Welcome to the IZN Home Page
|
EMBL researchers discover that four organs in a marine worm’s head can sense different chemicals
We sense the world around us using primarily our eyes, ears and nose. Marine worms, on the other hand, have long been thought to understand the world very differently – primarily by detecting chemicals in the ocean water that surrounds them – although this has not been investigated in detail. Now, researchers in the Arendt group have recorded nerve cell activity in the head of marine worms. The worm’s small size and transparency, means that all of the nerves and neurons within the head can be imaged at once. They found that these cells located in four particular areas of the head reacted when the worms were exposed to different chemicals. Alcohols, sugars, amino acids and an ester that smells like pears were tested. Reporting in Open Biology, the group identified these four areas of the head as the worm’s chemosensory organs, capable of detecting different chemicals in the surrounding environment. The worm’s antennae could detect each chemical equally well, whereas three other organs responded to each chemical differently. These chemosensory organs could help the worm go about its daily business of eating, escaping from prey or reproducing. More... |
|
|
Protection For Nerve Cells Delivered Through The Nose
Material and picture: Dr Bettina Buchthal Protective proteins that mitigate the destruction of nerve cells after a stroke can be administered into the brain through the nose, as Heidelberg University researchers demonstrated using a mouse model.The team led by Prof. Dr Hilmar Bading is laying the scientific groundwork for new forms of therapy that inhibit degenerative processes in humans. Prof. Bading's team is concentrating on the body's own neuroprotective mechanisms. The most recent results of their work were published in “Molecular Therapy”. In cooperation with Dr. Bettina Buchthal and Ursula Weiß, Prof. Bading was able to demonstrate that nasal administration paves the way for new treatment approaches for neurodegenerative diseases. They verified this concept using a mouse model. According to Hilmar Bading, mice who received this treatment exhibited less brain damage after a stroke in certain regions of the brain. |
|
|
|
|
|
Open positions at the IZN
-
The research group of Dr. Annarita Patrizi is searching for a highly motivated PhD student to identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors essential for development and refinement of the cortical brain circuit during normal and pathological states. The project combines state-of-the-art transcriptomic, proteomic and complex co-culture methods.
posted 11.2018 -
Dr. Moritz Mall's team is expanding and is looking for a highly motivated recently graduated top-level PhD with a strong background in neuroscience. The project aims to understand the role of cell identity loss in brain malignancies and mental disorders that affect millions of patients worldwide and are a major medical and economic challenge to our modern society. More information can be found here.
posted 10.2018 -
The group of Dr. Alexander Groh is looking for an outstanding scientist for the group who will lead projects, supervise students/postdocs and participate in teaching physiology (2 SWS). As this will be a key position for the group, highly motivated and ideally young candidates who will use this opportunity as a stepping stone to develop independence and to pursue an academic career are being sought.
posted 10.2018 -
The research group of Prof. Wolfgang Sommer is searching for students to work as research assistants (HiWi, 40h/month). The group is part of the Institute for Psychopharmacology at the Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI Mannheim). Our research group is interested in the cellular and molecular basis of alcohol- and reward-seeking behavior in rats. Furthermore we are interested to characterize changes in animal behavior and cognitive functions after chronic alcohol exposure.
posted 10.2018 -
The group of Prof. Draguhn at the Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology is looking for a scientific research associate for neurophysiology. The applicant should be interested in studying neuronal network oscillations and functional ensembles in the hippocampus and adjacent brain areas of the rodent. The work will be at the cellular, network and behavioral levels, both in vitro and in vivo. In addition to research, the work will include teaching medical students the whole field of physiology.
posted 09.2018 -
The Center for Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim (CBTM) is seeking a full-time scientific assistant in the Department of Neurophysiology (Prof. Treede). The focus of the group is on translational pain research (models of back pain and nerve pain, diabetes consequences, signal transduction).
posted 09.2018 -
The group of Prof.Dr. Beate Niesler is seeking a Master Thesis student to work on neurogastroenterologic disorders, resulting impairments of the enteric nervous system (ENS), the 'second brain' in our gut, and the elucidation of underlying pathomechanisms.
