PhD on Investigating Human Cortical Angioarchitecture with 3D Histology
Welcome to Maastricht University!
The Computational Brain Connectivity lab (CBClab) at Maastricht University is looking for a PhD to investigate Human Cortical Angioarchitecture with 3D Histology Methods (4 years, 1.0 fte) for the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science.
PhD on Investigating Human Cortical Angioarchitecture with 3D Histology
- Our goal: To better understand how the brain’s vascular architecture contributes to health and disease, and to advance 3D imaging methods for neuroscience.
- Your colleagues: An interdisciplinary team working across the Cognitive Neuroscience Department and the Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute.
The mapping of local differences in the brain’s cortical architecture has a long history. The most ubiquitous example of such a cortical map are the brain areas delineated by Korbinian Brodmann, which were based on differences in the arrangement of neuronal cells (cytoarchitecture). Another important area of architectonics that has received less attention is the arrangements of blood vessels across the cortical sheet (angioarchitecture). However, a detailed understanding of human angioarchitecture is of great importance for various reasons: e.g. differences in vascular densities might predispose some brain areas more for vulnerabilities to vascular disease. Mapping the human angioarchitecture could therefore help to elucidate why some brain areas are affected earlier or more by vascular disorders such as vascular dementia. Additionally, cortical vasculature is the underlying signal source for non-invasive brain imaging techniques such as fNIRS or fMRI. With the constantly improving spatial resolution of these methods, a thorough knowledge of potential differences in vascular architecture within and between different cortical layers and brain areas becomes increasingly important.
The aim of this PhD project is therefore to investigate human angioarchitecture of different cortical brain areas (primary sensory, primary motor, association) in large tissue samples and at microscopic resolution with modern 3D histology methods. Specifically, brain samples will be rendered transparent with optical tissue clearing methods and imaged with 3D microscopy techniques, particularly light-sheet microscopy. The vascular network will be differentiated into arterial, veinous, and capillary components to derive quantitative differences of these components across cortical depth as well as between brain areas. Finally, this project aims to compare homologue areas between human and other mammals, to shed light on the human brain’s unique vulnerability to vascular disorders.
What you do
- Develop scalable, robust, and reproducible data-analysis pipelines (statistics, mathematical modeling, and ML) for terabyte-scale 3D histology images, from preprocessing to analysis and validation.
- Handle and visualize large 3D microscopy datasets.
- Image optically cleared and labelled samples with 3D microscopy methods (light-sheet fluorescence microscopy, two-photon microscopy) and acquire large, tiled datasets covering cm-sized fields of view.
- Use and develop fluorescence labelling techniques for specific vascular components, compatible with large optically cleared brain samples.
- Apply optical tissue clearing techniques for use on human and other mammalian brain tissue.
The successful candidate will be embedded in the Multiscale Imaging of Brain Connectivity section (CBClab) within the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience (Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University), and in the division for Neuroscience in the Research Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science. The successful candidate will play a central role in the joint initiative of these two partners to advance research on optical tissue clearing and LFSM acquisition and data analysis pipelines for neuroscience.
Are you ready to set the course for the years ahead? Then we’d love to meet you.
What you bring
We’re not looking for checkboxes—we’re interested in who you are and what you bring. Do you recognize yourself in this?
The successful candidate has a master’s degree in a relevant discipline (Data Science, Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, (Biomedical) Engineering, or a related field) with experience and a strong interest in 3D microscopy methods such as light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LFSM) and the experience in computational data science to handle the resulting large 3D datasets. We are looking for an enthusiastic and creative team player with good communication skills, who is willing and able to work productively in a strongly interdisciplinary and team-science driven environment. Beyond experience in 3D microscopy and the visualization as well as statistical analysis of large neuroimaging datasets, expertise or strong interest in (3D) histology and optical tissue clearing techniques is highly desirable. The candidate should have an excellent command of English (both written and oral) and proven academic writing skills. Therefore, the ideal candidate has:
- A master’s degree in a relevant discipline (Data Science, Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, (Biomedical) Engineering, or a related field)
- Extensive experience with modern neuroimaging and/or 3D microscopy data analysis and statistics is a prerequisite.
- An affinity with work on human and mammalian brain tissue is a prerequisite.
- Experience with large light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) datasets is highly desirable.
- Experience with, and expertise in, histology techniques and optical tissue clearing techniques (e.g. iDISCO, FRUIT, CLARITY, CUBIC) is desirable.
- A personality characterized by creative ambition in exploring new techniques in an interdisciplinary environment, team spirit, and furthermore excellent interpersonal, social, communicative, collaborative and organizational skills.
- The candidate should have an excellent command of English (both written and oral) and proven academic writing skills.
What we offer
As a PhD Candidate at Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, you will be employed by the most international university in the Netherlands, located in the beautiful city of Maastricht. In addition, we offer you:
- Good employment conditions. The position is graded in scale P according to UFO profile PhD Candidate, with corresponding salary based on experience ranging from €3059,00 and €3881,00 gross per month (based on a full-time employment of 38 hours per week). In addition to the monthly salary, an 8.0% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus apply.
