News Archive
2024
Oct 25, 2024: Congratulations to our freshly knighted William O'Hearn, "PhD"
William O'Hearn conducted his PhD studies as part of our SFB project B05 under the supervision of Julia Fischer. Nov 25th came the time for Will to defend his PhD thesis on "Social evaluation and partner choice in the tolerant multi-level society of Guinea baboons" and we are very happy to congratulate Will to the successful defense and his new PhD - title. Well done Will! If anyone is wondering about the photo - yes, Will received a sword in acknowledgement of his achievements :-)
Oct 22, 2024: Was heißt und zu welchem Ende studieren wir Physik?
On December 2, 2024, SFB-PI Viola Priesemann will visit the Corvinianum Gymnasium in Northeim as part of their evening lecture series. With this series of events, the Gymnasium offers its students, parents and other interested listeners an insight into current research issues. In addition to learning about the working methods of “real” science, the researchers also talk about their path into science and explain how to get involved in their university institutes and research facilities. In this way, the one-hour lectures contribute to career guidance and establish uncomplicated contact with university operations. The event starts at 6 PM in the school mensa, Wieterstraße 4 in Northeim.
Photo: Horst Ziegenfusz (Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation Göttingen)
Oct 12, 2024: Richard Vogg bei "Kurz, Knackig, KI - Der ScienceSlam" der Körberstiftung in Hamburg
The Körber Foundation's Science Slam in Hamburg is all about AI. Naturally, Richard Vogg can't miss the opportunity to be there and report on his SFB research. Other participants include biomechanist Kati Nispel, who will report on how AI can help diagnose back pain. Computer scientist Johannes Schildgen will show what is behind the recommendation calculations of search engines. And AI expert Theresa Eimer explains how to implement artificially intelligent learning correctly. The event starts on October 17 at 7 p.m. in the KörberForum
Oct 10, 2024: Richard Vogg beim Science Slam in Würzburg
In his doctoral thesis, Richard Vogg introduces AI into field research. Alongside this, Richard is also making a name for himself as a science slammer. On October 24, the time has come again and you can experience Richard live at the ScienceSlam in Würzburg. In his presentation “Of learning lemurs and machine learning” you will learn how he teaches an artificial intelligence to distinguish lemurs and decipher their behavior. It starts in the Würzburg Posthalle at 8 pm.
Sept 23, 2024: The new research building "Human Cognition and Behavior is taking shape"
In close proximity to the Georg-Elias-Müller Institute for Psychology, the new research center Human Cognition and Behavior (HuCaB) is being built. Once completed, the researchers from various disciplines involved will have 3,500 square meters of working space, unique laboratories and state-of-the-art infrastructure at their disposal to research human social cognition. The Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1528 will also be one of the beneficiaries of the research building. On September 16, the ceremonial groundbreaking took place, led by the spokesperson, Prof. Anne Schacht, together with the Lower Saxony Minister for Science and Culture, Falko Mohrs, the Mayor of Göttingen, Petra Broistedt, and the University President, Prof. Metin Tolan. The total costs are estimated to be around 60 million euros, with completion planned for the end of 2026.
Image: The foundation for the new research building is laid by Petra Broistedt, mayor of Göttingen (Photo: Peter Heller, University of Göttingen)
To the Press release
Sept 20, 2024: Annika Ziereis and Anne Schacht honored for outstanding publication
Annika Ziereis and Anne Schacht were awarded the prize for the best publication by the Psychonomic Society. Their work appeared in the journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience. In their award-winning study “Motivated attention and task relevance in the processing of cross-modally associated faces: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence”, Ziereis and Schacht investigated how affective stimuli - in this case emotional speech sounds - can influence the processing of neutral faces. In an experiment, the participants learned to associate faces with emotional speech sounds and were then tested to see how well they could recall these associations. This showed that negative emotional associations are processed in the brain at an early stage, regardless of the task. In contrast, positive and negative associations only influenced later processing stages if the task was explicitly aimed at classifying emotional valence. These results illustrate how important the type of attention is in the processing of emotional information and that emotional associations can be successfully established between different sensory modalities.
Sept 10, 2024: Salon-Debatten in the Forum Wissen: Animal testing in research
In the midst of heated debates in society and politics, the question arises: can't animal testing simply be stopped? In the EU, no cosmetics may be tested on animals, the shredding of chicks has been stopped in Germany and the ethics and scientific necessity of animal testing in science is also being questioned. What would a complete ban mean for science and society?
What are the arguments for and against animal experiments in science? What animal-free methods are available? And how can these be used effectively in research? The ethical issues surrounding the topic of animal testing are complex. How does science meet these challenges?
