Join us for a cool project looking at the neural basis of how social isolation affects female aggression!

We're advertising a PhD project on how social isolation influences aggression in flies. Based at Durham, co-supervised by @clarahowcroft.bsky.social . Despite what the ad says, this is also open to international applicants! Any questions, shoot me a msg! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Get ready to join us in Portugal this year, 1-3 June, in panoramic Palmela, just south of Lisbon! We have planned 3 days of science discussions and activities aimed at fostering our network of JEDIs in a supportive, fun, and sunny setting.

📣First preprint of the lab📣 Did that really happen?😅 Enteric neurons, aka somatic postmitotic cells, must hold on to their sex identity tight, to deliver a tuned response to signals from the ovary that instruct the animal to engage sex-matched behavioural programmes. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am very happy (and a bit scared) to present to you what we have been working on over the last 4 years. This manuscript is exactly what I dreamt of when I started the lab and I could not be happier and prouder of the outcome!

Happy New Year from seasonally beautiful Newcastle-upon-Tyne! Get in touch if you are interested in our #PhDstudentship to research the neurobiological basis of social behaviour and its dysfunction in Drosophila melanogaster. Deadline for applications: 23rd January.

Thank you @deepanshund.bsky.social for the invitation and hosting me. I really enjoyed coming over to the #ManchesterFlyClub, meeting and discussing with your diverse and interesting community! Looking foward to seeing you all again soon at one of our northern Drosophila gatherings.

Very sad news. Witnessing and benefiting from Adam's passion and generosity as a student was truly inspirational, and his work continues to be the backbone of the research we do. Thank you.

🧠 Applications for the International Neuroscience Doctoral Programme (INDP) @champalimaudf.bsky.social open until 31 January 2026. ☀️ Join our vibrant and international research community in sunny Lisbon! 🔗 fchampalimaud.org/champalimaud...

New work from the lab 🧠🪰🎉 Using pan neuronal volumetric brain imaging in three Drosophila species, we show that niche adaptations arise from central sensory processing, not peripheral tuning. Great collab led by @enriberti.bsky.social @tomtom-auer.bsky.social 🤝 Out now in @nature.com rdcu.be/eRWuD

Interested in the neurobiological basis of social behaviour and its dysfunction? Join the Ferreira and @wolfhuette.bsky.social groups at Northumbria University for a fully funded PhD opportunity studying group behaviour in flies. Further details are available here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Preparations for the next JEDI meeting are underway! The upcoming Junior European #Drosophila Investigator / #NewPI meeting is planned for Portugal in June. Final dates and additional details will be announced soon - stay tuned for updates!​

Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion. Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit shorturl.at/gGYm7

Hello everyone! We decided to automate our sign-up process for the JEDI network. Please register using this link: docs.google.com/forms/d/1IdO... Thanks to everyone who reached out! We are looking forward to building our community with you. Share and repost!!! #Drosophila @fly-eds.bsky.social

Dear JEDIs, as we are self-organizing using the #EDRC as a nucleator we decided it is time for a JEDI database to boost our network! If you identify as a JEDI, please contact us here or send a mail to [email protected] to be added to our database. #Drosophila @fly-eds.bsky.social

Learning from and doing experiments with Ed was one of the main reasons I became fascinated with flies during the curricular year of my PhD. Sad news, but what an amazing life to be remembered - a fantastic scientist and a wonderful person.

You just finished your PhD and you are looking for a postdoc to study stress-dependent modulation of learning. We are using the powerful fly model to understand the underlying circuits and mechanisms. You can apply here: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...

Drosophila research without FlyBase would be untenable. Time for all labs who can afford it to step up.

#FlyCROSS mentee surveys are open for #earlycareer #Drosophila scientists. If you're a #gradstudent #postdoc or pretenure faculty or equivalent - fill up the survey by Sept 1 to participate & be matched by #mentor of your preferences to gain guidance to your unique needs. @flybase.bsky.social

Now proper out: doi.org/10.1093/gene...

The lab's first PhD student, Mirjam Heinemans, co-supervised with the fantastic Marta Moita @moitalab.bsky.social, brilliantly presented and defended her thesis today! Massive congratulations Dr Heinemans!!!

