We are happy to host students from EPFL and other Universities for projects and internships.
If you are interested in working on a project or doing an internship in our laboratory, please apply as follows: Please send an e-mail to the responsible of the project with Caroline Magnin ([email protected]) and Lisa Fleury ([email protected]) in cc.
Please provide the following information in the e-mail:
- Which project type are you interested in (e.g. bachelor project)?
- In which University program are you enrolled and what year are you in (e.g. 3rd year bachelor student in SV)?
- How long does this type of project usually last and how many ECTS credits do you receive for it (e.g. 3 weeks full-time, 6 ECTS credits)?
- What are the deadlines and presentation modes for the project (e.g. presentation during project and written report afterwards)?
- In what period would you like to perform the project in our laboratory (e.g. 1st of May until 19th of May 2022, full-time)?
- What are your main interests (e.g. healthy aging)?
Please attach your CV and your motivation letter.
After reviewing your application, we will contact you via e-mail regarding further details.
Students from external universities will further need
- Two letters of recommendation
- Funding information
Be aware that, due to extensive administrative paperwork, external only projects lasting at least 6 months will be considered for external students. Further be aware that you might need to meet further administrative requirements (e.g. visum, insurance). You will find information to processes and detailed requirements at: http://sae.epfl.ch/exchange-incoming. Please note that our lab is located in the cantons of Geneva and Valais, NOT Vaud (where the main campus is located). In that sense, the visa/residence permits will have to be dealt with in Geneva or Valais respectively.
IMPORTANT: Please note that our laboratory is located at the Clinique Romande de RĂ©adaptation (CRR/SUVA) in Sion as well as at Campus Biotech in Geneva, Switzerland. All of the projects/internships will therefore be taking place in Sion or in Geneva respectively.
Investigating the functional magnetic resonance readouts from a reversal-learning task
Availability
July 2025 or August 2025
Keywords
transcranial ultrasound stimulation, reinforcement learning, fMRIÂ
Location
Campus Biotech, Geneva
Profile
Semester project, everyday for 5 weeks
Contact
Objective
Reversal learning, a specific type of reinforcement learning, refers to a set of collective paradigms used to study cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to change behavior in the face of changing circumstances rapidly. In brief, reversal learning tasks involve the discrimination between two or more stimuli. Cognitive flexibility is assessed via the evaluation of the participant’s adaptive response following a reversal of the outcomes associated with the stimuli. Here, we conducted a first- and second-level analysis of functional magnetic resonance data collected during a reversal-learning task in a healthy cohort after neuromodulation via focused transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation (fTUS).
Primarily, this project aims to pursue those analyses and conduct seed-based connectivity analysis as well as effective connectivity analysis. Furthermore, fTUS dose modulation will be implemented in the model, and neuropsychological questionnaires will be analysed. Ultimately, the analysis can be correlated with
different metrics outputs measured during the reversal learning task. Applicantsâ final evaluation consists of presenting their results in a laboratory meeting.
Duration
Summer semester Project, 5 weeks. All transportation costs from EPFL main campus (Lausanne) are covered by the laboratory.Â
Prerequisites
The candidate is expected to have good computational skills (Linux platform; primary programming languages are Python and MATLAB). Applicants must show scientific curiosity, interest in computational work, and a good level of independence to familiarize themselves with the framework and conduct the analyses. Experience in fMRI analysis is welcome but not mandatory.
How to apply
Please send your CV and a 300-word statement of your motivation to Thomas Paul (see contact above). For other project applications not related to this specific project, please refer to the General Application Procedure: https://www.epfl.ch/labs/hummel-lab/student-projects/.
Computational modelling of human behavior in a reinforcement learning task
Availability
July 2025 or August 2025
Keywords
transcranial ultrasound stimulation, reinforcement learning, fMRIÂ
Location
Campus Biotech, Geneva
Profile
Semester project, everyday for 5 weeks
Contact
Objective
Reversal learning, a specific type of reinforcement learning, refers to a set of collective paradigms used to study cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to change behavior in the face of changing circumstances rapidly. In brief, reversal learning tasks involve the discrimination between two or more stimuli. Cognitive flexibility is assessed via the evaluation of the participant’s adaptive response following a reversal of the outcomes associated with the stimuli. Here, data were collected during a reversal-learning task in a healthy cohort after neuromodulation via focused transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation.
Primarily, this project will consist of implementing reinforcement learning models. A first approach will consist of implementing different Q-learning models based on the specific task we conducted. Secondly, this project will explore alternative reinforcement learning approaches to investigate different aspects of human decision-making. Ultimately, estimation of free model parameters will be performed at the individual level to optimize prediction, and the reward prediction error will be computed and implemented in an fMRI analysis framework. Applicantsâ final evaluation consists of presenting their results in a laboratory meeting.
Duration
Summer semester Project, 5 weeks. All transportation costs from EPFL main campus (Lausanne) are covered by the laboratory.Â
Prerequisites
The candidate is expected to have good computational skills (Linux platform; primary programming languages are Python and MATLAB). Applicants must show scientific curiosity, interest in computational work, and a good level of independence to familiarize themselves with the framework and conduct the analyses. Experience in machine learning analysis is welcome but not mandatory.
How to apply
Please send your CV and a 300-word statement of your motivation to Thomas Paul (see contact above). For other project applications not related to this specific project, please refer to the General Application Procedure: https://www.epfl.ch/labs/hummel-lab/student-projects/.
Optimization of transducer placement to target the Thalamus, from computational approaches to experimental validation
Availability
July 2025 or August 2025
Keywords
transcranial ultrasound stimulation, hardware control, neuronavigation, in-target estimation
Location
Campus Biotech, Geneva
Profile
Semester project, everyday for 5 weeks
Contact
Objective
Focused Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (fTUS) is a novel technique to stimulate deep brain regions. So far, our fTUS protocols have been applied to cortical regions for which the optimal transducer probe placement could be assessed via the means of external tools such as transcranial magnetic stimulation. In our next studies, we would like to target deep brain regions and assess for live off-target effects during sonication.
The primary goal of this project resides in hardware and software control to validate fTUS placement. To that aim, three main software programs will be implemented. A first goal will consist in implementing PlanTUS (https://github.com/mlueckel/PlanTUS) to extract positional maps. A secondary goal of the project will be to automate the tFUS protocol from a pre-existing script to control the transducer power output and save the neuronavigation position data during sonication. An additional goal, if times allows, will be to implement a cost function to PlanTUS. Applicantsâ final evaluation consists of presenting their results in a laboratory meeting.
Duration
Summer semester Project, 5 weeks. All transportation costs from EPFL main campus (Lausanne) are covered by the laboratory.Â
Prerequisites
The candidate is expected to have good computational skills (Linux platform; primary programming languages are Python and MATLAB). Applicants must show scientific curiosity, interest in computational work, and a good level of independence to familiarize themselves with the framework and conduct the analyses.Â
How to apply
Please send your CV and a 300-word statement of your motivation to Thomas Paul (see contact above). For other project applications not related to this specific project, please refer to the General Application Procedure: https://www.epfl.ch/labs/hummel-lab/student-projects/.