Deutschlandfunk journalist and presenter Vladimir Balzer will discuss these questions on September 17 with hearing researcher Tobias Moser, medical ethicist Silke Schicktanz, Director of the German Primate Center and SFB 1528-PI Stefan Treue, and long-standing MEP Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen).
Places are limited, please register on the Forum Wissen Website
Aug 26, 2024: SFB Retreat 2024
From August 21-23, this year's SFB retreat took place at the beautiful historic observatory of the University of Göttingen. Over three days, almost 60 members of the SFB discussed the diverse and promising developments of the past year and the outlook for an exciting and eventful project year 2025. A special thank you to our project partners Elad Schneidman and Noam Dotam, who made the journey from Israel to attend the retreat even in the current difficult times
June 30, 2024:>Stefan Treue joins discussion round on the limits to the freedom of research
The debate revolves around questions that are important for both researchers and society: Are there limits to the freedom of research? And if so, where are they and who determines them? Experts from the fields of biosafety, animal testing, environmental and climate research, bioweapons and chemical weapons will participate in this debate. From the perspective of their respective disciplines, they are asked to give examples of how far research may go in order to achieve research goals and where the limits (must) lie. The scientists will discuss these and other controversial issues of research freedom with interested members of the public. The even it organised by "Wissenschaft in Dialog" in cooperation with the Leopoldina. Friday, July 5 at 9 PM at the Leopoldina in Halle, Jägerberg 1.
June 20, 2024:>Dr. rer. nat. Tarana Nigam!
Many congratulations to Tarana Nigam, associated PhD student of our project A04, for successfully defending her PhD thesis on June 19. Supervised by SFB-PI Caspar Schwiedrzik, Tarana conducted did her PhD project on "Flexibility and optimization of neural codes in the primate sensory cortex". She is graduating from the IMPRS Neuroscience program of the GGNB and will now continue as a postdoctoral researcher here in Göttingen.
June 15, 2024: SFB meets Göttinger Symphonic Orchestra
As part of the "Festival horizonte", SFB-PI Anne Schacht will join the Göttingen Symphonic Orchestra in the Forum Wissen on June 28. Anne will give a talk on what is actually happening when we listen to music; after the talk, the audience can experience these effects when listening to members of the Symphonic Orcestra playing music by Lucie Vallere, Vito Zuraj and Daniel Schnyder. As a special highlight, the Orchestra will perform the world premiere of the piece "bubble lava" by composer Marta Kowalczuk.
June 11, 2024: Minghao Cheng successfully defends his PhD thesis!
Congratulations to our PhD student Minghao Cheng for successfully defending his PhD thesis on June 10! Minghao Cheng conducted his PhD thesis "Action understanding and prediction during inter-agent interaction" as part of our project B01 under the guidance of Florentin Wörgötter. He will now continue as a postdoctoral researcher within our SFB.
June 10, 2024: Meet us at the Ideen-Expo
The Ideen-Expo in Hannover is Europe's largest youth event for technology and science. We will be there the entire week and present SFB research as part of the Göttingen Campus exhibition in Ideenhalle 9. We started off on Saturday and Sunday with an exhibition of our newest setups, the Dyadic Interaction Platform and the Exploration Room. But we will also our field research and present our field site Simenti and our neurobiology labs.
June 5, 2024: Meet us at the Ideen-Expo
Have you ever wondered how to study social interactions and decision making experimentally? Do you want to know more about how to build realistic experimental setups? Would you like to learn how international research teams work together to tackle complex scientific questions? Then meet us at the Ideen-Expo in Hannover. The SFB will be part of the joint exhibition of the Göttingen Campus in the Life Science Arena. We will be there on Saturday and Sundsay, June 8-9 in Ideenhalle 9.
May 10, 2024: The visual primates that we are: 'Learning by watching' in children and monkeys
During the IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning in Austin (Texas, USA), SFB members Neda Shahidi and Nivedita Mani organise this workshop together with Melissa Franch from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. The workshop will bring together developmental psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists to discuss recent developments in learning research in primates. The workshop will close with a panel discussion on designing artificial agents to interact with human and non-human primates. The full list of speakers and abstracts of all presentations can be found on the workshop webpage.
May 6, 2024: Ayuno Nakahashi wins fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program
Our SFB postdoctoral researcher Ayuno Nakahashi has been awarded a three-year fellowship from the Human Frontier Science Program, making her one of only 11 percent of successful candidates for this highly prestigious international award. She will study social interactions and decision-making in rhesus monkeys, the basis for understanding neurological conditions such as those that occur in autism. With this project, Ayuno Nakahashi breaks away from conventional research methods that test subjects individually in settings they had been trained for over months. Instead, she will record wirelessly the activity of nerve cells in the brain of two animals that interact in much more naturalistic scenarios. For this project, Ayuno will continue work in very close cooperation with other SFB members.
