Interdisciplinary PhD candidate in Neuroscience and Bioinformatics for the study of brain dynamics, chronodisruption, and computational signatures of temporal environmental challenges (M/F)

Job Description

Thesis Subject

Our biological 24-hour rhythms, synchronized by environmental cues, orchestrate brain function, metabolism, and behavior. Modern lifestyles, including light pollution, shift work, and irregular meal timing, disrupt these circadian rhythms and desynchronize internal clocks, leading to major health consequences that remain poorly understood at the brain level.
This project aims to determine how such disruptions alter the dynamics and coordination of brain networks by experimentally reproducing them in mice. We will monitor neuronal activity across several key brain regions involved in coordinating metabolic functions and behavior. The integrated analysis of these datasets, particularly through artificial intelligence approaches, will enable the identification of neural signatures of circadian desynchronization and the assessment of the capacity of these networks to resynchronize following a return to normal conditions. Ultimately, this work will provide a dynamic understanding of how modern lifestyle-induced circadian disruptions impact brain function.

Your Work Environment

The PhD project will be carried out at the Institute of Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences (INCI), which is affiliated with the CNRS Institute of Biological Sciences (INSB). INCI is located in the heart of the Esplanade campus, on a green and pleasant site that is easily accessible by public transportation. The host team is Team 7, Regulation and Disruption of Neuroendocrine Rhythms.
The PhD project will be jointly supervised with the ICube laboratory, which is affiliated with the CNRS Institute for Information Sciences and their Interactions (INS2I), within the team Computer Science: Foundations of Computing, Algorithms, Representations and Data Exploitation.
The INCI team specializes in circadian rhythms and has extensive expertise in the tools required for neuronal recordings and metabolic phenotyping, including fiber photometry, stereotaxic surgery, actimetry, and indirect calorimetry systems. The PhD candidate will be jointly supervised by Dr. Étienne Challet and Dr. Clémentine Fillinger.
Experiments will be conducted at the Chronobiotron (UAR3415), a research facility dedicated to the study of biological rhythms, with support from the INCI in vivo signal analysis platform. The analysis of complex multimodal datasets will rely on a close collaboration with N. Lachiche (ICube), whose expertise lies in machine learning and temporal data analysis. The project will generate rich longitudinal datasets for the development and validation of these computational approaches, fostering a strong synergy between neuroscience and data science.

Constraints and risks

The experimental component of the project will be conducted at INCI, while occasional visits to the ICube laboratory (Cronenbourg campus) will be expected to support collaborative work and data analysis.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions