TUD Dresden University of Technology, as a University of Excellence, is one of the leading and most dynamic research institutions in Germany. Founded in 1828, today it is a globally oriented, regionally anchored top university as it focuses on the grand challenges of the 21st century. It develops innovative solutions for the world's most pressing issues. In research and academic programs, the university unites the natural and engineering sciences with the humanities, social sciences and medicine. This wide range of disciplines is a special feature, facilitating interdisciplinarity research and transfer of science to society. As a modern employer, it offers attractive working conditions to all employees in teaching, research, technology and administration. The goal is to promote and develop their individual abilities while empowering everyone to reach their full potential. TUD embodies a university culture that is characterized by cosmopolitanism, mutual appreciation, thriving innovation and active participation. For TUD diversity is an essential feature and a quality criterion of an excellent university. Accordingly, we welcome all applicants who would like to commit themselves, their achievements and productivity to the success of the whole institution. At the Faculty of Psychology, Institute of General Psychology, Biopsychology and Methods of Psychology, the Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience (Prof. Katharina von Kriegstein) offers, subject to the availability of resources, a position as Research Associate / PhD student (m/f/x) (subject to personal qualification employees are remunerated according to salary group E 13 TV-L) starting as soon as possible. The position is initially limited to 3 years with the option of extension subject to the availability of resources and entails 75% of the full-time weekly hours. The period of employment is governed by the Fixed Term Research Contracts Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz - WissZeitVG). The position offers the chance to obtain further academic qualification (usually PhD). While the position is available immediately the starting date is flexible until 05/2026. Goal: Our aim is to understand how changes in the visual thalamus (LGN) in autism affect visual sensory processing. This knowledge is expected to contribute to a better understanding of sensory overload symptoms in everyday life in autism. The project builds on previous work by our group (listed here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=von Kriegsteinthalamus&sort=date) and particularly our recent finding of LGN alterations in autism (Schelinski et al., 2024 PNAS; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10 .1073/pnas.2413409121?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid% 3Acrossref.org &rfr_dat=cr_pub0pubmed). developing and programming experiments neuroscientific investigations, primarily using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyzing behavioral and fMRI data writing scientific publications participating in conferences collaborating in an interdisciplinary team university degree (Master or equivalent) in neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, or a related field strong interest in the neural basis of perception and its alteration in autism experience with at least one experimental method in cognitive neuroscience (e.g., psychophysics, functional or structural MRI, neurostimulation, EEG), analysis software (e.g., JASP), or programming language (e.g., Matlab, Python) experience with special populations (e.g., autism) would be an advantage but is not essential As one of eleven German universities of excellence, TUD offers an outstanding scientific infrastructure and extensive support services for its employees. The Faculty of Psychology has a strong focus on neuroscience and clinical psychology and is an ideal environment for combining these two fields. The Chair of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience consists of a dynamic, collegial, and friendly team that enjoys sharing interdisciplinary expertise. The experiments are conducted at the Neuroimaging Center (NIC) at TUD. The NIC is equipped with a dedicated research MRI machine (Siemens 3T Prisma), an MRI-compatible EEG, eye tracking, noise-cancelling headphones and a neurostimulation unit with TMS, tDCS, tFUS, neuronavigation systems, and a cobot. The experimental facilities are supported by experienced physicists and IT staff. The Center for Information Services and High Performance Computing (ZIH) at TUD is available for computational modelling work. The Graduate Academy at TUD offers a comprehensive training program and individual career counseling for early career scientists. The Dresden-concept Welcome Center welcomes international researchers and facilitates and supports their start in Dresden.