To the entire story
May 5, 2024: SFB 1528 at Pint of Science
The pint of Science is an annual event which brings the science to the beer. The event takes place throughout Germany in the week from May 13 to 17. After a successful participation in last year's event, the SFB will again join in in 2024. This year's SFB representatives are Ayuno Nakahashi and Early Career Fellow Neda Shahidi. Both will present their work at the Duke Pub in Mühlenstraße 4 in the City center. Neda will start the event on May 13 and speak about Adventures of my buddy, Vin the forager. Ayuno will hit the stage on May 15. Her talk has the title I'm done for the day!. Sounds like a good time for a beer!
Apr 29, 2024: Julia Fischer joins the Neuroscience and beyond podcast
This podcast series featured already a series of neuroscientists in Göttingen, and discusses not only research questions, but also covers other aspects of academic life. For the newest episode, SFB-PI Julia Fischer joined host Svilen Georgiev to chat about her research on communication and and behavior in the context of evolution. Julia shares her knowledge about social hierarchies, communication, cognition and evolutionary differences among baboon species. She speaks about field work in Senegal and why baboons don't like drones. But she also touches upon the question what this research can tell us about us humans and what we can learn from baboons. In the second part of the podcast, Julia tells us about her experiences with open access, career uncertainty, her thoughts on why women are still underrepresented in science and the problems and solutions with the publishing industry.
Apr 26, 2024: The right frame determines the movement
How does our brain describe a position in space? It has been known for some time that the target of an arm movement in some brain regions is coded relative to our line of sight, in others relative to the current position of our hand, but in any case, always relative to our own body. A new study in Nature Publications led by Alexander Gail revealed that one and the same brain area and even the same nerve cells can encode the target of the movement in different spatial reference systems, depending on what is required by the task at hand. Not only the position of the target relative to one's own body is reflected in the activity of the nerve cells, but also the position of the target relative to other objects. The processing of spatial information is therefore less a question of the area of the brain, but rather of the cognitive demand and it can be adapted dynamically.
Apr 15, 2024: Viola Priesemann in the Forum Wissen podcast "Wissen to Listen"
SFB-PI Viola Priesemann speaks about her research on how neuronal networks in the brain learn and think. Her findings are incorporated into the special exhibition "Heart and brain - understanding together" at the Forum Wissen. During the coronavirus pandemic, she used this expertise to describe the spread of the virus. She is now using the findings from her coronavirus research as a basis for investigating how misinformation spread via social networks during the pandemic. She also reveals how she found her way into physics and the importance of networks in the scientific community.
To the podcast
Apr 10, 2024: Primate Cognitive Neuroscience Summer School from July 28 to August 9 in Bad Bevensen
Image: Participants of the Summer School 2022The Primate Cognitive Neuroscience Summer School will take place for the third time in summer 2024. The focus is on cognitive processes in sensory and motor neuroscience in primates, with special focus on social contexts and decision-making processes. Animal welfare, ethical issues in neuroscientific research on primates and scientific communication will also be covered. The event is aimed at doctoral students and postdocs with an interest in cognitive and systemic neuroscience with non-human primates. As in previous years, the Summer School will take place at the Gustav Stresemann Institute in Bad Bevensen; registration deadline is May 5.
Apr 2, 2024: Anne Schacht and Julia Fischer in the Forum Wissen Chalk Talk series
In the Forum Wissen Chalk Talks, Göttingen scientists present their without modern technology. Chalk and blackboard are the only aids and leave room for creativity. The Chalk Talks are now entering their fourth round, and the SFB is once again prominently represented. On April 19, 2024, Anne Schacht will give a talk on "Who is in control of our laughter?" The following week on 26 April, Julia Fischer will report on "Of young and old monkeys - How social behavior, curiosity and communication change over the course of the lifespan".
The Chalk Talks take place on Fridays at 4.30 pm in the vestibule of the Forum Wissen. Admission is free.
Mar 12, 2024: Young Scientist Award for Viola Priesemann
Image: Viola Priesemann (center) with P. Hövel (left) and J-P Bouchaud (right); Photo: DPG, Dr. Fakhteh GhanbarnejadDuring this year's spring conference of the German Physical Society (DPG), Viola Priesemann received the Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics. The prize is endowed with 7,500 euros and honors her work on propagation processes in complex systems. The international jury described Priesemann as "an outstanding scientist who has made important contributions in the field of data analysis and the theory of complex systems".
