[visionlist] PhD position for optogenetics in large animal brains towards visual restoration

[Pieter Roelfsema]

Pieter Roelfsema’s group at the Institut de la Vision (IDV) in Paris is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to explore optogenetics in the macaque brain for inducing artificial vision. This project will advance our understanding of visual neuroscience and contribute to the broader goal of restoring vision in the blind through direct brain interfaces.

Artificial vision with optogenetic brain stimulation in large animals
Nearly 40 million people worldwide are affected by blindness, severely impacting their independence and quality of life. While strategies like retinal implants, optogenetics, and neuroprosthetic stimulation have shown promise by inducing artificial light perceptions ('phosphenes'), they still fall short of restoring true vision. Recently the lab of Pieter Roelfsema's demonstrated high-resolution visual percepts—such as letter recognition and movement—using advanced silicon microelectrodes in macaques (Chen et al., Science, 2020).
However, translating this success to clinical settings remains a significant challenge due to technological and biological hurdles. This project aims to tackle that challenge by exploring optogenetic therapy within the brain, using intracerebral viral delivery of opsins to modulate visual neurons with light from miniaturized implanted sources.
The PhD will focus on validating optogenetic stimulation in macaques to induce and refine artificial vision, with the potential to revolutionize brain-based vision restoration and expand the frontiers of vision research. This project is linked to the labs of Pieter Roelfsema at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam and of Serge Picaud at the Institut de la Vision in Paris. This is a fully funded position with possibility to acquire additional personal doctoral grants.
Skills required

  *   Experience in electrophysiology techniques
  *   Animal experimentation
  *   Analysis of neural data (electrophysiology or functional microscopy)
  *   Matlab or Phyton proficiency
  *   Solides compétences en codage
  *   Strong coding skills
  *   The candidate should be proficient in written and oral English
  *   Personal skills will be emphasized. The candidate should be able to work independently and interactively in a team setting, be motivated and responsible, and have a great work capacity and enthusiasm for research.
Education and experience

  *   Master degree in Neuroscience, Biology, Engineering or relevant background
  *   Relevant coursework and student research projects (e.g. Neuroengineering, vision science, electrophysiology experience, …)
  *   The candidate should be at ease with animal experimentation


General information about the IDV can be found at  https://sante.sorbonne-universite.fr/en/structures-de-recherche/institut-de-la-vision



For recent relevant publications from the Roelfsema lab, see:

Chen et al., Shape perception via a high-channel-count neuroprosthesis in monkey visual cortex. Science 2020.

Roelfsema, Solving the binding problem: assemblies form when neurons enhance their firing rate – they don’t need to oscillate or synchronize. Neuron, 2023.

Orlemann et al., Flexible polymer electrodes for stable prosthetic visual perception in mice. Adv. Healthcare Mat., 2024.

Dijksterhuis et al Pronouns reactivate conceptual representations in human hippocampal neurons. Science 385, 1478-1484

Papale et al., An extensive dataset of spiking activity to reveal the syntax of the ventral stream. Neuron 2025.



Applications can be submitted at:

https://www.institut-vision.org/en/job-offers/phd-position-optogenetics-large-animal-brains-towards-visual-restoration




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