PhD Position - Event-based teacher-student learning

Your Job:

Adaptive Control Theory (ACT) provides mathematically grounded and robust learning rules, prescribing that neurons should be diffusively forced toward a teacher trajectory and achieve teacher-student synchronization. However, this synchronization necessitates an exact student model, making the ACT often inexact and susceptible to uncertainty and variability. The project will aim at demonstrating how teacher learning can be made robust in an event-based framework, that is, when both the teacher model and the learning rules are event- based. The combination of excitable teacher dynamics and synaptic learning rules will be exploited to demonstrate that synchrony of events (rather than trajectories) can be made robust to mismatch between the teacher and student models. Additionally, the project will demonstrate that the learning rules can be made local and pairwise such as in Hebbian learning. Your tasks in detail:

• Study learning rules from the perspective of control theory and event-based computing to develop a continuous and local alternative to existing gradient-based learning rules, bridging theories of predictive coding with event-based control/
  
• Simulate models of the learning algorithm on practical problems, and analyze the robustness of the algorithms to noise and perturbations
  
• Publish research articles, regular participation in top international conferences to present your work.
  
• Complete two internships at KU Leuven (Prof. Rodolphe Sepulchre) and at TU Delft (Prof. Charlotte Frenkel)
  
• Participate in yearly retreats organized by the doctoral network participants
  
• Support the dissemination of software tools and concepts.
  
• Supervise student projects and BSc/MSc theses.

Your Profile:

• Master’s degree in physics, electrical/electronic engineering, computer science, mathematics, or a related field.
  
• Strong coding skills for programming neural networks, machine learning and machine learning software frameworks (e.g. PyTorch or Jax) is a must.
  
• The ability for creative and analytical thinking across discipline boundaries and abstraction levels is a must.
  
• Experience with control theory and spiking neural networks are a plus.
  
• Ability for collaborative work, interdisciplinary and cross-topical thinking.
  
• Very good communication skills in English, both spoken and written. PGI-15 offers an English speaking environment therefore German language skills are not required.

Our Offer:

We work on the very latest issues that impact our society and are offering you the chance to actively help in shaping the change! We offer ideal conditions for you to complete your doctoral degree:

• The prestige and career benefits of being a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Fellow, including international visibility, research excellence, mobility opportunities, and competitive salary arrangements.
  
• A world-leading, interdisciplinary and international research environment, provided with state-of-the-art experimental equipment and versatile opportunities to grow as a curious researcher.
  
• An interdisciplinary and collaborative work environment including researchers at the following institutes: Neuromorphic Hardware Nodes (PGI-14), Electronics Materials (PGI-7), the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine - Computational and Systems Neuroscience (INM-6), The Jülich Supercomputing Center (JSC) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at RWTH Aachen.
  
• 30 days of annual leave and provision for days off between public holidays and weekends (e.g. between Christmas and New Year)
  
• Flexible working hours
  
• Further development of your personal strengths, e.g. through an extensive range of training courses; a structured program of continuing education and networking opportunities specifically for doctoral researchers via JuDocS, the Jülich Center for Doctoral Researchers and Supervisors: https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/judocs
  
• You will be enrolled in the PhD program of the department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, RWTH Aachen.
  
• Targeted services for international employees, e.g. through our International Advisory Service
  

In addition to exciting tasks and a collaborative working atmosphere in Jülich, we have a lot more to offer: https://go.fzj.de/benefits

The position is initially for a fixed term of 3 years. Pay in line with 75 % of pay group 13 of the Collective Agreement for the Public Service (TVöD-Bund) and additionally 60 % of a monthly salary as special payment („Christmas bonus“). The monthly salaries in euro can be found on the BMI website: https://go.fzj.de/bmi.tvoed.entgelt Further information on doctoral degrees at Forschungszentrum Jülich (including its various branch offices) is available at https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/careers/phd

Place of employment: Aachen

We welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, e.g. in terms of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation / identity, and social, ethnic and religious origin. A diverse and inclusive working environment with equal opportunities in which everyone can realize their potential is important to us.

Further information on diversity and equal opportunities: https://go.fzj.de/equality