We are currently establishing CBBS GP Study Groups for scientific exchange. Every CBBS GP member is welcome to join!

We are convienced that every successful scientist needs a community. The new format of CBBS GP Study Groups enables students to meet on a regular basis and to discuss problems, ideas, methods, paper, etc.. The idea is, that students get to know each other and help one another. If they need further help, we can also recruit Postdocs, PIs or coaches from outside to answer open questions. Registration via: contact@gp.cbbs.eu

Below you can find our Study Groups and the person in charge, you might contact in case of interest. Dates of upcoming meetings can be found in our calendar.

1.Study Group: Imaging Techniques & Analysis

You have a question but no idea how to get an answer? You love colourful images and would like to pimp up your thesis/script? You dont know how to start with microscopy? You know or use a fancy imaging technique and would like to share your results? You have problems with analyzing your microscopy data, dont know how to interprete or quantify? You developed an analysis pipeline? You simply wanna meet crazy people spending hours and hours in front of microscopes? Wanna meet like-minded people? Interested in organizing cutomized Workshops and trainings or Software and manufacturers provided seminars. Join us!

Topics we will address:

  • connections to Imaging Facilities on the campus
  • improve experiences with mainly fluorescence microscopy: confocal laser scanning microscopy, light sheet microscopy, two photon microscopy
  • exchange on how to use Fiji/ImageJ, Imaris, Huygens
  • exchanging possibilities/ideas/methods for staining, fixing, experiences with specific fluorochromes, reporter mouse lines
  • getting informed about electron microscopy, MRI, CT, laser microdissection, MELC, Flowcite/ImageQuant, optogenetics. analysis pipelines
  • ideas about how to deal with data
  • methods and groups performed on the campus or in generell in MD
  • bringing beginners and experts together

Person in charge: Hanna Edler

I am a 2nd year phd student at the institute of immunology and part of the SFB854. Actually I am using mainly light sheet microscopy and clsm.


2. Study Group: Synaptic Plasticity

In that study group, we will welcome all ideas to have more fruitful meetings. We could plan our meeting base on everyone preference and discuss about recently published papers, methods and lots of other things. We could also invite guest speakers to our regular meetings. 

Person in charge: Babak Khodaie

I am currently working on single cell recording techniques to investigate cellular and synaptic mechanisms by which our neurons can store information and change their synaptic connections. I am especially interested in dopamine dependent changes in synaptic plasticity along the dorso-ventral hippocampal axis.


3. Study Group: Behavioural Tasks

In this group all questions and problems with doing animal behavioural experiments can be discussed. Some examples:

  • What are new techniques/equipment for behavioural experiments?       
  • How can I find experts for certain behavioural tasks on campus? Can I get an insight into other groups doing behavioural experiments?        
  • Which is the best behavioural test for my research question?       
  • What general and maybe not so obvious things should I consider when carrying out behavioural experiments?         
  • What to consider when writing an application for animal experiments.

New Format: Meet the expert!

Start with Prof. Dr. Oliver Stork from StorkLab
Interested? Sign in the poll.

Person in charge: Jana Schulze

In my PhD I will do behavioural tests in old and genetically modified mice. So far my experience with behavioural experiments is limited, so I am interested to hear about other peoples approach. In return I can provide some experience in writing official applications for animal experiments.


4. Study Group: Programming & Statistics

Source: https://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/03/a-guide-to-programming-for-non-programmers/

In the study group ” Programming & Statistics”  students and data science enthusiasts meet regularly with the intent of improving and share their knowledge of the programming languages most used in science (Matlab, R-Programming, C++, Java, Python, Graph Pad Prism).

The meetings will focus on learning, share ideas, addressing problems or elaborate on a specific topic of interest. The idea is that students help and teach one another, and additionally Postdocs, PIs or experts from outside can be recruited to answer open questions.

The meetings of the study group are also a great opportunity to play with your data profiting from the opportunity to ask the other students for suggestions.

