EDUCATION
2007 PhD: Disputation date: 27.07.2007.
University of Heidelberg, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany
2003 M.Sc.
University of Heidelberg, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany
2001 Bsc
Middle East Technical University, Turkey
CURRENT AND PREVIOUS POSITIONS
Since 2017 Current Position
Professor, Kavli Institute for Systems neuroscience, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Director of the NTNU Master program in Neuroscience
2015 – 2017 Associate Professor, Kavli Institute for Systems neuroscience, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
2011- 2016 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Neurophysiology, KULeuven, Belgium
2010 -2016 Group Leader, Neuroelectronics Research Flanders, VIB, Belgium
2013 -2014 Interim Department Director, Neuroelectronics Research Flanders, VIB, Belgium
2007- 2010 Post-doctoral Researcher, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurobiology, USA
FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS
2016 Mid-Norway regional health authorities research grant (8M NOK)
2015 Norwegian research council FRIPRO BIOMED young talent grant (7M NOK)
2015 Association for Chemoreception Sciences (AChemS) Young investigator award 2015
2014 Selected for FENS/Kavli Network of Excellence
2014 Federation of European Neuroscience Young Investigator Prize 2014
2013 European Research Commission (ERC) starting investigator grant (1.5M Euros)
2008-2010: Human Frontiers Science Program, Long-term Postdoctoral Fellowship, USA
2006 Marine Biological Laboratories, Neural Systems & Behavior Summer Course, USA
2003-2006 Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Fellowship, Heidelberg, Germany
2002-2003 Scholarship of Max Planck Society, Heidelberg, Germany
2001-2002 Msc Scholarship of DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Germany
1996-2001 Scholarship of TUBITAK (Turkish Science & Technology Association), Turkey
SUPERVISION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS AND RESEARCH FELLOWS
I have supervised 9 post-doctoral fellows, 9 PhD students and 13 MSc students. The first round of alumni from my lab have already obtained attractive positions in academia and in industry (please see below).
Post-docs
- Since May 2019: Dr Francisca Acuna-Hinrichsen
- Since Nov 2018: Dr Kadir Mutlu
- Graduated Jan 2020: Dr Pradeep Lal (M. Sklodowska-Curie Fellow), now Senior Researcher, NORCE
- Graduated Dec 2018: Dr Laetitia Lalla, now data scientist in industry
- Graduated April 2018: Dr Florence Kermen (Fyssens Fellow), now PI, NTNU-Biology Dept, Norway
- Graduated Dec 2017: Dr Nathalie Jurisch-Yaksi, now PI, NTNU-IKOM Dept, Norway
- Graduated March 2017: Dr Filip Janiak, now postdoc at University of Sussex, UK
- Graduated June 2015: Dr Cameron Wyatt (AXA Fellow), now core facility manager, U. Edinburgh, UK
- Graduated June 2013: Dr Elena Dreosti (Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowships), now PI, UCL, UK
PhD Students
- Since April 2018: Christa Ringers (Boehringer Ingelheim Fond Fellow)
- Since January 2017: Sverre Myren-Svelstad (Helse-Midt Norge Fellow)
- Since June 2017: Fabrizio Palumbo
- Since January 2015: Ewelina Bartoszek
- Graduated October 2020: Stephanie Fore
- Graduated September 2020: Carmen Verdugo Diaz, now postdoc at Novartis, USA
- Graduated October 2016: Luis Mendez Franco (VIB Fellowship), now postdoc at UCSB, USA
- Graduated November 2015: Suresh Kumar Jetti (Boehr. Ing. Fond Fellow), now postdoc at MIT, USA
- Graduated March 2015: Nuria Vendrell Llopis, now postdoc at UC Berkeley, USA
TEACHING ACTIVITIES
Since 2020 Coordinator/lecturer for the Introduction to Neuroscience undergarduate course at NTNU
2017-2019 General Coordinator for the Masters in Neuroscience Program at NTNU
2016 Coordinator/lecturer for the Masters in Neuroscience Program, Systems Neuroscience course
2013 Teaching and practical training during FLIACT workshop Jena, Marie Curie initial training network
2012-2013 Career guidance and teaching at VIB/NERF/KULeuven PhD School
ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS
2020 Zebrafish neural circuits and behaviour online seminar series
2017 FENS/Kavli Network Symposium, co-organizer
2016 Kavli Prize Neuroscience Symposium, co-organizer
2016 NRSN Summer School for Systems Neuroscience, organizer
2012 VIB/NERF Neuroscience Summer School, co-organizer
2012-2013-2014 NERF, Neuro-technology Symposium, organizer
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
2013 Interim Department Director for 1 year
Neuroelectronics Research Flanders/ VIB/ Belgium
COMMISSIONS OF TRUST
Referee service: Nature, Nature Methods, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Nature Communications, Current Biology, eLife, Cell Reports, Development, Journal of Neuroscience, PLOS Biology, PLOS Computational Biology, PLOS One, EMBO Reports, Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Neural Circuits, Behavioral Brain Research, Journal of Comparative Neurology, BMC Neuroscience, Journal of Physiology, European Journal of Neuroscience,
Grant reviews: ERC, HFSP, DFG(Germany), WWTF(Austria), FRC(France), IRF(Iceland), Marie Curie Postdoc Fellowships
MEMBERSHIPS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
Since 2015 FENS/Kavli Network of Excellence
Since 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience
Since 2015 Norwegian Neuroscience Society
Since 2016 Society for Neuroscience
Selected invited talks
- 2017, European Chemoreception Research Organisation Meeting 2017, Cambridge, UK
- 2017, Center of Advanced European Studies and Research, Bonn, Germany
- 2017, University of Geneva, Switzerland
- 2017, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Germany
- 2016, Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Spain
- 2016, EMBO Workshop on Dendrite anatomy, molecule and function, Heraklion, Crete
- 2016, Karolinska Institute, Neuroscience Seminars, Stockholm, Sweden
- 2016, University of Turku, Frontiers in Science Seminars, Turku, Finland
- 2015, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- 2015, Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- 2014, Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology. Munich, Germany
- 2014, EJN/FENS Young Investigator award lecture, Milan, Italy
- 2014: IMBA/IMP, Vienna, Austria
- 2014: RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- 2013: Janelia Farms Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, USA
- 2013: University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
- 2013: Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany
- 2013: IBANGS Genes, Brain & Behaviour 15th Annual Meeting, Leuven, Belgium
- 2013: TEDx talk, Leuven, Belgium
- 2013: Faculty of Psychology, Department Symposium, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
- 2013: National Institute Genetics, Department Symposium, Mishima, Japan
- 2013: International Inst. for Advanced Studies (IIAS), Frontiers in Neuroscience, Kyoto, Japan
- 2012: FLIACT Workshop, “Systems Neuroscience of Drosophila”, Jena, Germany
- 2012: University of Zurich – Institute of Molecular Life Sciences – Seminars, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2012: University College London, “Mini-Symposium on Brain Asymmetry”, London, UK
Yaksi Lab 