Mar 6, 2024: Patience pays off
A study led by Neda Shahidi, now SFB Early career fellow, scientists show how decision-making processes are controlled in the primate brain during foraging. Two rhesus monkeys learned that the amount of pellets obtainable from dispensers in a open search task increased the longer they waited. By decoding monkeys’ reward expectations from the neural activity, the researchers were able to predict how long the rhesus monkeys were willing to wait for a higher reward and when they decided to choose another option. The study was published in Nature Neuroscience; see also the press release
Feb 28, 2024: New paper by Ricarda Bothe & Nivi Mani
The study by SFB members Ricarda Bothe and Nivi Mani with colleagues from the University of Potsdam looked at the effects of words and arbitrary actions in object categorization in infants.
Even though they found a weak advantage of words, this was not robust across analyses
Feb 25, 2024: Dr. rer.nat. Laura Hansmeyer
Congratulations to our PhD student Laura Hansmeyer for successfully defending her PhD thesis! Laura is a member of our project C05; in her PhD under the supervision of Alexander Gail, Laura investigated the neural correlates of complex action sequences. Congratulations Laura!
Feb 21, 2024: Julia Fischer in the TV program "quer"
On February 22, 2024, the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation's program quer features a report on the debate about the ethical dilemma of baboon breeding at Nuremberg Zoo. SFB-PI Julia Fischer was also interviewed for the report.
Feb 19, 2024: DFG grants 2nd funding period to SPP 2205 "Evolutionary Optimization of Neural Systems
Image: Mouse lemurs are important to study the role of vision in the primate brain; Photo: Daniel Huber (Genf)The SPP is headed by SFB-PI Fred Wolf (Campus Institut Dynamik Biologischer Netzwerke). What has driven the development of increasingly complex brains? Have there been real technological leaps? Are there universally valid algorithms that the various nervous systems consistently follow? Such questions are at the heart of the SPP, the world's first research network to apply computational and systems neuroscience to questions of evolutionary biology. The network partners are located in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The DFG funds this network with 6.4 Mio. € in the next three years. See also the press release
Feb 8, 2024: Multiple positions available
We currently invite applications for multiple positions within the SFB or associated projects. Jan Gläscher at the UKE in Hamburg is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher in "Recursive Theory of Mind during cooperative and competitive interactions". Raymundo Baez-Mendoza at the German Primate Center offers two PhD positions, and Martin Schulte-Rüther at the University Medical Center in Göttingen invites applications for postdoc and PhD positions.
Feb 1, 2024: Warum babies strampeln und brabbeln
Diese Frage werden Peter Marschik und Dajie Zhang am 7. Februar in der Kinderuniversität der Uni Göttingen beantworten. Sie erklären wie sich ein Fötus bewegt, und zeigen warum das Brabbeln bei Babys so wichtig ist, um später sprechen zu können und vieles mehr. Los geht es um 17.00 Uhr im Hörsaal 010 des Zentralen Hörsaalgebäudes
Jan 18, 2024: Richard Vogg stars in Science Slam
Image scource: Screenshot from the ScienceSlam YouTube ChannelRichard Vogg, PhD student involved in the projects B06 and Z02 regularly participates in Science Slams. His recent show was recorded and is now available on YouTube. Don't miss it if you always wanted to know what we are doing and where to find a coconut!
2023
Nov 29, 2023: Julia Fischer elected to the Leopoldina
Image: President Gerald Haug, Julia Fischer and secretary general Franziska Hornig. Photo: Markus Scholz (Leopoldina)
Nov 28, 2023: DFG funds new RTG on "Curiosity"
The DFG decided to fund a new Research Training Group (RTG) "Curiosity" with around 7.8 Mio. Euro for five years to investigate when, why and how we select the one source of information that we pay particular attention to and from which we learn particularly well. The RTG is headed by spokesperson and SFB member Nivedita Mani. Other involved SFB members are Alexander Ecker, Claudia Fichtel, Julia Fischer, Julia Ostner, Viola Priesemann, Hannes Rakoczy, Anne Schacht, Caspar Schwiedrzik, Fabian Sinz, Michael Wibral and Florentin Wörgötter.
Nov 23, 2023: ERC funds Caspar Schwiedrzik for research into flexible learning
The European Research Council (ERC) awarded SFB-member Caspar Schwiedrzik with a Consolidator grant to study the learning processes of humans, rhesus monkeys and in computer models. The Grant is worth two million euros for a period of five years. This is already the second ERC grant for Caspar Schwiedrzik
Nov 12, 2023: Public lecture: why birds are smart
How can parrots and corvids rival the great apes in their cognitive abilities, despite much smaller brains and no neocortex? In his talk, Onur Güntürkün will take us on a scientific journey to identify how birds and mammals evolved similar neural solutions to become smart.
