Zanira submitted her thesis on neural choreography

While the Rhinefront milonga blared big-band tunes for hundreds, Zanira slipped into the University’s sparse retro-style Tango soirée – just six couples gliding under amber lamps, every cruzada and gancho laid bare. No detail escaped her: the sigh before a pivot, the brush of wool skirts, even the gramophone’s faint tick between notes. “In crowds, you see waves,” she scribbled, “but here? I never lose oversight of a single heartbeat.” As dawn neared, Zanira left with a notebook full of surprises and insights, a MSc degree, and headed straight for pani puri to debrief with fellow aficionados under Mainz’s cobblestone arches.

Lab Coats Off, Aprons On!

This time, we celebrated our annual Lab Christmas Party a little sweeter. We decided to get hands-on with a different kind of chemistry by baking cookies together including Rachita’s FAFB Drosophila brain cookie, complete with one lamina slightly off, just like the original! The evening was topped with fancy sprinkles as we enjoyed snacks, mulled wine, and a surprise Secret Santa exchange. It was a well-deserved break for the team and a great way to cap off 2025.

Julia defended her MSc thesis

Julia just crushed her MSc thesis defense, using calcium imaging to crack the visual system of Drosophila. She successfully built a toolset to map chromatic receptive fields in the visual system, basically giving us a front-row seat to what flies see! Huge congrats to Julia, pushing the frontiers of neuroscience, one tiny fly at a time! 🎉🎓

A magical evening

With wands in hand and minds sharp, our team delved into the mysterious world of enchantments. Solving riddles, deciphering arcane symbols, and collaborating on magical puzzles, we worked tirelessly to unlock the secrets of the elusive potion. The air was filled with excitement and camaraderie as we navigated through hidden chambers, all while the clock ticked away, reminding us of the impending magical catastrophe.

After intense teamwork, clever problem solving, and perhaps a bit of wizardly luck, we successfully crafted the magic potion just in time. The satisfaction of completing the escape room was a triumph that set the stage for the grand celebration awaiting us – our Christmas dinner. Regrettably, Julia was absent from our magical Christmas celebration as she valiantly battled against formidable adversaries in a distant realm.

Welcome Roshni!

Introducing Roshni Pillai, our newest lab member and PhD student with a passion for unraveling the secrets of colour vision. Together, we’ll explore the world of hues and shades like never before.

Lab trip to Kloster Eberbach

We visited the monastery “Eberbach” and an exhibition on optical illusions together with the Silies, Martelli, and Urban labs. The cosmic 3D room was fun and a good place to take a group photo!

Monika joins us for a 3-month Erasmus+ project

Monika Kos from Slovenia joins our group for the next three months to conduct a small research project. She will use our new colour choice assay to study colour vision in various mutants. Additionally, using two-photon calcium imaging, she will test for aberrant visual processing in the early visual system.

Elif joins us for an Erasmus+ traineeship

Elif Haskan from Turkey is staying for two months in Mainz to conduct a small research project in our lab. She will analyse the neuroanatomy of visual neurons using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy as well as study their role in colour guided behaviour.

Welcome Rachita!

Rachita Taneja has joined our lab as PhD student and FTN TransMed Fellow of the University of Mainz! She will study visual processing with an emphasis on the function of electrical synapses. Her project will be a collaboration with Marion Silies and Carsten Duch of the iDN. I am very much looking forward working together!