Dear colleagues,

We would like to announce that the application period for the annual Medical Neuroscience Cluster Seed Grants and Young Investigator Awards is now open. Please find details and information on the application procedures in the attached call sheets.
We are looking forward to your submissions!

Daniela Pollak and Thomas Berger

Note: the grant and prize distribution is for MedUni Vienna employees only

Dear Neuroscientists,

Preparing for FENS2024 we would like to remind you about the opportunity (and benefits) of becoming a member of the FENS Student Host Society Committee and/or to contribute to the European Neuroscience Conference by Doctoral Students (ENCODS).

Follow this link for more detailed information as part of the invitation by Prof. Sigismund Huck, Chair, FENS Forum 2024 Host Society Committee

Dear young Neuroscientists!

The next FENS Forum will take place from June 25-29 2024 in Vienna. Do not miss the opportunity to join FENS 2024 for free, becoming a member of the prestigious Student Host Society Committee.

Follow this link for more information about the call and application form

Deadline for application: June 10, 2023

Call for Symposia and Technical Workshops for the FENS Forum 2024, Vienna, Austria

Dear ANA members,

Hopefully you could read the FENS  Call for symposia and technical workshops for the FENS Forum 2024 in Vienna. It was mailed by FENS on February 22, 2023.  Please note that the deadline for submission has been extended to May 22, 2023. By clicking on the link you will be guided through the submission process.

I would like to encourage you to submit proposals. We will have 56 symposia which, together with plenary lectures, will make the core of FENS Forum.  In addition, up to 6 Technical Workshops will be scheduled on June 25, 2024, the first day of the meeting.

A good meeting is made by contributions from the participants, so having submissions that cover a broad range of topics to be chosen from is crucial. The choice done by the FENS program committee is highly competitive, so please do not be disappointed if your proposal is not accepted.

You actually have a second choice thereafter: Once plenary lectures and symposia have been selected by the program committee, the community will be invited to submit satellite and special events. Details on these activities will be published in due time.

Sincerely yours

Sigismund Huck,

Chair of the FENS Forum 2024 Host Society

Congratulation to Gloria Colombo, winner of the ANA Best Thesis Award 2023! 

Her work focused on microglia and the development of a new algorithm for morphological cell characterization. Her innovative system, called MorphOMICs, combines the topological morphology descriptor, bootstrapping, dimensionality reduction, and data visualization techniques. 

What does it mean? Morphological heterogeneity underlies a diversity among microglia cells that is still poorly resolved: thanks to her new strategy of analysis, Gloria discovered and mapped region-specific morphologies of microglia cells in the brain. She found that in the healthy brain, different morphologies are not visible shortly after birth, but they develop only during adulthood.

When she applied the power of her new analysis tool MorphOMICs to pathological models, Gloria’s could identify sexual dimorphisms in microglia in the course of Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, she discovered permanent drug-induced effects (ketamine) on microglia morphology.

To stay updated on Gloria work, follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Glo_Col  and check out the details of her findings here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-022-01167-6

For news on microglia-neuron interaction, follow the excellent works of the Sandra Siegert Group, ISTA Vienna: https://twitter.com/SiegertLab

Call for symposia and technical workshops is now open!

Scientists from around the world are welcome to submit proposals highlighting discovery research on every aspect of the brain and central nervous system. To submit your proposal Just click on the link! 

The FENS Forum is the perfect platform to both develop and exchange ideas with peers, and the call for symposia is the first step to achieving this. The Programme Committee invites the scientific community to present innovative and dynamic concepts within a particular topic or field that will challenge and push forward the field of brain research.  

Liset Menendez de la Prida; FENS Forum 2024 Programme Committee Chair

See you soon in Vienna at FENS 2024!

The Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign organized by the Dana Foundation & supported by many partner communities and associations!

The Austrian Neuroscience Association is keen to dedicate its support to DANA, communicating brain science. Many Austrian institutions host exciting events in which neuroscientists share their knowledge about the wonders of the brain, and tell us more about the impact brain science has on our everyday lives.

This year, you can enjoy the Brain Awareness Week in…

·         Vienna (info and registration link and event calendar)

·         Salzburg (event map and contacts)

·         Innsbruck (info, calendar and registration: www.i-med.ac.at/gehirn/)

The ANA meeting 2023. What an extraordinary event organized by the Austrian Neuroscience Association and by the Hungarian Neuroscience Society (MITT)! 

ANA/MITT Budapest 2023 gathered hundreds of enthusiastic neuroscientists for three days of intensive interaction at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 

The Hungarian Academy of Science in Budapest is a majestic building located in the heart of Budapest. We chose to host this meeting in such extraordinary settings as an opportunity to celebrate the history of international friendship and collaboration between ANA and MITT and to offer our guest the most stunning experience in one of the most vibrant European capitals. Follow this link for some sightseeing ideas!

Our young neuroscientists enjoy the meeting for free: ANA offers 10 travel grants for junior neuroscientists to cover most of your registration costs and travel expenses and allow more students and early-career researchers to easily join this meeting. Did you miss out this once? Check out more details, application guidelines, and eligibility criteria and enjoy your first international Neuroscience Meeting for free!

Highlights & Awards: ANA-MITT Budapest 2023 was the stage for the bestowment of prestigious awards.

The Pioneer in Austrian Neuroscience Award, was attributed to Prof. Dr. Alois Saria in recognition of his lifelong dedication and outstanding contributions to Neuroscience.

Moreover: the Otto Loewi Award was attributed to Dr. Noelia Urban, recognizing the excellence of her ground breaking work in neuroscience. Congratulation Noelia, we root for you :-)

Are you curious about our Awards, Grants and Prizes? follow the link for more details and do not forget to follow us on social media.

It was good to see you in Budapest... Bis Bald in Vienna ;-)

EBRAINS Training on Brain Atlases and Simulation Services

An exciting hands-on workshop in computational Neuroscience and a glimpse of the future

The EBRAINS Training on Brain Atlases and Simulation Services has taken place on 13 Sept 2022, at the Institute of Science & Technology Austria in Klosterneuburg. This special event was tailored to the Austrian Neuroscience Association members´ needs and was free and open to all ANA members. 

We thank all the participants and hope you enjoyed learning how to use the vast Brain Atlasing and Simulation Services available on the EBRAINS Research Infrastructure, developed by the Human Brain Project. We thank the expert speakers from the EBRAIN project who delved into practical usage of different tools in five amazing hands-on sessions.

Curious? check out the program. Are you not part of ANA yet? Join us to enjoy the future exclusive opportunities for all ANA members!

“Are we equipped to work interdisciplinarily? – On the lack of philosophical education of neuroscientists!” was organized by Isabella Sarto-Jackson (Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria) and Markus Kunze (Center for Brain Research of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria) together with the Italian neuroscientist Igor Branchi (Sapienza University, Rome, Italy).

(photo kindly provided by Igor Branchi)

The speakers drew on their longstanding expertise in multi- and interdisciplinary research and presented examples of interdisciplinarity in practice:

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A report by Markus Kunze & Isabella Sarto-Jackson