Day 1 — Monday, 7th September
14:00 – 16:00 Registration
Opening Remarks, Oral Session, Plenary Lecture 1, Get-together Reception
Day 2 — Tuesday, 8th September
Oral Sessions, Plenary Lecture 2, Poster Session A, Networking Session at a Beer House
Day 3 — Wednesday, 9th September
Oral Sessions, Plenary Lectures 3,4, Poster Session B
Day 4 — Thursday, 10th September
Oral Sessions, Plenary Lectures 5,6, Networking Session on a Rhine River Boat
Day 5 — Friday, 11th September
Oral Session, Plenary Lecture 7, Concluding Remarks
Last session will conclude at around 13:00. Lunch after the conference is available.
Overview (Click to open PDF)
Conference Program Book (Click to open PDF)
Oral sessions
Talk format
– Talk length: 12 minutes. Plus 3 minutes of discussion. (Total precisely 15 minutes. No delay!)
– Projector has a wide-screen 16:9 format. 4:3 format can also be presented.
– Please use your own laptop PC to present. This is to avoid the problems of disrupted text design, movie-loss, etc.
– As such, you can use your favorite presentation software.
– You can use either HDMI or USB-C display connector. We provide both cables; you do not need a USB-to-HDMI adapter.
(But you cannot use the old analogue-RGB connector.)
– Before your session, please bring your PC to the presentation table of the lecture hall, connect it to the display selector, and test the connection. (During the session, we will promptly switch connection from one PC to another.)
– We believe that Windows and Mac PCs should be OK. But we are not sure, whether a tablet like iPad can smoothly be connected to the projector system.
One more hint (especially for young speakers)
– It might be helpful to bring a printout of your presentation every day, or to make a PDF version of your presentation and put it in your smart phone. This would make it possible to show your presentation to the interested people at any time, anywhere. (You may not have enough space to open your laptop PC in some occasions.)
Poster Sessions
Poster group A
Session: Day1 Mon 19:00-20:00, Day2 Tue 15:00-18:00
Odd-number presentation: Day2 15:00-16:00
Even-number presentation: Day2 16:00-17:00
– Hang the posters during registration.
– Remove the posters before you go to lunch on Day3.
Poster group B
Session: Day3 18:00-22:00
Odd-number presentation: Day3 18:00-19:00
Even-number presentation: Day3 19:00-20:00
– Hang the posters during lunch time on Day 3.
– Remove the posters after the conference.
Poster format
– Poster must be in the vertical (portrait) orientation, i.e., taller than wider.
– Recommended size is A0 (84.1 cm wide x 118.9 cm tall / 33.1 inches wide x 46.8 inches tall) or similar.
(The maximum size of the poster board would be 115 cm wide x 145 cm tall.)
Poster organization concept
Poster presenters often do not have enough time to see other posters in the same session. To address this problem as much as possible, we tried the following.
– We allocated 4 hours for each session. Presentation time is for 1 hour. Thus, you will have 3 hours to see other posters.
– Drinks and foods for the Coffee Breaks, Welcome Reception (Day1) and Poster with Light Supper (Day3) are distributed in the poster venue. This will be convenient for presenting your posters at any time during the conference.
– Posters of related research fields are split evenly between two sessions as much as possible, instead of putting all the related posters on one day.
– Posters from the same lab are put next to each other as much as possible. This will make it easier to ask the lab mates of the presenter for giving some explanation or finding the actual presenter, if the presenter is not attending the poster.
– This would also be helpful for getting certain overview of the research activity of each lab.
One more hint (especially for young presenters)
– It might be helpful to bring a small printout of your poster everyday, especially on the days when your poster is not presented. (If possible in A3 size. A4/Letter size will also do.) This would make it possible to show your presentation to the interested people at any time, anywhere. (Even when you are outside the conference venue.)
Poster Flash Talks
Talk format
– 15 flash talks in 30 minutes.
– Talk length: 100 seconds. Plus 20 seconds for speaker change. (Total precisely 2 minutes. No delay!)
– Only one slide. No movie. No special effects. (In order to avoid presentation trouble.)
– Please use the provided PowerPoint template file to make your slide. Please send the .pptx file to neurofly-office@uni-koeln.de before the conference starts (7th Sept. 4pm). We will combine your slides to a single file for quick switching during the session.
– Please do not show too many results. Show the most important key findings. (This slide is not a summary of your work, but an advertisement to attract people to your actual poster.)
– Please avoid using very small letters. People sitting in the backside of the lecture hall cannot read them well.
Plenary Lectures
Vanessa Auld
University of British Columbia, Canada
How do axons and nerves become insulated?
Vanessa Auld focuses on the roles of glial cells in shaping the development and function of the Drosophila nervous system. Her work has demonstrated parallels in glial function and signaling between vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. By dissecting neuron–glia interactions, her research addresses fundamental principles underlying nervous system function.
Lab website
Richard Benton
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Niche specialisation in nervous systems
Richard Benton examines how sensory systems evolve in response to ecological pressures. Studying insect olfaction, he has uncovered how olfactory circuits diversify and serve specialized functions. This work connects molecular adaptations in peripheral neurons and changes in central processing circuits with species-specific behavioral strategies.
Lab website Report website
Marion Silies
University of Mainz, Germany
Imprecision in vision – From connectomes to function in motion processing
Marion Silies explores molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying motion detection in the Drosophila visual system. She will discuss how neural computations in the visual system are much more distributed across parallel pathways than previously thought. This degenerate architecture – in which structurally different components can serve the same function – allows for increased reliability when facing challenging visual stimuli, while also increasing flexibility of neural computations.