Nov 28 at 6 PM; Alte Mensa am Wilhelmsplatz
Oct 26, 2023: Nivi Mani and Viola Priesemann in the Chalk Talk Series
Season 3 of the Chalk Talk lecture series in the Forum Wissen will start off on Nov 3 at 16.30. SFB member Nivi Mani joins the series with a talk titled "Sollen wir wie Kinder lernen?". On Dec 1st, Viola Priesemann will be the second SFB member in this season's cast. She will speak about "Die Grenzen des exponentiellen Wachstums: Von Epidemiologie, neuronalen Netzen und Nachhaltigkeit". All presentations start at 4.30 PM, the admission is free.
Oct 15, 2023: Viola Priesemann on "Scobel"
Viola Priesemann was a guest on the Science program "Scobel" on 3SAT. In each episode, the show lays the focus on one specific topic, which the host of the show, Gerd Scobel, discusses with guests representing different scientific disciplines. The new episode was centered on "Emergenz: Das verborgene Prinzip des Lebens". The other participants were the philosopher Achim Stephan (Osnabrück) and the physicist Stefan Thurner (Vienna). The link to the episode can be found below.
mehrOct. 13, 2023: Our annual SFB Retreat in Volpriehausen
From Oct 10-12, 2023, we convened in Volpriehausen for our annual SFB retreat with a record-breaking 58 participants. For three days, we discussed the progress made in all of our projects. The retreat started with a new feature: five-minute talks about the current status of all projects, with each talk given by a representative of a different project. In subsequent long presentations, each project updated about their progress, before we moved on to extensive discussions about ongoing and new collaborations across projects. Associate member Raymundo Baez-Mendoza as well as the newly appointed leader of our Early career group, Neda Shahidi, also introduced their projects to the entire SFB.
Thanks to everyone for joining and making this a very productive but also fun event!
Sept. 5, 2023: New registered report on word learning in young children
Nivi Mani and her postdoc Ming Yean Sia published a new registered report in Developmental Science on "The role of systematicity in early referent selection". It is known from previous work that children's word learning is affected by their existing knowledge. In the new study, Nivi and colleagues tested if children assume that words that sound similar refer to similar things. The entire report can be found here
Sept 1, 2023: Join us as a PhD student at the University Medical Center
We currently offer a PhD student position in the project of Peter Marschik at the University Medical Center in Göttingen. The project focus is on multimodal dyadic communication in typically and atypically developing children. The position is available from January 1st, 2024. Candidates should hold a Master degreee in psychology, cognitive sciences, linguistics or data science. Take a look at the full job description below and apply until September 30!
July 15, 2023: Join us as a field biologist in Phu Khieo
We are recruiting a field biologist to work in the project of Oliver Schülke and Julia Ostner at our field site Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. This is a full-time position for two years, available from January 1st, 2024. We are looking for a dedicated person with a bachelor degree in biology (or comparable) with strong interest to work in the field. If you want to join us and gain long-term experience in the field, take a look at the full job description below and apply until August 15!
June 27, 2023: Get to know SFB speaker Prof. Alexander Gail
SFB speaker and Professor of Sensorimotor Neuroscience and Neuroprothetics Alexander Gail sat down with Svilen Georgiev to chat about research, career paths, animal welfare, changing from academia to industria and more. The whole episode can be found on YouTube
June 20, 2023: In the News: Phenomobil featured in radio programs of DLF and BR
The Phenomobil, the lab on wheels developed by Peter Marschik, Florentin Wörgötter, Luise Poustka and colleagues was again featured in the news. SFB members Franka Foth, Peter Marschik and Luise Poustka from the University Medical Center where joined by a team from the German radio stations "Deutschlandfunk" and "Bayerischer Rundfung". The two slightly different broadcasts are online on the websites of Deutschlandfunk Kultur and BR Radio (available until July 4).
June 15, 2023: Alexander Gail participates in the University's Children University Program
On June 21, SFB speaker Alexander Gail addresses a different audience than usual. He will join the team of the Kinderuni Göttingen (Children University) and will introduce third to six-graders into his research. He will explain what neurons can tell us about the decision making when taking a penalty shot in soccer. His talk is titled: Links oder rechts, wie soll ich mich entscheiden? – Was uns Gehirnzellen über die Entscheidung beim Elfmeter verraten!
