Genetics of the brain

Open Positions

PhD Position on memory defects and forgetting in neurodegenerative disease

Applicants must hold a Masters degree in neurobiology, molecular biology, genetics or related scientific fields. Previous experience in molecular biology, neurobiology, genetics and programming is required.

The positions will be filled as soon as possible and is fully funded at an international highly competitive level.

Application deadline is October 31st 2023.
Please send your complete application (CV, letter of motivation; please have 3 reference letters sent by referees directly) via email to: simon.sprecher@unifr.ch

2 open PhD positions in neuroscience

We are looking for highly motivated PhD candidates with interest in neuroscience joining our research group at the Department of Biology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Our laboratory aims to identify universal features of how the nervous system functions. Particularly we are interested in the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms of the how memories are formed and forgotten in health and disease. We study neuronal circuits, their neural and cellular properties properties as well as the molecular and genetic pathways that achieve these distinct cognitive functions in the brain.

PhD Position on functional and mechanistic neuroscience in Cephalopods

The project will make use of Cephalopod model species, single-cell transcriptomics, functional imaging of neurons, genome editing and machine-learning based behavioral genetics.

The project will make use of humanized Drosophila models, single-cell transcriptomics, CRISPR/Cas9 based genome editing, functional imaging of neurons and behavioral genetics.
The onset of Alzheimer's disease and the mechanisms causing cognitive defects are not well understood at a molecular and cellular level. Aggregation of amyloidogenic peptides is a pathological hallmark of AD and is assumed to be a central component of the molecular disease pathways.​​
We developed an early onset model for Alzheimer's disease by resticting the expression of amyloidogenic A-beta peptides to the memory center. We show that sleep, genetically silencing neurons as well as feeding Levetiracetam  ameliorates the increased forgetting defects.
A genetic model for early onset Alzheimer's disease
The paper has recently been published in Plos Biology:
News:
Longlasting memories are known to require synthesis of new proteins, which in turn depend on the transcripton factor Creb. However where and how Creb is functioning remains still largely unclear. By using CRISPR we created a conditional Creb locus, allowing us to remove it specificially in certain types of brain cells. We identify differeent neurons in the memory cirucits, which require Creb for long-term memory, showing that the same memory is stored in mulitple interconnected neurons.
The same memory is storded in multiple neurons
The paper has been published in eLife:
About the lab
Address
University of Fribourg
Departement of Biology
Chemin du Musee 10
1700 Fribourg 
Switzerland
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