For many years, our understanding of early mammalian development has been limited by the inability to visualize development as it happens. Technical limitations, physical inaccessibility, and complex computational problems have all hindered our ability to answer long-standing questions in the field of mouse development. Recent advances in cutting-edge light microscopy and computational tools have catapulted the field forward and presented us with new avenues and opportunities to address outstanding questions. 

The third iteration of this workshop, which alternates between Janelia and EMBL Heidelberg, brings together members of the mouse developmental community with experts in the latest imaging technologies, computational image analysis and more broadly quantitative biology fields, with the goal of raising awareness about available tools and techniques, unresolved questions or challenges, while fostering discussions on how best to utilize these tools and what tools are still needed. The intimate nature of Janelia meetings fosters an interactive and collaborative environment, and we look forward to open conversations on advancing this small (but growing) field, how best to analyze and share large datasets and how to utilize the massive amount of information new imaging systems will provide. 

Applications are closed

Organized by Hannah Haberkern, Vivek Jayaraman, Basil el Jundi, and Katherine Nagel, this will be the sixth in a series of Janelia-hosted meetings on this fascinating and highly conserved insect brain region. Much progress has been made in recent years towards understanding the anatomical structure, dynamics, and behavioral involvement of central complex circuitry. We aim to facilitate ongoing discoveries by bringing together researchers utilizing a variety of experimental and theoretical approaches in a range of species. As with previous editions, this small conference will incorporate vertebrate researchers, roboticists, theorists, and tool builders whose work is relevant to the study of the central complex. The meeting will feature a series of thematically organized sessions comprised mainly of short talks selected from submitted abstracts. Emphasis will be placed on featuring unpublished work from both junior and senior researchers.

Applications are closed

Led by Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, Janelia launches its 15-year 4D Cellular Physiology (4DCP) research program in September, 2022. With expertise in cell biology, neuroscience, physiology and imaging, our 4DCP labs will collaborate with Janelia’s current research scientists, tool builders, and experts in microscopy, computation and theory to bridge the fields of cell biology and physiology in exploring how cells build and maintain organs and organisms.

This exciting kick-off symposium will be held in a hybrid format, with onsite participation by our current and incoming 4DCP Lab Heads, our 4DCP Advisory Board, members of the wider Janelia community, and junior and senior researchers from around the world working in related areas. Much of the event will be broadcast via Zoom, with talks and discussions open to everyone. We look forward to active participation from our remote audience near and far!

We encourage applications from trainees, particularly graduate students, who are interested in 4DCP-related research areas and would like to join us in-person and present a poster. In addition to being able to share their research with a broad community of experts, trainees will also have the opportunity to learn more about our 4DCP program and explore all that Janelia has to offer both in and out of the lab. While we welcome applications from anyone in a training position (i.e., not running an independent research program), ideal applicants are current graduate students hoping to pursue a postdoctoral position in the next two years. 

Applicants must submit a research abstract and a brief interest statement about why they wish to participate. Travel support is available to those in need, with the option to apply in the online application.

For questions or more information about 4DCP, visit 4DCPJanelia.org. To learn more about Janelia’s scientific programs, support services and campus amenities, visit Janelia.org.

Applications are closed

If you wish to join the symposium virtually, sign up HERE for updates, including a detailed schedule and Zoom link when they become available.  Add this event to your calendar.

Public review of preprints offers many benefits. It enables reviewers to focus on the science itself, allows authors to engage in constructive dialog with reviewers, and provides context on preprints for readers. cOAlition S and EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowships have recently announced that they recognize peer-reviewed preprints as peer-reviewed publications, and some journals are accepting reviews from services such as Peer Community In and Review Commons.


Sponsored by HHMI, ASAPbio, and EMBO, the goals of this meeting are to promote community consensus and support for preprint peer review and to create funder, institutional, and journal policies that recognize both preprints with reviews, and reviews of preprints.


We invite the entire scientific community to engage with us virtually by watching the talks, asking questions and contributing to group discussions. View a draft AGENDA and SIGN UP to receive updates and the live stream link when it becomes available.

Olfactory navigation is required for the survival of virtually all living creatures from unicellular organisms to mammals. This conference will focus on olfaction and spatial orientation as a unifying theme across organisms with different viewpoints: mechanistic, computational and evolutionary. We will examine how model organisms, with distinct sensory capabilities and constraints have evolved to solve this problem. From a comparative perspective, we will seek to extract fundamental principles related to the detection of (noisy) sensory stimuli and its conversion into goal-directed responses. We will also examine the modulatory effects of internal states and learning on sensorimotor control. We anticipate that control mechanisms directing orientation will be relevant to the study of sensory systems other than olfaction. Such mechanisms should also represent a source of inspiration to engineer new technologies.

