SEMINAR & TALKS

Seminar series on Magnetoreception and Navigation in Animals

A joint seminar series between SFB 1372 and the Cluster of Excellence "NaviSense"


Time: Thursdays, 14:15 - 15:45


Location: W2 1-148 at UOL and online (check mails for more details)

UPCOMING TALKS



  • March 19 - guest talk: Imke Greving

    Guest talk by Imke Greving from hereon


    X-ray Imaging for Characterizing Structure-Function in 4D: From Spiders to Sharks


    Getting insights into the structure and function of biological and bioinspired materials under realistic conditions is key to advancing their design. At the beamline P05 at PETRA III (DESY, Hamburg), operated by Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, full-field hard X-ray nanotomography enables non-destructive 3D imaging. Spatial resolutions down to 40 nm and scan times of less than one minute per 3D volume, offer ideal conditions for in situ experiments, like mechanical testing. For low attenuating biological materials, phase contrast methods are especially suitable, including transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) with Zernike phase contrast, and cone-beam holotomography. 

    Here the variability of these nanotomography methods and techniques is demonstrated, showcasing in situ mechanical studies on spider attachment hairs and shark cartilage, shrinking and swelling of wood cells, performance of biodegradable implants, and imbibition of hierarchically porous silica. These experiments reveal how structural hierarchy changes under mechanical load, hydration and degradation processes. The ability to visualize internal transformation, triggered for example by water uptake, provides critical insights into the structure–function relationship and supports the development of responsive, bioinspired systems.

    The nanotomography instrument at the beamline P05 thus offers a unique platform for 4D characterization, capturing not only the structure but also the temporal evolution of materials, bridging biology, medicine, and engineering.


    https://www.hereon.de/institutes/materials_physics/x_ray_imaging_synchrotron_radiation/team/099164/index.php.en


    Host: Franzi

  • March 25 - April 10 - no seminar (easter break)

    No seminar due to easter break

  • April 16 - no seminar (RIN conference)

    No seminar due to RIN conference

  • April 24 - Alumni meeting of SFB 1372 and GRK 1885

    Alumni meeting of RTG 1885 "Molecular basis of sensory biology" and our SFB


    Venue: BIS hall, UOL

  • April 30 - Andrei Kostritskii & Fyodor Tseallarius

    Talks by Sig05 (Andrei) & Nav06 (Fyodor)


    Chair: Baladev

  • May 7 - Yibo Ma & Oda Riedesel

    Talks by Fel02 (Yibo) & Neu01/Navisense (Oda)


    Chair: Julia

  • May 14 - no seminar

    Public holiday

  • May 21 - Alisha Ameerjan & TBD

    Talks by Sig06 (Alisha) & TBD


    Chair: Fyodor

  • May 28 - guest talk: Stanley Heinze

    Guest talk by Stanley Heinze (Lund University)


    https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/stanley-heinze/


    Host: Basil el Jundi

Past guest talks & lecture series



  • Guest talks

    • Robin Grob (NTNU) "Navigating into the unknown: Multimodal Orientation in Monarch Butterflies"
    • Thomas J Lane (DESY Hamburg) "Life at the Atomic Scale - Filming Proteins in Action"
    • Clemens Küpper (MPI for Biological Intelligence) "Evolution through opportunities: intraspecific diversity in waders"
    • Valeria Marasco (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna) "From development to longevity and seasonality: linking challenging exposures to the physiological fine-tuning of life histories"
    • Shonali Dhingra (TU Dresden) "Interaction of sensory modalities and adult neurogenesis in rodent navigation"
    • Vinod Kumar (University of Delhi) "Understanding complexity of the migratory phenotype in Palearctic-Indian migratory buntings"
    • Katja Reinhard (SISSA) "The Neural Underpinning of Flexibility in Survival Behaviours"
    • 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)
    24. Introduction to molecular evolution especially for non-biologists (Takaoki Kasahara)