FEB 2014 NEUROSCIENCE NEWSLETTER Georg-August-Universität Göttingen ∙ International Max Planck Research School New Frontiers in... CONTENT … Neuroscience New Frontiers in Neuroscience .................... 1 International Neuroscience PhD programs in Germany .................................. 3 Welcome to the 3rd Neuro-Newsletter The somatosensory system ........................... 5 published by the Göttingen Inter- (IMPRS) for Neurosciences was evalu- Insights into synapse assembly ..................... 8 national Master/PhD/MD-PhD Pro- ated by an international group of re- The small axe hurls down the big trees ........12 gram and International Max Planck viewers who unanimously proposed a Master’s class 2012/13 .................................15 Research School (IMPRS) for Neuro- continuation of funding until 2018. Master’s class 2013/14 .................................16 sciences. PhD projects started in 2012 .......................17 Besides securing funding from differ- PhD projects started in 2013 .......................18 The past 2 years mark another period of ent sources, the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD The Doctors of 2012 ...................................19 success for the community of neurosci- Program for Neurosciences also had The Doctors of 2013 .................................. 20 entists in Göttingen. Both major grant to formally renew its accreditation as a Work- Life Balance in Cologne ....................21 applications in the field of the neuro- degree-awarding program. After quite Postdoc in Göttingen.................................. 22 sciences in the framework of the federal intense debates, the representatives of The German adventure continues… ............24 excellence initiative were selected for the Neuroscience Program were able Science or medicine? ................................. 25 funding again: The Cluster of Excel- to convince the reviewers to validate From PhD to scientific publishing ............... 27 lence Nanoscale Microscopy / DFG Re- the proven concept of an integrated Creutzfeldt Award ...................................... 29 search Center Molecular Physiology of MSc/PhD school with its intensive 1st Stipends/Honors/Prizes .............................. 29 the Brain (CNMPB) and the Göttingen year of research-oriented training and Joining the program in 2012 and 2013 ........ 30 Graduate School for Neurosciences, ‘fast track’ option. The existing unique Left the program since 2011 ........................31 Biophysics, and Molecular Biosciences scheme with university and non-univer- Current Faculty Members ............................32 (GGNB) secured the federal funding sity faculty contributing to the English GGNB career service ..................................33 until the end of 2017. Moreover, also curriculum has been accredited by the NEURIZONS 2013 ......................................35 the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Program / Inter- Central Evaluation Agency in Hanover Joint Training in the Neurosciences ........... 38 national Max Planck Research School without any imposed changes. Fully Campus events ............................................39 NEURIZONS Symposium in May 2013 at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry Neurosciencein Göttingen… accredited and funded, the Neuro- Managing Director at the Max Planck experience of the past years and ac- science Program will carry on to sub- Institute for Biophysical Chemistry and tive cooperation across disciplines and stantially contributing to the contents head of the department of Genes and beyond institutional borders embed- and budget for training of doctoral stu- Behaviour. He successfully guided ded in well established European and dents in GGNB. the school through a critical transition worldwide research and training part- phase during which the above men- nerships, the members of the Göttingen Besides constantly integrating new fac- tioned funding was achieved. The IM- Research Campus will have to develop ulty, the past years also mark a period of PRS warmly welcomes Gregor Eichele, convincing concepts in the competition ‘generation change’ with several faculty who officially became the dean of the for funding for research and training in members leaving the program due to IMPRS in January 2013. Parallel to the the field of the neurosciences and bio- retirement: Namely, Erwin Neher, who continuous changes and adaptations of physics. was the dean of the IMPRS for Neuro- the training curriculum of the Neurosci- sciences since its start in the year 2000 ence Program reflecting the dynamics until 2012, and Diethelm Richter, also of emerging research topics within the founding member of the Neuroscience neuroscientific community in Göttin- Program and former speaker of the DFG gen, the new dean will ensure continu- Research