Hey #Drosophila folks ! #FlyCROSS is back and #Mentor surveys are open NOW ! If you're a faculty/postdoc/ equivalent in any scientific career & have #Drosophila research experience - we'd be delighted to have you as mentors to empower early career scientists in the #Dros community !

It was a lovely first Fly North(East) meeting, diverse and supportive. Thank you all for sharing your science and the enthusiasm in strengthening our community. Thank you @gensocuk.bsky.social for the sponsorship that made it possible.

Towards more sustainable research: reducing the environmental impact when working with #Drosophila. Challiner, Saurya., Patel, Raff, Fostier, Prokop, A. (2025) @genetics-gsa.bsky.social‬, in press -- doi.org/10.1093/gene... - Always happy to discuss and hear your ideas and views!

We hosted the first North East Fly Meeting today! It was great to connect with people from all over as well as the local universities. A great learning and networking opportunity for us all! Sometimes it's just great to talk flies with all fly people! @clarahowcroft.bsky.social @dpdoupe.bsky.social

It is already tomorrow, our first Fly North(East) England meeting at Northumbria University Newcastle! Co-organized with @toraks.bsky.social @dpdoupe.bsky.social. Looking forward to a day of bulding bridges and discussing how to nurture our network.

Registration is open for the third #NeuroBioUK!! @dozenoaks.bsky.social @alexfellows1.bsky.social and I are excited to see you again in York!

Apparently we do not have a JEDI starter pack yet. @fly-jedi.bsky.social and everyone else: let me know which other Junior European #Drosophila Investigators are missing! go.bsky.app/PcTGEMc

Proud to work @northumbriauni.bsky.social #pridemonth

Excited to share my PhD paper is out! We studied how motion vision is processed beyond the optic lobes to help flies walk straight. It has been a wonderful collaboration with @michaelreiser.bsky.social, @dddavi.bsky.social and many others not in bluesky! Paper + digest here: bsky.app/profile/cham...

Congratulations to our biomedical sciences researchers Dr @emilyhume.bsky.social and Dr Monika Winter, who are among 62 UK researchers awarded grants to further their innovative work by the @acmedsci.bsky.social Springboard programme. #Springboard25 #MedicalResearch 💡Discover more:

The International Society for Neuroethology has a grant for disadvantaged scientists investigating the mechanisms of animal behaviour. Apply for funds to help overcome any barriers you face! Membership fees can be included in your application. Details here: www.neuroethology.org/diversity-aw...

The first paper from the lab is out on biorxiv - enjoy reading! Social context and interactions influence our behavioral decisions - the same is true for the little fly larva!

Join us for a fully funded, 4-year PhD, a collaboration between Northumbria, Durham and Mainz Universities to study the evolution of the neuronal basis of defence behaviours in Drosophila! Application and full PhD advert: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Join us for a great collaboration between Durham and Northumbria Universities to study the social lives of mosquitoes!

Join us for a 4-year PhD in Newcastle at @northumbriauni.bsky.social on a fun project (literally)! Building on our recent publication about Drosophila playing on a carousel (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...), we will explore:

New preprint from the lab!

Very happy to have contributed with behavioural data analysis and visualization to this creative and insightful work! Looking forward to strengthening our collaboration with the @wolfhuette.bsky.social group @northumbriauni.bsky.social

⚠️REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN ⚠️ Interested in the neurobiology of social behaviors? this is your meeting. Join us in the beautiful #Coimbra, next June 9th-12th, 2025. Plenty of very cool science and moments for discussion. Limited spaces, register soon and save your spot! esc-coimbra2025.cnc.uc.pt

A year in review and a year preview! 2024 highlights: 1. Lab up and running @northumbriauni.bsky.social to study the 'Neural basis of social behaviour in groups', with the support of the Applied Sciences department, a @royalsociety.org grant and the continued support of @moitalab.bsky.social

Are you aware of our #Drosophila #art gallery? droso4public.wordpress.com/fly-art/

1/ How do animals integrate different forms of learning? Our @eyalrozenfeld.bsky.social new study in Science Advances shows that active mechanisms prevent the co-formation of competing memories. Here’s what we found! 🧵👇 science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I intended my first post here to be about my own lab's work, but I can't help but sharing this beautifully detailed trailblazing work on freezing behaviour from @moitalab.bsky.social led by the amazing @annahobbiss.bsky.social