- An employment contract for a period of 12 months with a scope of 1,0 FTE. Upon a positive evaluation, an extension of 3 years will follow.
- At Maastricht University, the well-being of our employees is of utmost importance, we offer flexible working hours and the possibility to work partly from home if the nature of your position allows it. You will receive a monthly commuting and internet allowance for this. If you work full-time, you will be entitled to 29 vacation days and 4 additional public holidays per year, namely carnival Monday, carnival Tuesday, Good Friday, and Liberation Day. If you choose to accumulate compensation hours, an additional 12 days will be added. Furthermore, you can personalize your employment conditions through a collective labor agreement (CAO) choice model.
- As Maastricht University, we offer various other excellent secondary employment conditions. These include a good pension scheme with the ABP and the opportunity for UM employees to participate in company fitness and make use of the extensive sports facilities that we also offer to our students.
- Last but certainly not least, we provide the space and facilities for your personal and professional development. We facilitate this by offering a wide range of training programs and supporting various well-established initiatives such as 'acknowledge and appreciate'.
The terms of employment at Maastricht University are largely set out in the collective labor agreement of Dutch Universities. In addition, local provisions specific to UM apply. For more information, click here.
Maastricht University
Why work at Maastricht University?
At Maastricht University (UM), everything revolves around the future. The future of our students, as we work to equip them with a solid, broad-based foundation for the rest of their lives. And the future of society, as we seek solutions through our research to issues from all around the world. Our six faculties combined provide a comprehensive package of study programmes and research.
In our teaching, we use the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) method. Students work in small groups, looking for solutions to problems themselves. By discussing issues and working together to draw conclusions, formulate answers and present them to their peers, students develop essential skills for their future careers.
With over 22,300 students and more than 5,000 employees from all over the world, UM is home to a vibrant and inspiring international community.
Are you drawn to an international setting focused on education, science and scholarship? Are you keen to contribute however your skills and qualities allow? Our door is open to you! As a young European university, we value your talent and look forward to creating the future together.
Click here for more information about UM.
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
The Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN) is an international faculty with students and staff from various cultural backgrounds, who are connected by their shared curiosity about human behaviour and our brains.
This curiosity inspires us to explore the wide field of psychology from different perspectives (such as a biological and cognitive viewpoint). By using small-scale and student-centred methods, such as problem-based learning and project-based learning, we encourage a similar kind of curiosity in our students, as we provide them with the tools to discover the world of the human brain.
Department of Cognitive Neuroscience
The successful candidate will be an embedded member of the Multiscale Imaging of Brain Connectivity section within the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience (Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University), headed by Prof. Dr. Alard Roebroeck, under daily supervision of Dr. Sven Hildebrand. Research at the Department of Cognitive Neuroscience is embedded into the Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, consisting of 9 research lines/groups. The research within the Department combines the study of human perception and cognition with the development of advanced methods in neuroscience. Various brain-imaging methods are employed to understand, predict, and change human behaviour. M-BIC tests and develops new theories of normal and abnormal neural information processing, with special attention to brain plasticity, perception and cognition.
Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHENS) Research Institute
The successful candidate will also be a member of the division for Neuroscience in the Research Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience at the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science and will be important in the joint initiative of the two departments on optical clearing and light sheet techniques for neuroscience. The Mental Health and Neuroscience Research Institute (MHeNS) is one of the Research Institutes of FHML, with more than 270 PhD students and around 100 faculty members ().
CBClab
The CBClab’s research focusses on the human brain, investigating both its structure (anatomy) and function (activity). In both aspects, the emphasis is on the connected networks and circuits in the brain, the microstructure of its elements, and the interactions between groups of neurons in these circuits. In the CBClab we use state-of-the-art 3D imaging methods to measure the microstructure and connectivity in brain networks at different spatial scales. One of the fundamental aims is to model the activity and computations these circuits might support and relate these to measurements of human brain activity. Another fundamental aim is to advance diagnostics for human brain disease through better imaging and more understanding of brain connectivity, particularly for the neurodevelopmental, neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease where malformations or breakdown of connectivity is key. We have a strong methods development component and develop hardware and software technology needed to answer basic and applied questions about human brain connectivity and computations. Two pillars in these methodological efforts are light-sheet fluorescent microscopy (LSFM) of optically cleared tissue and diffusion MRI. More information about the lab can be found here.
Curious?
Are you interested in this exciting position but still have questions? Feel free to contact Sven Hildebrand, Assistant Professor at the Multiscale Imaging of Brain Connectivity section at sven.hildebrand@maastrichtuniversity.nl for more information.
Applying?
Or are you already convinced and ready to become our new PhD? Apply now, no later than Friday October 31st, 2025, for this position. The first interviews preferably take place on November 14th, 2025. The second interviews will preferably be held on November 21st, 2025.
The application should include a:
- Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position.
- Curriculum vitae, including the contact information of two referents.
The vacancy is open for internal and external candidates. In case of equal qualifications, internal candidates will be prioritized.
Maastricht University is committed to promoting and nurturing a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that diversity in our staff and student population contributes to the quality of research and education at UM, and strive to enable this through inclusive policies and innovative projects led by teams of staff and students. We encourage you to apply for this position.