The conference will tackle three challenges. The first pertains to neural mechanisms that underlie specific sensorimotor functions (filtering of noise, decision-making, etc.). Moving down from sensors to control circuits, we will discuss our understanding of the emergence of action selection from the activity of neural circuits. The second challenge will be more technical. Recently significant technological progresses have been made by mapping neural circuits in connectivity diagrams, by monitoring and perturbing neuronal activity in behaving animals. We will evaluate how these methods can be combined with mathematical modeling to test and to refine mechanistic hypothesis about elementary sensorimotor functions carried out by neural-circuit motifs. Finally, we will leverage a comparative analysis across model organisms to extract computational principles common to the biological implementations of adaptive navigational algorithms.

Application deadline: Jan 10 (11:59 p.m. EST)

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The genetic, optical, and behavioral tractability of larval zebrafish and related species offers unprecedented opportunities for uncovering principles governing the large-scale organization of the vertebrate brain. A thriving community of interdisciplinary scientists is critical for building and using the sophisticated computational tools required to extract quantitative insights from the field’s rich and expansive data, as well as for devising models and theories that can guide future experiments. This workshop aims to provide a community-building forum for researchers at all career stages interested in the interface between zebrafish neuroscience and computation to come together, share tools, explore ideas, and chart a collaborative path forward.

This hands-on workshop will focus equal parts on theory and computational tools.  All attendees will present their work in short presentations with ample time for questions and discussion. The workshop will also include longer tutorials, selected from a pool of proposals submitted at the time of application, and interested parties are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to share their research in a deeper way with the rest of the community. The final portion will include semi-structured collaborative time to foster interactions between participants.  For instance, some participants might try out a computational workflow from another lab, while others might jointly apply an untested theoretical model to a new dataset.

This will be a highly interactive and collaborative meeting, and space will be limited to foster direct interactions.  Applications from students, postdocs, and early career lab heads are encouraged. Theoretical and computational neuroscientists, as well as experimentalists interested in incorporating more theory and computation into their work, are welcome. We especially encourage applications from women and those who identify with groups underrepresented in science.

Janelia will cover lodging and meals for all participants, and travel support is available to those in need (please indicate need in that portion of the application). Participants are expected to stay for the duration of the workshop and will also have an opportunity to extend their stay for continued discussion and collaborative time. 

Application Instructions​ 

To be considered, applicants must apply online and provide:

1. Current CV
2. Statement of interest
3. Research abstract for a short talk
4. Tutorial proposal (optional)

Application Deadline: Jan 6, 2023 (11:59 p.m. EST)

APPLY

With the goal of improving gender diversity of life science faculty, the Leading Edge Symposium provides outstanding women and non-binary postdocs in biomedical research a platform to share their work and connect with one another, both professionally and personally. Attendees will give short research talks, participate in lively discussions and network with both junior and senior investigators. A panel of carefully selected world leaders in biomedical research will provide mentorship and career development training, and representatives from institutions eager to recruit and support a diverse faculty will be invited to join.

Leading Edge Fellows join a community of postdocs and assistant professors in the biomedical sciences. The Leading Edge community communicates through a dedicated Slack, as well as monthly Zoom meet-ups. Career development panels occur throughout the year by Zoom (see the Panels page for past programming).

Fellows also present their work during an annual symposium hosted by HHMI's Janelia Research Campus. All costs are covered for speakers (travel, food, accommodation, childcare). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020, 2021, and 2022 symposia occurred virtually. We are excited that the 2023 Leading Edge Symposium will occur in-person at Janelia Research Campus from June 11-14! Recordings of the Fellow presentations are made available after the symposium on YouTube.

Visit leadingedgesymposium.org for more details.

Eligibility: We welcome applications from postdoctoral associates who plan to go on the job market in fall 2023 or later. Those who plan to apply for more than 3 faculty positions by May 2023 are not eligible.

Neuropeptides comprise the largest and most diverse class of neuromodulators and regulate a diverse array of critical processes. While their importance is well-established, fundamental questions about synthesis, processing, release, transmittal, reception, and signal transduction remain unanswered. Recent tool developments and advances in experimental and genetic techniques have the potential to transform our understanding of neuropeptide function from subcellular synthesis to behavioral output. Now is an ideal time to begin redefining our understanding of how neuropeptides layer with circuitry and metabolism to govern physiological functions and behavior.

This meeting will bring together researchers studying the influence of neuropeptide signaling on physiology and behavior at both the cellular and circuit level in a range of organisms and across disciplines, including experimental and computational tool developers. Through presentations and discussions, we look forward to 1) generating new questions and hypotheses about how neuropeptides regulate behavior and how they themselves are regulated, 2) identifying questions that emerging tools could be used to address, and 3) defining new tools and strategies for probing neuropeptide function.

Application deadline: Jan 18 (11:59 p.m. EST)

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Neural circuits implement transfer functions that combine sensory inputs and prior experience to choose a behavioral response. Historically, with the study of the most convenient animal models —from the giant axon of the squid and the lobster's stomatogastric circuits to Aplysia's synapses and C. elegans' circuits — neuroscientists revealed some of the operating principles of the nervous system, which were then found to apply broadly across phyla. The third installment of this meeting will once again bring together neuroscientists working on a broad diversity of animal models in an effort to compare circuits across phyla as a means to crack their function.

Application deadline: Jan 27 (11:59 p.m. EST)

APPLY