The Professorship for Developmental Biology at the RWTH is a newly established Chair in the frame of the Excellence Initiative of this University to strengthen interdisciplinary research in the life sciences. The research group led by Prof. Dr. Gaia Tavosanis, focuses on the development and adult plasticity of the nervous system. The group investigates the cellular mechanism underlying the differentiation of neurons and the capacity of remodelling of the adult nervous system at the cellular and circuit level. For this, they combine multiple approaches ranging from classical genetics in Drosophila and molecular

The Drosophila Mushroom body calyx represents an exemplary circuit for the understanding of fundamental processing steps in the nervous system, such as the formation of sparse representations of sensory information. Combining available electron microscopy reconstructions of the neurons involved in the circuit, with classical genetics, developmental analysis, high-end microscopy, time-lapse imaging, functional imaging and behavioral paradigms, we address the developmental logic of how this circuit is assembled, its functional properties and its plasticity in the adult animal.

The Tavosanis research group is embedded in the iBehave network, taking advantage of close interactions with several groups in the Bonn/ Cologne/ Aachen area and of the facilities structure within the network (https://ibehave.nrw/). For this project, we are furthermore part of an active DFG-funded Research Unit (https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/601524.html). The Professorship is newly established in the frame of the Excellence Initiative of the RWTH University and you can find additional information about us here: https://www.devbiol.rwth-aachen.de/

PLease, view the Ad for this position at: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/die-rwth/Arbeiten-an-der-RWTH/RWTH-Jobportal/~kbag/JOB-Einzelansicht/?file=V000006308&lidx=1