Download the internship proposal

Stage type

Master 2 Neuroscience, Cognitive Science or Biomedical Engineering (Master 2 or last year of an engineering school in biomedical engineering or signal processing or electronics)

Date and duration of the internship

4-5 months, second semester 2026, from September to end of January (end date is more flexible than the starting)

Context

Motor adaptation is a crucial process in human life, enabling us to adjust our movements based on sensory feedback. For instance, imagine being asked to play your favorite game of petanque with a set of balls that are heavier than usual (game of darts is also a good example). You would need several trials to adapt your movements and achieve the same performance. Understanding motor adaptation has broad applications, from rehabilitation in patients after brain or body injuries to optimizing motor skills in sports, work, and robotics.

Despite its ubiquity, motor adaptation is still not fully understood at the neural level. A particular topic of interest is neural representation of contextual information during motor adaptation. Namely, how does one transfer learned behaviours between distinct tasks and movements? E.g. how exactly does it work that one knows how to throw an unfamiliar object to an unfamiliar target, generalizing previous experience with other similar objects and targets?

Objective

The objective of this internship is to simultaneously collect behavioral and electroencephalography (EEG) data from healthy participants performing a motor adaptation task, as well as conduct basic analysis of this data in the context of an already approved ethics protocol (CER).

Missions

the intern will

• Read the literature on motor adaptation and its neural signatures
• Use existing python code for the experimental script (relatively minor changes are needed to an already existing code)
• Recruit healthy human participants
• collect EEG + behavior data at the lab premises under the supervision of the PhD student Yassine Lakhdari and the PI
• Organise collected data
• Perform statistical analysis of the data in Python, extending previous existing scripts
• (Optional, time permitting) Perform machine learning analysis of the data in Python
• Gain experience in cognitive and motor neuroscience research, python programming, brain computer interfaces, enhancing their skills and CV for future academic research or ML/AI industry opportunities.

Skills required

Basic neuroscience, good organisational skills (in particular in scheduling and calendar management), Python, basic understanding of electronics (for  EEG), basic statistics, good level of French (to work with participants).

Desired

Basic signal processing, understanding of motor control, experience in conducting biological experiments

Monetary compensation

Gratifications de stage (selon la réglementation en vigueur) + remboursement partiel du titre de transport mensuel.

Contact

Dmitrii Todorov, PhD; Chaire Professeur Junior
dmitrii.todorov[at]inserm.fr

Please put [STAGE LIB CONTEXT EXP] in the subject of your email.

Before applying check the online version for changes (link here)

Host laboratory

Laboratoire d’Imagerie Biomédicale, LIB, Sorbonne Université, Campus des Cordeliers, 15 rue de l’École de Médecine, 75006 Paris.