The main goals :

  1. Write and debug codes
  2. Have an understanding of some widely-used languages. 
  3. Learn the strengths and limitations of each of them
  4. Automate tedious tasks and save time
  5. Perform statistical analyses
  6. Programming within a problem-solving framework 
  7. Share ideas and solutions

Person in charge: Elisa Lancini

As for myself, I’m Elisa and I´m a Ph.D. student at the DZNE. I joined the SynAGE graduate program in January and I have a background in psychology. I am also a data science enthusiast and I am responsible for this study group. I will take care of the organization of the topics, so I look forward to receiving inputs from you regarding the topics you would like to address during the meetings!


5. Study Group: MRI Analyses

This study group aims to serve as a support network in case of difficulties and challenges in various steps of performing MRI data analyses. 
These challenges can be diverse and range from the choice of appropriate/best fitting MRI sequences for a specific research question (e.g. MPRAGE, T2, MT, dwi, QSM, multiband), fMRI task designs (univariate/multivariate, BOLD modulation), preprocessing steps (e.g. BIDS format, preprocessing pipelines, manual segmentation), higher level analyses (e.g. decoding, usage of atlases), manuscript preparation (e.g. figures via FSLeyes/MRIcroGL), etc.
Furthermore, the study group can provide the basis for an exchange on different software packages (e.g. SPM, FSL, AFNI, Freesurfer) and discuss different methods and future directions of the field (e.g. open science, data sharing, preregistration). 

Invitation to Slack.

Person in charge: Alexander Weuthen

As a PhD student at the Department of Neuropsychology (Ullsperger), I will perform multivariate decoding of task-based fMRI data and investigate other MRI modalities related to the cholinergic system, ageing and performance monitoring.

Last Meeting: 25.11.2021


6. Study Group: EEG & MEG

This group will focus on the analysis of EEG and MEG data, starting from pre-processing to in-depth analysis. We will review the advantages of different toolboxes and pipelines, exchange our knowledge about different methods, discuss common and specific problems we encounter and try to improve the efficiency in our own workflow. 

Person in charge: Angela Voegtle

 I am currently working with fieldtrip on MEG data, concentrating on ERF and time-frequency analysis. For EEG data analysis, I previously used EEGLAB and ERPLAB. 

7. Study Group: VAscular Research Group VARG

The recently established VARG (VAscular Research Group) is a platform to connect and coordinate vascular research projects. It provides an overview over previous and planned vascular research projects and focuses on research methods. As such, we also aim to establish a database for methods and a list of experts who could provide help on specific aspects of the whole research procedure.Another purpose is the development of further projects in this context.

Topics: 

  • Presentation of previous vascular research studies
  • Background information through whole complex research procedure
  • Vascular classification
  • MRI sequences for vascular imaging
  • Software for imaging and analysis (segmentation, registration etc.)
  • Fundamental research and translation to the clinical setting

Since January 2021 we have monthly meetings with one presentation and a short discussion. Feel free to reach out to us if you want to be part of VARG or to simply attend one of the meetings.

Persons in charge: Christoph Knoll & Niklas Vockert

Christoph Knoll
“Ingenuity, excellence and continual learning” – these three words sum up my passion for the field of Cognitive Neuroscience and Sport Science. I pursued a Bachelor in the field of Sport Science and an International Master in Performance Analysis of Sports. My master thesis is on “Cortical Activity in Context of Motoric Learning of Cyclic Movements”. I aim to develop a research profile with a long term co-operation in the field of Cognitive Neuroscience and Microstructural Imaging that investigates changes in sensorimotor processing and cognitive mapping. Having worked with EEG (high temporal resolution) already, I now aspire to gain practical insights about the best spatial resolution system of 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (7T-MRI). My PhD research is “How motor cortex vascularization patterns contribute to individual learning and training abilities”. Find me on ResearchGate.

Niklas Vockert
“I am a PhD student at the DZNE with a background in mathematical and computational modeling for biological processes. Nowadays, I generally investigate reserve (e.g. cognitive reserve, resistance, resilience) in the context of aging and disease with multimodal neuroimaging techniques. For the most part my focus lies on the relationship between hippocampal vascularization and behavioral, structural as well as functional measures.”