SEMINAR & TALKS

iRTG Seminar Series


Time: Thursdays, 14 to 15:30



Location: W3-1-152 and online

UPCOMING TALKS



  • (July 18 to September 5 - summer break)

    iRTG seminar summer break

    (except for guest talks inbetween)

  • July 31 - Guest talk: Katja Reinhard

    Reinhard Lab at SISSA, Italy


    The Neural Underpinning of Flexibility in Survival Behaviours


    Avoiding danger is one of the most essential and conserved set of behaviours, observed in most species from crabs to primates. To optimize an animal’s survival, avoidance responses need to be fast and reliable, but also flexible and adaptable to the current context. However, how this flexibility in behavioural output is implemented in the brain is largely unknown. Furthermore, it is unclear how similar the precise circuits and mechanisms underlying a conserved behaviour are across contexts and species. The goal of my lab is to identify how information about the environment and state can adapt behavioural decision making. We approach this by using a highly standardized assay where we compare innate reactions and neural circuit activity while changing selected contextual elements. During this seminar, I will first introduce the ‘hard-wired’ neural circuit architecture from the retina to pre-motor areas that underlies survival behaviours, and discuss how this architecture allows for contextual information to shape those behaviours. Then I will focus on two specific examples of flexibility and their underlying neural circuits: (1) how ambient light changes and circadian rhythm temporarily adapt innate behaviours and (2) how habitat differences have led to the evolution of permanent changes in survival behaviour in different rodent species.


    Host: Rabea Bartölke

  • August 20 (Wednesday 4 pm!!) - Guest talk: Shonali Dhingra

    Calegari Lab

    Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden

    Technical University Dresden

    https://www.shonalidhingra.com/


    Interaction of sensory modalities and adult neurogenesis in rodent navigation


    Hippocampus is considered as the brain’s processor for spatial navigation in mammals. Hippocampal place cells form the bases for this processing, and in making a cognitive map of space to guide navigation. The tuning of these place cells has shown to be closely tied to the visual cues around the animal. My recent rodent work showed that the location specificity of these place cells was highly correlated with the amount of visual information around the animal. Additionally, these place cells completely lost their spatial tuning when the animals were unable to coordinate the visual information with their own self-motion cues or proprioception. Using these findings, I hypothesize that the interaction and co-localization of information from different sensory modalities might be required for formation of place cells and precise navigation in rodents. Further, I am also currently investigating the potential role of hippocampal adult neurogenesis in gating sensory information from reaching these place cells, as animals with higher adult neurogenesis were found to navigate better. 


    Host: Henrik Mouritsen


  • September 11 - Guest talk: Valeria Marasco

    Guest talk by Valeria Marasco

    (Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna)

    https://valeriamarasco.blog/about/


    Host: Miriam Liedvogel



  • September 18 - Jonathan Hungerland & Pedo Alvarez

    Talks by Sig05 (Jonathan & Pedro)


    Chair: Maryam

  • September 25 - Guest talk: Clemens Küpper

    Max Planck research group leader in Seewiesen


    Host: Miriam

  • September 29-30 Autumn meeting (UOL)

    Location: BIS hall at the UOL Campus Haarentor

  • October 9 - TBD

    TBD

  • October 16 - Alisha Ameerjan & TBD

    Talks by Sig06 (Alisha) & TBD


    Chair: TBD

  • October 16 - movie night: Picture A Scientist

    PICTURE A SCIENTIST 


    An evening on gender bias in science 


    Who actually does science? And why is it still "the male scientist" in our minds? We want to address this topic in an evening at the University's cinema "Gegenlicht". 


    We will watch the film PICTURE A SCIENTIST, in which a female biologist, a female chemist and a female geologist take on these questions and lead us on a journey through the experiences of their academic careers - as female scientists. The documentary (English original version, German subtitles) gives hope as it tells the story of strength and solidarity, of courageous female scientists who stand up to injustice and start a global discourse of change and equality.


    Afterwards, we will meet in a casual setting in freely changeable discussion groups, for a glass of wine or fizzy drink, to discuss impressions and ideas.

