UCL PhD studentship - Faculty of Life Sciences - Ruediger/Ciabatti Labs

[Sarah]

Call for Applications:
UCL Biosciences Graduate Training Assistant PhD Studentships 2026

We have an exciting PhD student opening for a collaboration with Ernesto Ciabatti combining the development and application of next-gen viral tracing tools for transsynaptic pathways & in vivo systems methods to decipher the structure & function of locus coeruleus arousal circuits 🧠 Eligibility: UK home students only. 

How does the brain wire itself to learn, predict, and adapt? Many of the brain's most powerful computations - learning from surprise, anticipating future events, and flexibly shifting between focused and exploratory states - depend on feedback loops spanning multiple brain regions. Yet current methods primarily resolve
direct, single-synapse connections, leaving the architecture and function of multi-step circuits largely unknown.

This PhD project will develop a pioneering platform to map and manipulate neural pathways across multiple synapses in behaving mice. By integrating next-generation viral tracers, orthogonal genetic targeting, and in vivo recordings with causal perturbations, the student will bridge molecular cell-type identity with systems-level circuit dynamics, forging a direct link between circuit architecture, neural activity, and behaviour.

As proof of principle, we will apply this approach to the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC), whose broader circuitry remains unresolved despite its essential roles in arousal, learning, and adaptive inference. We will map two major feedback loops: the LC–visual cortex pathway associated with sensory uncertainty, and the LC–hippocampal pathway linked to memory and inference. Both appear to rely on overlapping intermediaries, likely within the prefrontal cortex, making them an ideal test case for how neuromodulatory systems maintain functional specificity despite shared circuit routes. This work will deliver both a broadly applicable toolkit and new insight into how distributed circuits implement feedback control.

Interested in joining us at UCL? Then please get in touch with us.

https://www.findaphd.com/phds/program/biosciences-graduate-training-assistant-phd-studentships/?i274p7079

Application Deadline:  23^rd April 2026

www.ruedigerlab.com