Bonn, 11/28/2019. caesar director Jason Kerr was appointed W3 professor for „Behavior and Brain Organization”, joining the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. The rector of the university, Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch, personally handed over the certificate of appointment.

Jason Kerr has been a scientific director at caesar and a scientific member of the Max Planck Society since September 2013. The neurophysiologist originally from New Zealand leads the department of “Behavior and Brain Organization”. The primary aim of his department is to understand how mammals use vision to make decisions and what the underlying neural processes are.

To accomplish this, he utilizes specialized imaging and data analysis techniques, to examine the complex neuronal networks in the mammalian brain, as well as the processing of sensory information in freely behaving animals.

Kerr’s appointment further fortifies the partnership between caesar and the University of Bonn. Both entities have been cooperating on many levels for years. The training of next generation scientists has been the emphasis of their partnership. In 2015, the “International Max Planck Research School for Brain and Behavior” was created, a joint graduate school by caesar, the University of Bonn, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and Florida Atlantic University. caesar scientists also participate in the university master’s program Neurosciences and the neuroscience graduate school of the university, BIGS Neuroscience.

As professor for „Behavior and Brain Organization“, Jason Kerr will join the medical faculty of the university. (s2)

Press contact:
Sebastian Scherrer
Forschungszentrum caesar
Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2
53175 Bonn
Tel.: 0228 - 9656 139
sebastian.scherrer@caesar.de

On research center caesar
caesar is a neuroethology institute associated with the Max Planck Society, located in Bonn. The institute studies how the collective activity of the vast numbers of interconnected neurons in the brain gives rise to the plethora of animal behaviors. Our research spans a large range of scales from the nano-scale imaging of brain circuitry, to large-scale functional imaging of brain circuitry during behavior, to the quantification of natural animal behaviors.