Positions for postgraduate level students

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Positions for master’s and/or doctoral level students are available at the SA MRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Stellenbosch University (SU). These positions involves work on a BRICS MULTILATERAL JOINT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH COLLABORATION between this Unit, and 2 partners, i.e. University of São Paulo, Brazil, and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), India.

Neuropsychiatric disorders account for a large part of the burden of disease in the BRICS countries. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most prevalent and disabling of these conditions, but it is also potentially one of the most tractable to being understood using modern biotechnology and biomedicine. This collaboration aims to combine a large sample of individuals with OCD from three different countries (Brazil, India and South Africa), and to employ standardized neuro-imaging methods, in order to determine specific biosignatures which predict response to pharmacotherapy with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

The candidate(-s)’s project and activities will be determined by his/her academic background, experience and interests (i.e. clinical / brain imaging / pharmacotherapy).

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at SU is situated 20 minutes’ drive from central Cape Town and 30 minutes from Stellenbosch campus. Tygerberg and its surrounding areas offer excellent quality of life and easy access to the city and the countryside. This area is well-known for its beautiful mountains, beaches, and winelands.

Applicants should have a related Honours / Master’s-degree or an equivalent, and a strong background in psychiatry / psychology / brain imaging.

For more information, please contact:

Prof Christine Lochner on 021 – 938 9179 / email: cl2@sun.ac.za
Prof Dan Stein on 021 – 404 2164 / Dan.Stein@uct.ac.za.

To apply, send a covering letter ASAP, a CV containing details of previous courses and associated grades and the email addresses of 2 or more referees to the above addresses.