  • October 23 - Julia Fort & Sonam Kulkarni

    Talks by Neu01 (Julia) & Nav05 (Sonam)


    Chair: TBD

  • October 30 - Guest talk: Thomas J Lane

    DESY Hamburg, https://tjlane.github.io/


    Host: Henrik Mouritsen

  • November 6 - Krishan Kumar & Rabea Bartölke

    Talks by Sig01 (Krishan) & Sig06 (Rabea)


    Chair: TBD

  • November 13 - Lecture by Takaoki Kasahara

    Lecture by Sig06 (Takaoki)


    Chair: Srdan

  • November 20 - no seminar (YRS)

    No seminar as many people will be at the Young Researchers Symposium in Hamburg, 19.-21.11.25

  • November 27 - Jessica Schmidt & Dinora Abdulazhanova

    Talks by Sig06 (Jessica) & Neu04 (Dinora)


    Chair: Pedro

  • December 4 - no seminar (workshop)

    No seminar due to workshop on career clarity with Sabrina Satzinger

  • December 11 - Christmas Party

    iRTG Christmas party - more information TBA

  • (December 12 to January 9 - winter break)

    We will be on an iRTG winter break and have our first seminar in 2026 on January 15th

  • January 15 - María Jesús García Bianco & Annika Peter

    Talks by Nav07 (Jesu) & Nav02 (Annika)


    Chair: Jonathan

Past guest talks & lecture series



  • Guest talks

    • Humberto Fernandes (ICTER) "Molecular Modulators of Photoreceptor Dynamics: From Structure to Functional Biomarkers in the Living Retina"
    • Sercan Sayin (University of Konstanz) "The Rules of Collective Locust Marching"
    • Alina Sigaeva (KTH Stockholm) "Mapping cellular redox metabolism with quantum-based sensing and spatial proteomics"
    • Reinhard Klenke (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg, DE) "Spatial distribution of roosts of the greater mouse-eared bat and temporal trends in the movement of individuals between roosts"
    • Sissel Sjöberg (Lund University) "Extreme diel flight altitude changes in migratory birds"
    • Richard Holland (Prifysgol Bangor University, UK) "A (different) trivial question with a non trivial answer: do pigeons integrate familiar visual landmarks in to their navigational map?"
    • Lukas Anneser (Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, CH) "Molecular, functional, and behavioral analysis of neuromodulatory networks in zebrafish telencephalon"
    • Christian Damsgaard (Aarhus Universiteit, DK) "Neural anoxia tolerance supported the evolution of sharp vision in birds"
    • Anna Stöckl (University of Konstanz, DE) "Dynamic processing in insect vision: from single photons to flight control"
    • Barbara Helm (Swiss Ornithological Institute, CH) "Bird migration: ancient timers meet environmental change"
    • Kristen Ruegg (Colorado State University, USA) "The Bird Genoscape Project: Harnessing the Power of Genomics to Advance Migratory Bird Conservation"
    • Basil el Jundi (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO) "The neurobiology of the monarch butterfly compass"
    • Shaked Ron (Israel Institute of Technology, IL) "Neural respresentation of Head-direction across brain areas in quails"
    • Thomas Euler (University of Tübingen, DE) "Discovering novel feature-selective retinal circuits through model-guided search of natural stimulus space"

  • Lecture series

    1. Introduction to magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates (Henrik Mouritsen)
    2. Spectroscopy methods to measure magnetic field effects in proteins (Christiane Timmel/Stuart Mackenzie)
    3. Spin dynamics of cryptochrome proteins (Peter Hore)
    4. Optical microscopy techniques in biophysics (Christoph Lienau)
    5. Magnetic-particle-based magnetoreception (Michael Winklhofer)
    6. Purifying cryptochrome proteins (Rabea Bartölke)
    7. Ultrafast optical spectroscopy in biology and chemistry (Antonietta de Sio)
    8. Modelling cryptochrome proteins (Ilia Solov'yov)
    9. The genetics of bird migration (Miriam Liedvogel)
    10. Using virus techniques to study bird behaviour (Constance Scharff/Ezequiel Mendoza)
    11. Cryptochrome molecules and their interaction partners (Karl Koch)
    12. Processing of light and magnetic stimuli in the retina (Karin Dedek)
    13. Electrophysiological methods and magnetic stimulation (Martin Greschner)
    14. Brain pathways for magnetoreception (Dominik Heyers/Onur Güntürkün)
    15. Orientation in fish (Gabriele Gerlach)
    16. Navigation in bats (Nachum Ulanovsky)
    17. Magnetoreception in bats (Oliver Lindecke)
    18. Designing behavioural experiments to study magnetoreception (Henrik Mouritsen)
    19. Studying migration and navigation in free-flying birds (Heiko Schmaljohann)
    20. Unraveling the navigational phenotype - a variance partitioning approach (Sandra Bouwhuis)
    21. Models of animal movement, collective motion and swarming (Bernd Blasius)
    22. Introduction to High-Performance Computing (Stefan Harfst)
    23. The geomagnetic field as a cue for spatial orientation in insects (Pauline Fleischmann)