May 15, 2023: Zurna Ahmed joins the "How Animals' brain works" podcast
Zurna sat down with host Francesca Lanzarini to chat about her PhD project, the daily routine in the lab, her career paths before the PhD, and what lies ahead of her after her PhD. Zurna an Francesca also chat about animal personalities, and how Zurna's monkeys did to let her know that they were annoyed by her experiments. You can find the full episode here.
May 12, 2023: Viola Priesemann at the "Festival der Philosophie" in Hannover
As part of the international festival series, the 8th "Festival der Philosophie" will take place from May 24 to June 9, 2023 in Hannover. This year's topic is "Wo ist die Zeit". Our SFB will be represented by Viola Priesemann, wo will speak on Sunday, May 28 in the Künstlerhaus about "Die Zeit in der Physik: Symmetrien, Muster, Lernen". The entire program can be found on the festival website
May 2, 2023: Zurna Ahmed receives the DPZ PhD thesis award 2022
SFB member Zurna Ahmed receives the annual DPZ award for the best PhD thesis conducted with or on nonhuman primates at the German Primate Center. For her PhD, she investigated how movements are planned in the brain. For her project, she developed a novel experimental set-up that allows her to measure the activity of nerve cells in rhesus monkeys while they move naturally. The prize is endowed with 1000 euros and is supported by the MacLean-Erkelenz Foundation. The award ceremony with a lecture by the prize winner will take place on 10 May at 4 pm at the German Primate Centre, Kellnerweg 4, in Göttingen. All interested parties are cordially invited.
April 26, 2023: News from the lab of Peter Marschik & Dajie Zhang
SFB members Dajie Zhang, Peter Marschik and colleagues published a new paper in "Research in Developmental Disabilities". In their latest publication Learning about neurodiversity from parent - Auditory gestalt perception of prelinguistic vocalisations, they demonstrate that infants with Rett syndrome show subtle anomalies in their prelinguistic vocalisations that can be noticed by parents of children with Rett syndrome.
A key tool for this type of research is the new mobile lab, the so-called PHENOMOBILE. A team of the NDR visited Göttingen to report about it; their report for "Hallo Niedersachsen" can be found in the "ARD Mediathek"
April 15, 2023: SFB research goes public
If you want to learn more about SFB research, you have several opportunities right now: Hans Scherberger (Neurobiology Lab at the German Primate Center) joined the team of the MDR podcast "Meine Challenge" to speak about his research on how actions are planned in the brain. In May 2023, you have the chance to enjoy a cold pint of beer while listening to SFB researchers presenting their work at this year's "Pint of Science" event in Göttingen. The detailed program will be available on the organizer's website On June 21 2023 at 5 PM, it is time to explore our research together with your kids. SFB speaker Alex Gail will join the "Kinderuni" of the University to Göttingen to explain what our brain does when we aim to take a soccer penalty shot. The presentation will be in German and targets children from the third to the sixth grade.
March 27, 2023: In the press - The Phenomobil - Research with children for children
SFB members Peter Marschik, Dajie Zhang and Florentin Wörgötter present the newest SFB infrastructure: the first mobile infant lab to study early child development worldwide. Together with Luise Poustka, the team replicated the existing lab at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical Center in a van. This new concept enables the scientists to visit their study participants at home. "We know that it can be very time-consuming for parents with several small children to attend regular examination appointments, even if they would like to take part in a study. So if parents can't come to our clinic, the lab drives right up to their front door," says Luise Poustka". The aim of the long-term study is to gain a more precise understanding of typical early childhood development. "This will subsequently enable us to identify developmental disorders such as autism earlier and provide targeted support for children and their families," adds Peter Marschik. The van is equipped with six cameras to record the infants from different angles, recording equipment and powerful computers as well as a dedicated air conditioning and heating system. "With the help of artificial intelligence, we can introduce new methodological approaches to developmental science" explains Florentin Wörgötter, who accompanied the technical development of the Phenomobile. "This project and the cooperation between the participating institutions is thus exemplary for the interdisciplinary cooperation practised on the Göttingen Campus". The press release can be found here (in German; a English translation can be found on the website of the Leibniz ScienceCampus).