Center Molecular Physiology ity and also help to implement further Gregor Eichele of the Brain. The program wholeheart- development of the Neuroscience Pro- Speaker of the Max Planck Research School edly thanks them for their efforts and gram. continuous support which shaped the Detlev Schild Neuroscience Program from the very Although the contours of future funding Speaker of the MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Program beginning until now over more than a schemes from the German federal gov- decade. ernment are still vague and it remains Sandra Drube unclear if the excellence initiative will Program Assistant Meanwhile, the IMPRS for Neuro- be continued, the neuroscientific com- sciences nominated and appointed the munity in Göttingen seems prepared Michael Hörner new dean Gregor Eichele, currently for the next funding calls. Based on the Scientific Coordinator of the Program DISCLAIMER / IMPRINT Publisher: Coordination Office of the International MSc/PhD/MD-PhD Neuroscience Program Design and page layout:LifeTechMedia (Martin Nolte, Eva-Maria Twehues) and Neuroscience Coordination Office (Sandra Drube, Michael Hörner) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter by the authors of articles are not necessarily those of the Neuroscience program. All reasonable measures have been taken to ensure that the material contained in this newsletter is correct. However, the Neuroscience program gives no war- ranty and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or the completeness of the material. 2 NEUROSCIENCE Neurosciencein Germany… International Neuroscience PhD programs in Germany by Jonas Barth and Michael Hörner Currently, the Göttingen Research Cam- ternational perspective ever since it was to be the almost only neuro-related PhD pus integrating several university and started. It was among the first interna- program for Bachelor degree holders non-university institutions represents tional schools in Germany run in Eng- providing an integrated MSc/PhD track one of the largest neuroscience faculties lish from ‘first contact to graduation’, with an intensive one year MSc train- in Germany. The CNMPB alone com- providing a comprehensive research- ing phase and a fast-track option prior prises more than 60 principal investiga- oriented training for international stu- to the PhD phase. tors plus 30 postdoctoral fellows and 59 dents without prior knowledge of the doctoral students. In addition, the Euro- German language. Beyond the accomplished status, inter- pean Neuroscience Institute (ENI-G, 7 national marketing activities will have junior groups), the German Center for Over the last decade, the number of to be kept up persistently, and will Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, neuro-related study programs signifi- more and more include the increasing 5 groups), the Institute for Multiple cantly increased Sclerosis Research (IMSF, 4 groups), worldwide – with the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology now more than 30 (BFNT, 16 groups), 3 Max Planck Insti- international PhD tutes, the German Primate Center and programs (see list the natural science faculties of the uni- below) in Germa- versity and the faculty of medicine all ny alone. Despite host research groups in various fields of increasing compe- the neurosciences. tition, the Göttin- gen Neuroscience As a result, diverse fields of neuro- Program continues science-related research areas, ranging to successfully at- from quantitative studies on molecu- tract high num- lar and cellular mechanisms including bers of applicants modelling of brain function to the in- of good academic vestigation of neurological and neuro- quality providing degenerative diseases as a basis for the basis for a se- clinical studies are represented in Göt- lection of excellent tingen. candidates. In fact, the MSc/PhD/MD- Such given diversity and size of the neu- Program / IMPRS rosciences in Göttingen require a con- for Neurosciences tinuous recruitment and education of again received a talented young scientists. Presently, the new record num- local PhD programs on the Göttingen ber of applica- Research Campus in the various fields tions in 2014 (323 of the neurosciences comprise more applicants for 20 MSc study places). The number of alumni worldwide. Likewise than 200 doctoral students, thus, one of Göttingen program now seems to have stronger networking with our partners the largest communities of doctoral stu- successfully established its brand name in the EU involving the implementa- dents in the field in Germany. Since the and is visible even after integration into tion of joint training activities such as foreseeable number of graduates from the bigger Graduate School GGNB with the ELECTRAIN course will also help Germany alone was and will not be suf- more than 430 doctoral students, ca. to