff

[Petroc Sumner]

Cardiff University
School of Psychology
 
 
We are seeking enthusiastic, intellectually able and motivated candidates
for PhD projects in the following topics:
1.             Computational modelling of response control and impulsivity.
2.             The relationship between neurotransmitter levels in the brain
and the effects of alcohol on response control and impulsivity.

We aim to draw on and bridge current high-impact work and existing expertise
at Cardiff across the domains of behavioural tasks, individual differences,
computational modelling, imaging and clinical populations.
 
The concepts of impulsiveness and self control have been associated with
many psychiatric disorders and socially problematic behaviours. But
currently there is no clear understanding of why people differ in their
ability to control and inhibit impulsive actions, and without understanding
what underlies detrimental behaviour, efforts to ameliorate it cannot be
optimised.
 
For the first project, we believe that a leap forward can be provided by
using computational models to utilise the full richness of the data to
separate Œcaution¹ from Œinhibition¹ ­ two concepts related to impulsivity,
but confounded in most studies. Pilot data suggests that this is fruitful,
and we now want to link this modelling approach to imaging experiments and
to clinical cohorts.
 
For the second project, we will investigate why there is so much variation
in the effect alcohol has on individuals (which is not well understood and
therefore not utilised to improve treatment success). Alcohol affects the
neurotransmitter system of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and we will
investigate whether an individual¹s GABA concentration in the prefrontal
cortex predicts how susceptible these brain areas are to alcohol-related
impairment. We will employ magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure
GABA concentration, and we we will use established and new behavioural tasks
to measure and model how different doses of alcohol affect response control
performance and impulsivity.
 
The students would have plenty of scope for their own input. Potential
methodologies include behavioural studies of healthy and clinical cohorts,
computational modelling, neuroimaging, spectroscopy, and genetics.
 
Supervisors: 
The supervisory team will include two or more of the following members of
staff, depending on the exact direction the project takes: Petroc Sumner,
Andrew Lawrence, Chris Chambers, Derek Jones, Andrew Lawrence, James
Walters, Krish Singh, Simon Moore. For some of our recent related work,
please see our departmental webpages (e.g. www.cf.ac.uk/psych/sumner
<http://www.cf.ac.uk/psych/sumner> ).
 
Award:
The studentship will commence in October 2012 and will cover your tuition
fees as well as a maintenance grant. In 2011-12 the maintenance grant for
full-time students was £13,590. The award levels for 2012-13 have yet to be
published. The School of Psychology offers several funded PhD positions in a
competitive manor. Applicants will compete for funding with applicants in
other topics. 
 
Eligibility:
Full awards (fees plus maintenance stipend) are open to UK Nationals, and EU
students. To be successful, you should possess or expect to obtain, a
first-class or upper second honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant
subject area. A postgraduate Masters degree (or equivalent) would strengthen
your application, but is not a requirement. Excellent literacy, numeracy and
IT skills are required, in addition to good English language skills.
Applicants from the UK or EU are eligible for a full award of stipend and
tuition fees from the School of Psychology Award Scheme. Programming in
MatLab will form an intrinsic part of the project, so either some
programming experience, or a keen propensity to learn will be essential.
 
How to apply:
For further details about the project and informal enquiries (which are
encouraged before formal applications) email Petroc Sumner, sumnerp at cf.ac.uk
<mailto:sumnerp at cf.ac.uk> .  Please attach a brief CV. The application
procedure is the same as applying for any PhD in Psychology, with an Oct
2012 start date. Please use our online application service at
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/apply.  Application deadline: 5pm 30 April 2012.
For general enquiries about application procedure or the School, email Mrs
Lesley Anne Strabel, Psych-PhD at cardiff.ac.uk
 
General Information:
The School of Psychology is one of the largest and most successful in the UK
(http://www.cf.ac.uk/psych/ <http://www.cf.ac.uk/psych/> ), as recognised in
every Research Assessment Exercise. We have with state-of-the art testing
facilities, including a fully equipped neuroimaging centre
(http://psych.cf.ac.uk/cubric/).  We have a thriving postgraduate research
community, regular seminars and training sessions, and close collaborations
with Psychological Medicine and Biosciences through the Neuroscience and
Mental Health Research Institute.
 
Cardiff is the youngest capital city in Europe and the fastest growing in
the UK. It plays host to many national and international sporting events at
the Millennium Stadium (http://www.millenniumstadium.com/
<http://www.millenniumstadium.com/> ). Culturally, the city is thriving,
with the Wales Millennium Centre (http://www.wmc.org.uk/
<http://www.wmc.org.uk/> ) in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff is in very close
proximity to the beautiful Welsh countryside (http://www.breconbeacons.org/
<http://www.breconbeacons.org/> ), has a two hour rail link to London and a
(cheap) one hour air link to Paris and Amsterdam
(http://www.cardiffairportonline.com/ <http://www.cardiffairportonline.com/>
)
Please consult the School's web pages on its research programme, its
research pages, and the list of academics working at the School of
Psychology at http://psych.cf.ac.uk/.
 

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