People
Cornell
Munich
Ruben Portugues
Ruben studied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, where he did his PhD in string theory. After a postdoc at Centro de Estudios Cientificos in Valdivia, Chile, he switched to experimental neurobiology as a postdoc in the lab of Florian Engert. There he studied visuomotor integration in larval zebrafish. In 2014, he became a Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Max Planck of Neurobiology (now Biological Intelligence) outside Munich. In 2020, the lab moved across the city to the Technical University of Munich, to the Institute of Neuroscience. In 2025, after 11 years in Munich, the lab moved to the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Alumni
Patricia Cooney: Fulbright Scholar 2016 - 2017, subsequently: Columbia Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, Grueber Lab in New York, USA
Elena Dragomir: PhD student 2014 - 2020, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Prof. Steve Wilson, UCL, UK
Elena Gilewskaia: Research Assistant 2020 - 2024
Shuhong Huang: PhD student 2020 - 2025, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Dr. Kevin Briggman, MPI, Bonn
Laila Khorasani: Fulbright Scholar 2021 - 2023, subsequently: Medical School, UCLA, USA
Andreas Kist: PhD student 2014 - 2018, subsequently: research scientist at the University Hospital Erlangen, Division of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
Laura Knogler: Postdoc 2015 - 2018, subsequently: Scriptoria - Sustainable Development Communications in London, UK
Katharina Koetter: PhD student 2019 - 2025
Hagar Lavian: Postdoc 2018 - 2025, subsequently: Assistant Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel
Daniil Markov: PhD student 2014 - 2020, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Prof. Benjamin Judkewitz, Charite, Germany
Virginia Palieri: PhD student 2016 - 2023, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Dr. Eugenia Chiappe, Champalimaud, Portugal
Emanuele Paoli: PhD student 2019 - 2025, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Dr. Leopoldo Petreanu, Champalimaud, Portugal
Luigi Petrucco: PhD student 2016 - 2022, subsequently: Postdoc in the lab of Dr. Giuliano Iurilli, IIT, Italy
Ot Prat: PhD Student 2019 - 2025
Lisa Rottenfußer: Masters student 2020 - 2023, subsequently: PhD student in the lab of Dr. Nadine Gogolla, MPI Psychiatry, Germany
Vilim Štih: PhD student 2015 - 2020, subsequently: Machine Learning Engineer at vara.ai
Ryosuke Tanaka: Postdoc 2022 - 2025, subsequently: Postdoc at Riken, Japan.
Nathan van Beelen: Masters student 2022 - 2024
Tugce Yildizoglu: PhD Student 2014 - 2018, subsequently: kurzgesagt.org