March 20, 2023: SFB 1528 supports Women's Careers and Networks SymposiumA
A symposium with talks, plenary discussions, and career talks where female researchers can explore different career options and establish important contacts to promote their career path: After the success of the last web symposia, this year’s Women’s Careers and Networks Symposium will take place on the 11 and 12 of May 2023 at the MPI for Multidisciplinary Sciences (Faßberg). Organized by PhD students and postdocs of the University as well as the Max Planck Institutes the symposium aims to attract young scientists with inspiring lectures and discussions. The meeting’s goal is to bring together female PhD students and postdocs to meet successful women of varied professional backgrounds to exchange experiences and to discuss diverse career options. The symposium will start the 11 of May with a workshop day. The 12 of May the symposium will be opened by Prof. Dr. Viola Priesemann, group leader at MPI for Dynamics and Self-Organization. Besides looking for their potential in different career paths, female scientists might like to get insight into which advancements will help them to achieve a leadership position. All the talks will be followed by interactive discussions with the participants. For more information on the program and the speakers, please visit the WoCaNet Website In addition, during the symposium Career talks will provide information and insights in career opportunities in academia and industry. The interactive concept of the symposium includes an exclusive Networking Dinner as an exceptional networking platform where the speakers meet a limited number of participants. Candidates interested in attending the dinner are asked to register. Registration is possible at the WoCaNet Website until the end of April 2023.
March 16, 2023: In the press - You or me: who gets the higher reward?
Drama or comedy? Couples who want to spend Sunday evenings together in front of the TV but like different movie genres face this question again every weekend. Do they agree on a movie and watch it together? Or does each one watch "their" favorite movie alone? And when they watch TV together, do they take turns picking? A team of SFB researchers studied how monkeys and humans coordinate and resolve such inherent conflicts of interest. In humans, this problem is already well studied in the context of game theory. But in contrast to previous approaches, the coordination game has now been extended to include a visibility component: In the game setting developed by Sebastian Möller, Igor Kagan and colleagues from the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and the Cognitive Ethology Laboratory (both at the German Primate Center), players were able to observe their counterparts while making decisions. The research showed that both humans and rhesus monkeys follow the actions of their counterpart and include them in their decision. However, they use different strategies in doing so. Humans coordinate in a dynamic process and achieve a "fair" balance over time: "today" you get to choose, next week it's my turn. In contrast, rhesus monkeys coordinate statically, which often means that one of the two players loses out over time. Two rhesus monkeys learned dynamic coordination skills after playing with human partner, but unlike humans, used these skills to compete. The publication appeared online in eLife, the press release can be found here.
March 10, 2023: In the press: How can we embed empathic intelligence in robots?
True cooperation of robots working hand in hand with humans requires that robots can read and react to human behaviour. Such collaborating robots ("Kobots") require empathic intelligence. How this can be implemented is at the core of a new collaborative research project between researchers at the TU Clausthal and the University of Göttingen. SFB members Anne Schacht and Florentin Wörgötter are members of project 'Keiko' (Kognitiv und Empathisch Intelligente Roboter). The project is running for three years, and is supported with 1.7 Mio. Euro from the Volkswagen-Stifung. Read also the full press release (in German)
March 1, 2023: Double header lecture by Jan Zimmermann and Dora Angelaki
On March 21, the SFB invites to a double header lecture with Jan Zimmermann (University of Minnesota) and Dora E Angelaki (New York University). Jan Zimmermann will speak about Timescales of behavior and neural processing. In the second talk of the session, Dora Angelaki will present her work on Active sensing and flexible neural coding during visually guided navigation. The session starts at 3 P.M. in the Michael-Lankeit lecture hall at the German Primate Center. Participants are invited to continue the discussion afterwards with beer and brezels.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, the talk by Jan Zimmermann had to be cancelled. The talk by Dora Angelaki will start at 4 PM!
February 15th, 2023: 13th Annual Primate Neurobiology Meeting
From April 26 to 28, 2023 the meeting will be held at the German Primate Center, with the SFB again playing a major role in organizing the event. The organizing committee is formed by Melanie Wilke and SFB members Stefan Treue, Alexander Gail, Hansjörg Scherberger, Igor Kagan, Caspar Schwiedrzik and Raymundo Baez-Mendoza. The meeting is characterized by a deliberately informal format to facilitate the exchange of information on any aspect of primate neurobiology and to allow us to speak out on behalf of this indispensable approach in the neurosciences. To this end, participants may present any aspect of their work at any stage – from the presentation of methods to that of concepts, from the introduction of very first results to the discussion of work that may have already been presented at other conferences. Students and postdocs working in nonhuman primate laboratories to are particularly invited to participate. The registration is open until March 31st.
