Kevin Staras
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kevinstaras.bsky.social
Kevin Staras
@kevinstaras.bsky.social
NeuroProf at University of Sussex, UK • Synapses, Circuits, Plasticity, Disease, Decision-making
https://www.thestaraslab.org/
Reposted by Kevin Staras
🧪 We recently published our first micro-publication! This paper highlights the pitfalls of using extracellular stimulation to recruit synapses in neocortical circuits, as it lacks specificity. www.micropublication.org/journals/bio...
June 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
I'd like to make a list of PhD programs that (1) are in Europe (which does include the UK); (2) offer opportunities in systems neuroscience; and obviously (3) pay a stipend. Please share and/or respond to add your suggestions?
June 17, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
We are super excited about this news!!! 🤩 #ERCAdG
June 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Oops the original post was deleted! The news is here: bsky.app/profile/cham...
👏 Congratulations to @megancarey.bsky.social, principal investigator at @champalimaudr.bsky.social on winning a 2.5M€ #AdvancedGrantInLifeSciences, awarded by the @erc.europa.eu, to develop the project 🧠 SCUPTABELLUM - Sculpting cerebellar activity across timescales.
June 17, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
How do brain circuits evolve? We started looking for some answers by using synapse-resolution cross-species comparative connectomics on an entire olfactory circuit 👇

bit.ly/44aVm9E
June 12, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Posting this after some recent conversations with potential international applicants - still time to apply to our Masters courses and International PhD Academy for 2025 entry - join the diverse and vibrant Neuroscience community on our beautiful campus next to Brighton
Want to join our vibrant postgrad community?

Discover all our Neuroscience courses here: www.sussex.ac.uk/study/subjects/neuroscience

Including:
🏫 International PhD Academy
🏫 Masters courses
🏫 Opportunities across several schools: Life Science; Psychology; Computer Science & AI; and BSMS
Neuroscience : University of Sussex
Discover our undergraduate courses, Masters and PhD degrees in neuroscience.
www.sussex.ac.uk
May 13, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
I am very happy and thankful for having been part of this amazing journey. Enjoy exploring this incredibly rich dataset!
How does the brain work?

Scientists are closer to the answer with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. 🧵

🧠📈
April 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
I know there's a 𝒍𝒐𝒕 going on right now, but I couldn’t be prouder to share this long-incubated labor of love: the complete connectome of the male 𝐷𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑎 optic lobe 🧠🪰
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Connectome-driven neural inventory of a complete visual system - Nature
A connectome of the right optic lobe from a male fruitfly is presented together with an extensive collection of genetic drivers matched to a comprehensive neuron-type catalogue.
www.nature.com
March 27, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Aw, we got the cover for our new paper on X-ray imaging and atlas building in the snail brain. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Thanks @pnas.org .. and to @sussexneuro.bsky.social @leverhulme.bsky.social @ukri.org for funding support #invertebrate #brain #neuroscience THREAD: bsky.app/profile/kevi...
March 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Looking for a quick way to map the brain of your favourite small animal model?
See our new paper. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 1/10
February 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
From octopuses to snails, the complicated molluscan family tree has now been mapped in unprecedented detail, researchers report in Science.

Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/4hVhrxB
February 27, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
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:
February 27, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Applications to the 2025 Paris Spring School in Optical Imaging and Electrophysiological Recording in Neuroscience (AKA the Paris Neuro Course) are now open. Deadline on the 1st of February.

The course will run 14-27 May 2025.

parisneuro.ovh
Paris NeuroCourse | Optical Imaging and Electrophysiological Recording in Neuroscience
parisneuro.ovh
December 22, 2024 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
come do a phd at sussex neuroscience! 50-ish labs to pick from, doing neuro-stuff from teeny molecules via the obvious sweetspot (zebrafish) to oversized human brainz
Our Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme is open for applications! Deadline Jan 13th, for Sept 2025 entry. Brilliant community of students and supervisors, and a choice of >60 labs for rotations- come and join us by the sea! www.sussex.ac.uk/research/cen...
Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme : PhD Programmes in Neuroscience : Sussex Neuroscience : University of Sussex
www.sussex.ac.uk
December 12, 2024 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Thank you to Sneha Knedkar for writing this splendid article about our research in The Scientist

eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Researchers Discover How Starfish Cut Ties with Their Limbs
A neuropeptide helps starfish shed their arms to escape predators, providing clues about the mechanisms regulating self-amputation.
eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
December 4, 2024 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Dear all, my first post! I have postdoc positions available if you would like to join my lab in beautiful Sussex by the Sea! Please contact me on k.w.caldecott@sussex.ac.uk
December 3, 2024 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
And for this #FluorescenceFriday, here’s the sequel. Froglet of the same line from the Sweeney lab.
November 29, 2024 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
A huge pleasure to repost this announcement - over 40 students have graduated from our fantastic @sussexneuro.bsky.social PhD programme, and each year brings new perspectives and opportunities for both the new joiners and ourselves as their hosts. Do consider applying!
Our Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme is open for applications! Deadline Jan 13th, for Sept 2025 entry. Brilliant community of students and supervisors, and a choice of >60 labs for rotations- come and join us by the sea! www.sussex.ac.uk/research/cen...
Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme : PhD Programmes in Neuroscience : Sussex Neuroscience : University of Sussex
www.sussex.ac.uk
November 27, 2024 at 5:06 PM
Mix neuroscience with the seaside! 4 year PhD programme on the UK's south coast at the University of Sussex. Fantastic community of excellent researchers across the neuro field. Apply now. Please RT.
November 27, 2024 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
Our Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme is open for applications! Deadline Jan 13th, for Sept 2025 entry. Brilliant community of students and supervisors, and a choice of >60 labs for rotations- come and join us by the sea! www.sussex.ac.uk/research/cen...
Sussex Neuroscience 4-year PhD Programme : PhD Programmes in Neuroscience : Sussex Neuroscience : University of Sussex
www.sussex.ac.uk
November 27, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Kevin Staras
I recently went to a talk by Tom Baden (@neurofishh.bsky.social). One of the best I've ever seen. It's a radical reinterpretation of what color vision was initially for. And during questions it covered the roles of the green cone and the UV cones (yep, plural) in mouse vision.

youtu.be/gzfiUZ2_5pc
Ancestral photoreceptor diversity as the basis of visual behaviour
YouTube video by BadenLab
youtu.be
November 24, 2024 at 5:27 PM