posted 07.2018 -
The Department of Experimental Pain Research at the Medical Faculty Mannheim (Prof.Dr. Martin Schmelz) is offering a PhD position in a project funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) entitled 'Selective activation of nociceptor sub-groups by slowly depolarizing electrical stimuli'.
posted 07.2018 -
The research group of Dr. Kevin Allen is seeking a student to work as a research assistant (HiWi) on the neuronal basis of spatial behavior. The group is interested in the spatial representations generated within the mammalian brain and their contributions to spatial behavior and memory. The spatial representations generated by grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex are a prominent example. The student will acquire experience in a wide array of techniques, including in vivo tetrode recordings in mice, data analysis, and histological analysis.
posted 07.2018 - The Functional Neuroanatomy group of Prof. Dr. Thomas Kuner is searching for a highly motivated PhD student to investigate the synaptic nanoarchitecture with a focus on the distribution of synaptic vesicle proteins. The project will employ a super-resolution microscopy setup (3D /d/STORM) equipped with an automated pipetting system.
Furthermore, a Master or an MD position is open for a sub-project intended to delineate the ultrastructural organization of active zones. posted 07.2018
- The research group of Prof. Andreas Draguhn is offering a PhD position to help untangle the molecular mechanisims by which Bcl11b/Ctip2 regulates development, maintenance and network-level functions of mossy fiber connectivitiy in CA3. The project combines state-of-the-art molecular, ultrastructural as well as electrophysiological strategies, and it will qualify PhD students both in the field of molecular/cellular neurobiology as well as cellular/systems neurophysiology. posted 06.2018
- A PhD position is open at the Department of Neurophysiology lead by Prof. Treede to validate electrophysiological techniques on human models of pain. The main objective of the work is to improve the translatability of recordings in pain pathways of healthy subjects and preclinical species. The successful candidate will investigate the analgesic effects in the brain, the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system. posted 05.2018
- The research group of Dr. Sidney Cambridge (Department of Functional Neuroanatomy, Prof.Dr. Thomas Kuner) is looking for a highly motivated and well-trained student (f/m) for a Masters research project in cellular neurophysiology. The project will involve genetic manipulation of neuronal activity in a small population and assessing network changes in activity as compensatory homeostatic mechanisms. posted 05.2018
- A PhD position in Neurobiology and Alzheimer Research is available in the laboratory of Prof. Ulrike Müller
studying the synaptic roles of the APP gene family and their processing products. Techniques employed include state-of-the-art molecular biology, biochemistry, imaging and work with genetically modified mouse mutants (gain and loss of function studies) and viral vectors. posted 04.2018
- The Ruiz de Almodóvar group is interested in the mechanisms of neurovascular development in mice and is looking for a motivated HiWi student to help with basic experimental techniques such as mouse genotyping, cell culture and histology. posted 03.2018
- The Developmental Neurobiology group of Prof. Elisabeth Pollerberg is looking for a highly motivated postdoc whose project will focus on the interactions of cell adhesion molecules with other types of proteins and the impact of these interactions on axon elongation and navigation. Substantial amounts of data have already been collected for several projects and the postdoc is expected to complete and publish these studies. In addition, a new translational project could be started aiming at the improvement of axon regeneration. posted 02.2018
Contact
Managing Director:
Prof. Dr. Hilmar Bading
IZN-Neurobiology, University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 1.OG
D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| Phone: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16500 |
| Fax: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16524 |
| email: | Bading@nbio.uni-heidelberg.de |
Coordinator:
Dr. Otto Bräunling
IZN-Neurobiology, University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 1.OG
D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| Phone: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16502, 56 39007 |
| Fax: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16524 |
| email: | Braeunling@nbio.uni-heidelberg.de |
Administration & Information:
Irmela Meng
IZN-Neurobiology, University of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 366, 1.OG
D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| Phone: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16501 |
| Fax: | +49 - 6221 - 54 16524 |
| email: | Sekretariat@nbio.uni-heidelberg.de |
