APPLICANTS
People interested in working in the Motorlab should have substantial computational, signal processing and programming capability. In general, most Motorlab researchers have an engineering background.
Undergraduates
In general, there are no opportunities for undergraduate students to work in the Motorlab. One exception to this are occasional positions for summer students with external funding. In the past, we have hosted students through specific programs such as:
- TECBio: Undergraduate Research Program in Computational Biology
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities at University of Pittsburgh
- NIH Sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates in Computational Neuroscience
Graduate Students
Prospective Ph.D. students should have a strong background in engineering, physics, or computational neuroscience. Experience in a laboratory performing neurophysiological recordings with behaving subjects is desirable. All students in the Motorlab are expected to perform experiments with behaving primates, to acquire strong knowledge of basic neuroscienceand to develop expertise in motor cortical neurophysiology.
New positions for students occur rarely and may not be open for any specific academic year. Availability depends on funding and the number of students graduating in the previous year. Even though new student positions in the Motorlab are rare, outstanding applicants are still encouraged to apply as there is a large community of researchers in Pittsburgh doing work similar to that performed in the Motorlab. There are many opportunities for those in associated research programsto interact with Motorlab researchers, including lab rotations.
Students should apply to specific Ph.D. programs and express their interest in the Motorlab on the application. These programs include:
Bioengineering
CNUP
Pittsburgh Neural Computation
Robotic Institute
Postdoctoral Fellows
Individuals interested in postdoctoral training opportunities should contact Dr. Schwartz directly. The availability of these positions is determined by funding. A strong computational/engineering background with experience in systems neuroscience is desirable for these positions.