February 6th, 2023: SFB members organising two symposia at the Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society
The 15th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society will be held from March 22 to March 24th, with SFB members being main contributors to the scientific program. On March 23, 2023, the SFB will be represented prominently with a dedicated symposium on Neuroscience of naturalistic navigation and foraging in non-human primates. SFB speaker Alexander Gail and Irene Lacal organized and will chair the symposium, and SFB members Zurna Ahmed and Neda Shahidi will present their research. International guest speakers are Daniel Huber (University de Geneva), Dora E Angelaki (New York University), and Jan Zimmermann (University of Minnesota). Dora E Angelaki and Jan Zimmermann will also give talks in a SFB lecture prior to the symposium. On March 24, 2023, a symposium on Insights into the neural basis of cognition from human intracranial electrophysiology convened by SFB member Caspar Schwiedrzik will take place. The symposium will address different facets of cognition, taking complimentary perspectives from different recording and analysis techniques; as well as providing insight into ethical aspects and technical challenges when working with patients.
February 1, 2023: SFB Lecture by Oliver Tüscher
On February 16th, 2023 at 10 AM, Prof. Oliver Tüscher from the University Medical Center Mainz and the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research will visit Göttingen and speak in a joint SFB / Leibniz ScienceCampus lecture about Neurobiological candidate mechanisms for resilience - goal directed behaviour under stress; the talk ( -> Abstract ) will start c.t. in the Michael-Lankeit Hörsaal at the German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4.
January 13th, 2023: Dyadic Interaction: Humans and macaques apply different coordination strategies in decision games
Imagine you prefer to visit a Stravinsky concert, but your partner wants to go to the movies. When confronted with such dilemmas repeatedly, human pairs usually coordinate their choices. Sometimes they go to the concerts, and sometimes to the cinema. If macaques are confronted with comparable dilemmas, they usually fail to take turns. A team of SFB researchers from the labs of Cognitive Neurosciences and Cognitive Ethology could now demonstrate that, after training with a human partner, macacque pairs can achieve alternative, but dynamic coordination strategies, if they can see their partners while making their decision.
The full story can be found in eLife
2022
Dec 1st, 2022: Talk by Constantin Rothkopf in the SFB Lecture series
We are looking forward to welcome Constantin Rothkopf from the TU Darmstadt as the last speaker in the SFB lecture series before the Christmas break. Prof. Rothkopf will speak about Computational models of naturalistic sensorimotor decisions and actions. In his talk, he will argue that models of human behavior, from decision making to sensorimotor control, have usually been dichotomized as either normative or descriptive. He will present work from his lab, in which Prof. Rothkopf and his team used probabilistic inference methods to reconcile normative and descriptive models; it furthermore allows to describe participants’ behavior on an individual by individual and trial by trial basis.
The talk will be held at 3 PM in the Michael-Lankeit-Hörsaal at the DPZ..
Nov 17, 2022: What do we know about emerging vocalisations in infants with neurodevelopmental disorders?
The early development of pre-babbling vocalisations, babbling and language in typically developing children is well-understand. But what about infants with neurodevelopmental disorders? Pre-babbling vocalisations may provide valuable early signs for atypical development, but as a new review by SFB members Peter Marschik, Claudius Widmann and Florentin Wörgötter shows, little is known about the pre-babbling phase in infants with neurodevelopmental and genetic syndromes. The paper has been published in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Oct 19, 2022: Anne Schacht guest on "Planet Wissen"
Vice speaker and SFB PI Anne Schacht (projects A02, C02) joined the crew of the ARD science program "Planet Wissen" to explain how emotions influence our daily lives. The main focus of the show was on our strongest negative emotion "hate". Hate seems to play an evermore prevalent role in our daily lives, as aggression against politicians, authorities or people with other opinions or from different backgrounds becoming a serious threat to society. At the same time, hate is connecting people within groups. In the show, Anne Schacht discussed what hate does to us, and why it is so difficult to control it. The show is available in the ARD mediathek until Oct. 19th, 2027.
LinkOct 4, 2022: Viola Priesemann appointed as professor at the University of Göttingen
SFB PI Viola Priesemann (project A06) has accepted a professorship for the theory of neuronal systems at the University of Göttingen and started her new position October 1st, 2022. Priesemann has headed the research group "Theory of Neural Systems" at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organisation in Göttingen and the Institute for Dynamics of Complex Systems at the University of Göttingen since 2017. Her research focuses on the self-organisation of complex networks, especially learning and the emergence of information processing in living neural networks. The full press release of the University of Göttingen can be found here
Link
Prof. Alexander Gail
Sensorimotor Neuroscience & Neuroprosthetics
University of Göttingen & German Primate Center Göttingen
Kellnerweg 4,
37077 Göttingen
Tel.: +49-551-3851-358 ContactDr. Christian Schloegl
Kellnerweg 4,
37077 Göttingen
Tel.: +49-551-3851-480
Contact