The Sensorimotor Neuroscience Lab (www.sfu.ca/smnl) is seeking applications for an available graduate student position (at the PhD level) related to gaze and walking decisions.

Project details:

  • What drives the decision of where, when, and for how long we look at environmental features? What drives where we step or the path to walk? This project will determine the role of different factors (e.g., self-efficacy, visual uncertainty, motor cost) in these decisions.
  • Experiments will involve mobile eye tracking, virtual reality, and “in-the-wild” environments
  • Related research articles from the lab:
    • Da Eira Silva V, Marigold DS. Fork in the road: how self-efficacy related to walking across terrain influences gaze behaviour and path choice. J Vis 24(7): 7, 2024.
    • Domínguez-Zamora FJ, Marigold DS. Motives driving gaze and walking decisions. Curr Biol 31: 1632-1642, 2021.

Requirements:

  • Master’s degree and background in neuroscience, kinesiology, psychology, &/or closely related area
    • Prospective students without a master’s degree but interested in starting at the master’s level and transferring into a PhD program after 1 year can inquire about the possibility
  • Self-motivated
  • Proficient research and numerical skills
  • Proficient oral and written English communication skills

Assets:

  • Proficient in computer programming (ideally MATLAB and/or Python)
  • Experience with virtual reality (and Unreal Engine or Unity)
  • Applicants with expertise in computational modeling approaches relevant to the lab’s research focus are encouraged to apply; please explain how you can contribute to the lab in your application

Funding: Guaranteed for at least 4 years (PhD level) in agreement with current Departmental policies. It is expected that the successful applicant will apply for both internal and external scholarships when eligible.

Location: The labs is part of the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (BPK) at Simon Fraser University (SFU). SFU is consistently ranked as one of the top comprehensive universities in Canada. The campus is located on the top of Burnaby Mountain in Metro Vancouver and is near numerous outdoor recreational opportunities.

Application Process: If interested, please send (1) a brief statement of research interests and career goals, (2) a current CV, and (3) transcripts (unofficial versions are acceptable to start) to daniel_marigold at sfu dot ca. Please send the statement in the body of the email and the CV and transcript documents in PDF format. Positions are subject to acceptance into the graduate program in BPK at SFU. Please visit the following site for more details: www.sfu.ca/bpk/. We will start considering applications at the end of January and will continue until the position is filled.

The Sensorimotor Neuroscience Lab is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Earliest Start Date: September 1, 2025. Later start dates may be possible.

Research and Training Associated with the Department: BPK has excellent systems-level neuroscience groups, which includes the labs of Drs. Gustavo Balbinot, Dylan Cooke, Sam Doesburg, Max Donelan, Andy Hoffer, Randy McIntosh, and Alex Wiesman. Graduate students can participate in the Translational and Integrative Neuroscience graduate specialization, which offers courses and workshops (www.sfu.ca/neuro-institute/training/graduate.html). In addition, SFU’s Institute for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (www.sfu.ca/neuro-institute.html) provides networking opportunities and seminars.