Lab website
André Fiala
University of Göttingen, Germany
From signals to significance: Decoding higher-order learning in flies
André Fiala investigates how experience shapes neural circuits to guide behavior. His research explores circuit mechanisms underlying associative and higher-order learning in Drosophila. Through this work, he addresses how neural plasticity enables flexible, value-based behavioral control.
Lab website
Vanessa Ruta
Rockefeller University, United States
Neural circuits for adaptive behaviours
Vanessa Ruta analyzes how neuronal circuits enable adaptive behavior through changes that occur on evolutionary timescales as well as during an individual’s lifespan. Her work has delineated chemosensory circuits underlying olfactory responses and internal-state modulation. This research illuminates how different circuit architectures support both robustness and behavioral flexibility.
Lab website
Greg Jefferis
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Learning from connectomes
Greg Jefferis studies the circuit basis of sensory processing and behaviour, with a focus on olfactory-memory systems. He has co-led the generation and interpretation of complete and finished synaptic-resolution connectomes spanning the whole Drosophila nervous system. These datasets provide a rich framework for linking circuit architecture to dynamic computation and behaviour.
Lab website
Nilay Yapici
Cornell University, United States
How the brain talks to the body: Neural coding of food intake and metabolic control
Nilay Yapici studies how neural circuits integrate internal state signals with external sensory cues to enable optimal decisions in flies and mice. She has identified pathways that couple internal energy state to action selection. This work bridges central neural coding with systemic physiological regulation.
Lab website
Networking Sessions
Building networks among scientists is essential for advancing one’s own research, setting up potential collaborations, and developing young scientists’ careers. Face-to-face conferences are the perfect platform to make others remember you. We provide opportunities for your networking on each day. All costs are included in the conference fee.
Day 1 (Mon, 7th Sept): Get-together Reception (18:00-22:00)
We are happy to welcome all participants to the Get-together Reception with a light meal and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) at the poster venue of the Lecture Hall Building. Please use this opportunity to talk with the people whom you meet for the first time. You can also see and present the posters of Group A.
Day 2 (Tue, 8th Sep): Brauhaus am Dom (19:00-22:00)
We go to one of the most popular and historic Kölsch beer houses right next to the Cologne Cathedral. You can order from a selection of main dishes (meat, vegetarian and vegan) as well as drinks of your choice (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). NeuroFly is an occasion to think about your future, not to live in old memories. Please use this opportunity to communicate and network with the people whom you met for the first time during the initial 24 hours of the conference.
Venue: Brauhaus FRÜH am Dom
Address: Am Hof 12-18, 50667 Köln
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Day 3 (Wed, 9th Sept) Poster Session B (18:00-22:00)
Poster Session B is accompanied with light meal and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), as per the Get-together Reception on Day 1. Long discussion period will provide enough time for networking not only for poster presenters but also for other participants.
(Poster Session A on Day 2 also has a long discussion period during the whole afternoon before we go to the Networking Session at the beer house.)
Day 4 (Thu, 10th Sept) Rhine River Cruise (19:30-22:00)
We celebrate the last evening of the conference with a boat cruise on the Rhine River. The boat will go up and down the river around the City of Cologne to enjoy a nice view of the city and surrounding areas. Light meal and drinks are provided. Music lovers can enjoy dancing with DJ.
After the cruise, our local scientists will guide the people who still have excessive energy to a club. (Fee for the club must be paid by oneself.)
We will take charter busses to go to the boat. Bus departure time = 18:30
Location of the charter bus step:
Open in Google Maps
If you plan to come by yourself.
Boarding bridge: Along the Rhine River near Heumarkt (Kölner Landebrücke Nr. 2)
CAUTION: Boarding bridge has changed!
Boarding time: Make sure to come at 19:30 (Boat will depart at 20:00 sharp. Don’t be late!)
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Networking Session Part 2 in a Club
22:00 –
Those who still have energy may enjoy going to a club.
Club Sonderbar
2-min walk from the boarding bridge.
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ECRs meet the PIs
(During Get-Together Reception and during lunch times)
To promote getting to know each other, Early Career Researchers can talk with established PIs at Meet the PIs sessions. PIs will sit in chairs, and ECRs can visit them and sit together to enjoy any kinds of talk. After five minutes or so, upon the ring of the bell, you will move on to another PI.
CAVE Virtual Reality Facility Tour
After the end of the conference, we organize a tour to the CAVE facility of the University of Cologne IT Center, which is 300 meters away from the conference venue. CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) is a system with which you enter a cubic room of 3x3x3-meter size with five 3D stereographic screens (three walls, ceiling and floor). You will feel inside of the Virtual-Reality space by looking around, upwards and downwards. Unlike with VR goggles, multiple people can simultaneously join the VR experience.
We will provide the view of the EM connectome data of the adult fly brain. You can dive into the brain, fly along the axons, and examine the fibers and synapses of your favorite neurons which are virtually enlarged to ten meters or more.
Please note: Only ten people can enter the CAVE VR room at once. You may need to join a waiting queue. Or, you can come a bit later after the conference. (We will open the CAVE until 18:00). Because the cloak and the main conference venue will be closed soon after the meeting, please do not forget bringing all your belongings to the CAVE tour.