Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Associated Institute - Research Center caesar (center of advanced european studies and research)

Associated Institute - Research Center caesar (center of advanced european studies and research)

The Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar) in Bonn, Germany, is a neuroethology research institute that focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying animal behavior.

The institute is operated by a non-profit foundation under private law. Trustors are the Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. caesar is closely associated with the Max Planck Society (MPG) and shares its scientific principles. The President of the MPG chairs the Board of Trustees and caesar¹s Directors are Scientific Members of the MPG.

Contact

Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2
53175 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 9656-0
Fax: +49 228 9656-111

https://www.caesar.de

PhD opportunities

This institute has several International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS):

IMPRS for Brain and Behavior
IMPRS on Ageing

In addition, there is the possibility of individual doctoral research. Please contact the directors or research group leaders at the Institute.

Kevin L. Briggman

Department Computational Neuroethology

+49 228 9656-101

kevin.briggman@caesar.de

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Jason Kerr

Department Behavior and Brain Organization

+49 228 9656-113

jason.kerr@caesar.de

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Observing the freely behaving brain

May 04, 2020

New publication in "Nature Methods"

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Max Planck success in EU funding

September 05, 2019

20 Max Planck researchers win ERC Starting Grants

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Complex mechanisms in Gaucher disease unravelled

March 29, 2017

Cell Biology Genetics Physiology

Sphingosine inhibits the enzyme GBA2, thereby regulating the degradation of lipid-sugar compounds in cells

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Biosensor measures signaling molecules within cilia

March 22, 2016

Scientists can measure the dynamics of signaling molecules in subcellular compartments

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Rhodopsin on track

March 01, 2015

Biological pigment aligns in double rows

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Could You Point the Way to the Egg, Please?

Sea urchin sperm always follow their “noses” when swimming. Their olfactory organ is located in the tail and actually counts or calculates rather than smelling. The scientists working with Benjamin Kaupp, Scientific Director at the Center of Advanced European Studies and Research (caesar), have provided a molecular explanation for this peculiar process.

No job offers available

Navigation underground

2020 E. Pascal Malkemper

Cell Biology Neurosciences Structural Biology

African mole-rats spend their entire life in underground tunnel systems that can extend over several kilometers. Despite absolute darkness mole-rats navigate within these mazes with utmost efficiency. They are guided by the rare sensory ability to use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation. We aim to understand the structure of the receptors of the magnetic sense and how magnetic cues are processed in the mole-rat brain.

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Neuronal control of flight behavior in Drosophila

2018 Schnell, Bettina

Cell Biology Genetics Neurosciences Structural Biology

To navigate, animals must stabilize their path against disturbances and change direction e.g. to avoid obstacles. We study the neural circuits and mechanisms underlying such steering maneuvers by simultaneously recording behavioral and neuronal activity in tethered flying fruit flies Drosophila. Thus, we identified a descending neuron, whose activity strongly correlates with turning behavior during flight and appears sufficient to elicit steering behavior.

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Species-specific wiring of the mammalian retina

2017 Briggman, Kevin

Cell Biology Developmental Biology Genetics Immunobiology Medicine Neurosciences Structural Biology

Amongst mammalian species, the diameter of the eye varies by more than an order of magnitude. Objects in visual space traverse the surface of the retina of a large diameter eye at a higher velocity than that of a small diameter eye, raising the question of how different species encode the velocity of moving objects. Using comparative connectomics and computational modelling, we identified a difference in the placement of synapses among neurons in the mouse versus rabbit retina. Our results suggest an adaptation in neural wiring that compensates for eye diameter differences across species.

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Tactile perception in the computer brain

2016 Oberlaender, Marcel

Cell Biology Neurosciences Structural Biology

How are decisions formed in the brain? Investigations on the rat nervous system show that the basic principles of such complex processes can be studied on detailed models of neuronal networks. Novel techniques allow reconstructing the structure of neurons after having studied their function in living animals. By means of these data, models of entire brain areas can be created. By simulating neuronal activity patterns in these anatomically detailed network models, scientists hope to gain insight into how sensory information and behaviors that arise from it are encoded in the brain.

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Networks underlying the sense of direction

2015 Seelig, Johannes

Cell Biology Developmental Biology Genetics Immunobiology Medicine Neurosciences Structural Biology

How do the networks in the brain enable navigation and how do they control movements? Addressing these questions in the simple nervous system of the fruit fly indicates that basic network structures that are relevant for the mammalian brain contribute to navigation behavior in the fly. Thanks to the small size of the fly brain and the available genetic tools these networks can be analyzed in detail. Such experiments are expected to contribute to our understanding of how abstract computations are encoded in biological networks.

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