News

We are organising a symposium on the next Spring Hippocampal Research Conference on the functions of the subiculum and retrosplenial cortex. There will be the following speakers:

June 2-4 Koen Vervaeke (University of Oslo, Norway) Chair

“The other hippocampal output: navigating from the hippocampus to the retrosplenial cortex via the subiculum”

1) Mark Cembrowski (Janelia Research Campus, USA) “Cell-type-specific rules of a subiculum-dependent memory”

2) Andrew Alexander (Boston University, USA) “Egocentric coding in the retrosplenial cortex”

3) Dora Angelaki (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA) “Allocentric versus egocentric perspectives in retrosplenial cortex”

4) Koen Vervaeke (Oslo University, Norway) “Analysis of self-motion representations in the mouse retrosplenial cortex using two-photon microscopy”

5) Mark Harnett (MIT, McGovern Institute, USA) “Integrating navigational variables in retrosplenial cortex”

6) Debora Ledergerber (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway) “Multiplexed activity in subiculum during a spatial working memory task”

A toppforsk project that the Hu Lab and our lab applied for together, got accepted. We will study the role of Marinotti cells in the cortex. This consortium aims to reveal to properties of these cells both in-vitro and in-vivo.

PhD positions link

Postdoc positions link

Please apply asap so we can invite you to visit the lab and discuss projects.

We are delighted that the Norwegian Research Council continues to support our research with a FRIPRO grant to KV and a FRIPRO Young Research Talents grant to Anna Chambers.

Our newly designed two-photon microscope with a tilting detection head is ready. It is entirely build from Thorlabs parts, and has more than 1×1 meter of free space under the objective:

Detail of the tilting detection path:

Our first design, Oslo-Scope 1.0, with the behaviour setup under the objective.

Our review ‘Dendritic integration in Cortical Inhibitory Neurons’ is out as part of a special issue on barrel cortex. You find it here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452217304712
Although we still need to submit the proofs…

A collaboration with the lab of Linda Bergersen is bearing fruits. Soon out!

See the building process here :https://youtu.be/tnVWGNcqTAM

Two new positions to work on an exciting ERC project will soon be announced. The official announcement will come out on Nature jobs.

Congratulations to Anna Chambers for getting an EU Marie Curie grant with a whopping score of 97.5!

A collaboration with the lab of Erlend Nagelhus has resulted in a nice paper in Cerebral cortex. First adventures in the blood flow and astrocyte world!

Today we got the great news, hopefully it will be published soon!

The Scientia Fellow positions have finally been announced. This is an EU sponsored postdoc position in my lab.

For more details, see: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/jobs/571843-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-health-sciences-45-positions

Take contact for further details.

‘Opening ERC teams to the world’. Funding for short-term visits up to 12 months that can possibly be extended.

Foreign researchers can now apply in their home countries to visit our lab for up to 12 months. Details differ between countries but usually salary and travel expenses can be covered. Countries included so far are: USA, Korea, Argentine, Japan, China, South Africa and Mexico, and the list is growing.

Further details can be found here.

This may be an excellent opportunity to get to know the lab. We may extend your stay by another 1-2 years so a full postdoc period can be spent. You should check with your national research council about deadlines and application details. Please take contact well before the deadline. Note: It is essential that postdoc candidates have excellent publications in top-tier journals in the field of neuroscience.

Rinholm JE, Vervaeke K, Tadross M, Tkachuk AN, Brown TA, Bergersen LH and Clayton DA. Movement and structure of mitochondria in oligodendrocytes and their myelin sheaths. Glia, In press

Medical students from the University of Oslo that are interested in doing a year of research that can possible be extended to an MD-PhD degree should seek contact about possible projects.

For more information: https://www.med.uio.no/forskning/forskerlinjen/

Research projects will be posted soon on the forskerlinjen project repository.

The next call for Scientia Fellows is coming up and we’re looking for interested postdoc candidates: http://www.med.uio.no/english/research/scientia-fellows/
Postdocs from outside Norway that are interested to do research in Norway should take contact to discuss possible projects.

Follow these links and note that the University of Oslo requires that you apply via the University job portal, not by email.

https://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/1413470/70335?iso=no

https://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/1413438/70335?iso=no

Now that activity will ramp up, a strategic and scientific advisory board is put in place, offering valuable advice while the lab is developing.

Jan Bjaalie, Head of the Institute for Basic Medical Sciences in Oslo.
http://www.med.uio.no/imb/english/people/aca/jang/

Kjetil Tasken, Director of the Biotechnology centre in Oslo and the NCMM:
http://www.biotek.uio.no/english/about/organization/tasken-group/people/ktasken/index.html

Sonja Hofer, Professor at the Biozentrum in Basel:
http://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/research/groups-platforms/overview/unit/hofer/

Tom Mrsic-Flogel, Professor at the Biozentrum in Basel:
http://www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/research/groups-platforms/overview/unit/mrsic-flogel/

I accepted an Associate Professor position at the Medical School at the University of Oslo. The lab is moving to exciting new premises with fantastic infrastructure; Including a SpectraPhysics DS Insight+ and Chameleon Compact OPO pulsed laser that will allow us to use longer wavelengths and look deeper into the brain than ever before. If that’s not enough we now have access to the Zeiss Axio-scan, a fantastic tool for mapping the circuits of the brain.

The position is officially announced and applicants should apply via this link:

http://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/1389040/70335?iso=no

Koen got awarded an ERC startup grant. This is the first ERC startup grant ever in life sciences in Oslo. Covered by the Dean, and Universitas.no (In Norwegian).

1 January 2015:

The lab is now officially part of CINPLA. This is a new consortium in Oslo aiming to link experimental and computational neuroscience and bringing together neuroscience, computational physics and nano electronics labs.

‘Centre for Integrative Neuroplasticity (CINPLA) is a platform for an integrated experimental, computational, and theoretical approach to address neural plasticity at multiple levels. Our scientific goal is to identify and characterize molecular, cellular, and network contributions to plasticity, and to develop computational and theoretical tools to understand these processes on multiple scales. We will achieve this by integrating experimental biology and computational modelling through collaborative PhD projects that promote interdisciplinary interactions. Further, we will develop a creative and inspiring consortium which aims to deliver groundbreaking research and develop an interdisciplinary and high-quality educational program in Neuroscience. CINPLA is a strategic research initiative at the MN Faculty at UiO’.

1 December 2015:

Collaborator Erlend Nagelhus got a prestigious FRIPRO grant awarded for a joint project to combine 2-photon microscopy and mouse behavior to study a number of poorly understood cell types important for neuro-vascular coupling.

1 June 2014.

Start of the Vervaeke lab sponsored by a FRIPRO Young Research Talents grant. Koen is switching from a Janelia Farm Junior Fellow position to a group leader position in Oslo. He will be a Janelia visiting scientist for the next year to come.