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".
In a new study led by Neda Shahidi, now SFB Early career fellow, neuroscientists 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 results were published in Nature Neuroscience.
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
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
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.
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
Richard 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!
Nov 29, 2023: Julia Fischer elected to the Leopoldina
In recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements, SFB PI Julia Fischer has been elected a member of the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences. She thus becomes part of an exclusive community of researchers dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research and scientific dialog.
More information 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
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.
Oct. 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!
The presentation starts at 5 PM at the ZHG, Platz der Göttinger Sieben.
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.
Oct 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
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".
In a new study led by Neda Shahidi, now SFB Early career fellow, neuroscientists 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 results were published in Nature Neuroscience.
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
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!
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.
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
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.
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
Richard 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!
In recognition of her outstanding scientific achievements, SFB PI Julia Fischer has been elected a member of the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences. She thus becomes part of an exclusive community of researchers dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research and scientific dialog.
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. 
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
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. 
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.
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!
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 
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!
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 
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 
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! 
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 
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.
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 
