Many congratulations to Unit postdoctoral researcher Dr. Joram van Rheede on being awarded an Open Fellowship by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

EPSRC Open Fellowships are a prestigious individual award aimed at ambitious and talented researchers who wish to develop, expand or establish a programme of research.

Joram will use his 5-year Fellowship to establish an independent research programme that is focused on the development of ‘smart’ device-based stimulation approaches that can optimally interact with the human brain across the entire sleep-wake cycle. Joram will take up his Fellowship at the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science in April 2026.

Joram commented: “Sleep is crucial for our brain health, yet current brain stimulation therapies are mainly tested during waking hours. My new research team and I aim to develop better devices for 24/7 preclinical research, with a view to enabling sleep-stage dependent brain stimulation therapy for people living with neurological conditions. I am very grateful for the Unit’s support leading up to this programme, particularly that from my mentors Professor Andrew Sharott and Professor Timothy Denison. I am excited to start work on this programme and increase the speed at which new insights into brain stimulation can be developed into better therapies for patients.”

Unit Director Professor Peter Magill commented: “We are thrilled for Joram. He is an outstanding researcher, and his Fellowship is thoroughly deserved. Joram’s research vision is in excellent alignment with the Unit’s discovery and translational research portfolios, and we look forward to collaborating with Joram during his Fellowship. Joram’s success provides another ringing endorsement of the Unit’s commitment to excellence in the research training and career development of its membership.”