back to lizhaoping.org
Looking for an internship, research project, or a thesis project?
The Department of Sensory and Sensorimotor Systems, led by Prof. Li Zhaoping (see https://www.lizhaoping.org/zhaoping/index.html), at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics and University of Tübingen (https://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/sensory-and-sensorimotor-systems) is happy to offer positions, projects, and trainings to students interested in various projects in our labs.
Our head, Li Zhaoping, is also a professor in Cognitive Science in University Tübingen, if your project requires the supervisor to be a member of the University teaching staff. There are two internship courses (for cognitive science or related program) and one course for Ergänzungsmodul in the physics department offered by Prof. Li that you can sign-up for on ALMA.
Our department works mainly on visual and olfactory functions in the human and animal brain and their elicited behavioral responses, but we also work on other related topics in brain science (more details at www.lizhaoping.org). Research methods include visual psychophysics, computational modeling, data analysis, human event related potential measurements, fMRI and eye tracking.
If you are not as student or exchange student of the University of Tübingen, we unfortunately cannot admit you for projects/internships.
Current internship/thesis projects
Click titles to reveal detailed information:
1. Visual psychophysics project with eye-tracking: Visual search or visual masking tasks in various environmental settings or clinical populations (e.g. ADHD, amblyopia, ASD)
What you will do/learn:
Read background literature
Programming and conducting a visual search/masking experiment
Extended: include eye-tracking measures
Data analysis
Project report writing and project presentation
Prerequisites:
Knowledge and interest in visual psychophysics
Programming skills (e.g. MATLAB, Python)
Motivated, responsible, and interested in interacting with clinical populations
Desirable knowledge:
Knowledge/skills in Psychtoolbox programming and eye-tracking are a plus
Key background literature:
Zhaoping, L. (2008). Attention capture by eye of origin singletons even without awareness – A hallmark of a bottom-up saliency map in the primary visual cortex. Journal of Vision, 8(5). 1-1.
Zhaoping, L., & Guyader, N. (2007). Interference with bottom-up feature detection by higher-level object recognition. Current Biology, 17(1), 26-31.
Zhaoping, L., & Liu, Y. (2022). The central-peripheral dichotomy and metacontrast masking. Perception, 51(8), 549-564.
2. Computational neuroscience project: Neural circuit dynamics of primary visual cortex
What you will do/learn:
Read background literature
Replicate (and modify if there is time and interest) a neural circuit model of primary visual cortex (V1)
Analyze and understand the nonlinear dynamics of the V1 model
Extended: use the model to perform image processing
Project report writing and project presentation
Prerequisites:
Programming skills (e.g. MATLAB, Python)
Basic maths skills (e.g., linear algebra, differential equations)
Knowledge/interest in visual neuroscience
Desirable knowledge:
Knowledge/skills in nonlinear dynamics, image processing
Key background literature:
Zhaoping, L. (2011). Neural circuit models for computations in early visual cortex. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 21(5), 808-815.
Li, Z. (1998). A neural model of contour integration in the primary visual cortex. Neural computation, 10(4), 903-940.
3. Visual psychophysics project: Exploring visual illusions through visual psychophysics and visual demonstration
What you will do/learn:
Read background literature
Programming a visual illusion as visual psychophysics task
Conducting psychophysics experiments, exploring the illusion under changing stimulus parameters
Behavioral data analysis
Project report writing and project presentation
Prerequisites:
Programming skills (e.g. MATLAB, Python)
Knowledge and interest in visual psychophysics
Desirable knowledge:
Knowledge/skills in Psychtoolbox programming is a plus
Key background literature:
Zhaoping, L. (2019). A new framework for understanding vision from the perspective of the primary visual cortex. Current opinion in neurobiology, 58, 1-10.
Other examples of possible projects on offer:
(1) Learn and practice one of the following three computational vision topics: efficient coding, a recurrent visual cortical model, or visual decoding, using the textbook "Understanding vision: theory, models, and data" .
(2) Learn visual psychophysics and practice on visual illusions. First, learn to do visual psychophysics by a guided self-learning course in the lab. Second, pick a visual illusion to test/play/explore a computational theory. Motivated students may add an eye-tracking component.
(3) Use visual psychophysics in conjunction with fMRI to test competing hypotheses of visual function. You may begin learning fMRI data analysis techniques immediately, with the possibility to help run participants in the scanner after completion of a safety training course.
(4) Human olfactory psychophysics project: read some papers in the literature, and repeat one experiment in a paper. Special skill requirement: you need to be self-reliant to learn and set up equipment from scratch to do the experiments, as a pioneer in the lab.
(5) Clinical/developmental projects: e.g.: age dependence of some visual illusions/effects. Special requirement: you need to have access to subjects of clinical/developmental stages.
(6) custom design or modify some projects to suit your skills, interests, and training goals --- need to discuss individually.
Information we need from you to decide whether there is a suitable project or internship position (essay rotation, lab rotation, internship, thesis project) that we can offer for your training needs:
(1) Tell us your training program, and send us your current transcripts, with information on the courses you have taken and grades you have achieved.
(2) A CV, listing your skills (e.g., programming, writing, organization) and experience/achievements.
(3) Tell us what topics in our labs interest you most, or what related topics that you like to do a project/internship on.
(4) The training requirements for your project/thesis, according to your module handbook or as required by your department or course program. In particular, what are the duration and workloads, how many ETC units are involved, and what are the components that must be completed for the project or thesis.
(5) Tell us your preferred or planned months/semester/duration in which you would like to do the project.
(6) You must make sure that a project/internship supervised by our department can meet the requirement by your particular training program.
Questions and inquiries: zhaoping.li.admin@tuebingen.mpg.de
Some feedback from former master students
"I really enjoyed the time in your lab, getting to know the people and the work of your group. I think many of the skills I learned will also help when I teach in school. I also found the subject of my thesis very interesting and will try to stay up-to-date on your research."
"Overall, the time and effort invested into the project paid off, as I learned many things along the way. Thank you for your time and help and the opportunity to do my master thesis in your group."
"I liked, that other students started around the same time with the same or similar project. That way we could always exchange information and help each other out."
"The weekly meetings were a big help. It was great to get the feedback, if I was still on track or should do something differently. The meetings were also a good chance to reflect back on what was achieved in the past week."
"I also really liked that each project was fitted to the persons experience and skill level."
"The supervision overall was very good. The weekly meetings were perfect for answering questions and presenting progress. The rest of the week I was able to work independently but had the opportunity to ask others for help. I also found the work environment friendly and felt comfortable to ask my questions."
"There is (almost) no limitation in what you want to do."
"Whenever I had a question there was always someone I could talk to and who tried to help me solve the problem."