We congratulate both Unit students, Shea Heaney and Teresa Simoes Steyn, for winning poster prizes at the Brainbox Initiative Conference on the 26th of September! 

Teresa, a DPhil student supervised by Dr. Joram van Rheede at the Unit and Dr. Melanie Fleming, won the Best Methods Poster Award for her poster entitled "Closed-Loop Brain Stimulation Targeting Slow Waves for Memory Consolidation During Sleep".

Shea, an MBiomedsci in Neuroscience student supervised by Dr. Polytimi Frangou and Prof. Charlotte Stagg at the Unit, won the People's Choice Poster Award for his poster entitled "Effects of Donepezil on attentional processing and TMS measures of GABAergic and Cholinergic signalling".

Our congratulations go to Unit D.Phil. student Patricia Cambalova for successfully defending her doctoral thesis, entitled "Investigating the function of inhibition in the human primary motor cortex using multimodal approaches", in her viva voce examination on 11th September 2025.

Patricia’s viva examiners were Professor Stephen Hall (University of Plymouth) and Professor Heidi Johansen-Berg (University of Oxford).

Patricia was supervised by Professor Charlotte Stagg and Dr. Catharina Zich, both at the Unit, and by Prof. Martin Turner from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

We are delighted to announce that for a third consecutive year the Unit has achieved multiple accreditations through the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), a nationally recognised scheme designed to improve the sustainability and efficiency of laboratories.

Seven laboratories at the Unit improved their sustainability practices and achieved a higher level of accreditation. The Barron Group, Tan Group and Oswal Group each gained Silver Awards for the first time. The Denison Group, Dupret Group, Magill Group and Sharott Group each gained Gold Awards for the first time.

To gain the Awards, each Group was audited for the practical steps they had taken to meet several assessment criteria, including those related to the use of equipment and space, the management of samples and chemicals, ventilation, waste/recycling, and the engagement of colleagues.

Dr Camille Loiseau, Chair of the Unit’s Sustainable Science Working Group, commented “It’s fantastic to see our continued commitment to sustainability recognised through multiple Silver and Gold LEAF Awards this year. Each Group went above and beyond to adopt more sustainable ways of working, and these outcomes reflect the dedication and collaboration of our Unit members. LEAF continues to be a powerful tool for driving change, and I’m proud of how the Unit is leading by example in making research more environmentally responsible”.

Our congratulations go to Unit D.Phil. student Manfredi Castelli for successfully defending his doctoral thesis, entitled “Accessing the diversity of hippocampal ripples”, in his viva voce examination on 18th July 2025.

Manfredi’s viva examiners were Dr Manuel Valero (Hospital del Mar Research Institute, Barcelona) and Professor Bernhard Staresina (University of Oxford).

Manfredi was supervised Professor David Dupret at the Unit and by Professor Renaud Lambiotte (Mathematical Institute, Oxford).

UK Research and Innovation today announced the launch of a new Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence (MRC CoRE) that aims to develop device-based treatments for brain conditions including Parkinson’s, dementia, stroke and childhood epilepsy.

The MRC CoRE in Restorative Neural Dynamics will receive up to £50 million in funding over 14 years.

The new flagship endeavour will start later this year and will be led by researchers at the University of Oxford, Cardiff University, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Imperial College London, and Newcastle University.

The MRC CoRE team will investigate 'neural dynamics’, the complex and changing patterns of activity across networks of nerve cells in the brain that underlie behaviour. They will study how neural dynamics arise in health and are disturbed in brain disorders. The team will exploit knowledge of neural dynamics as they develop novel interventions and neurotechnology – ranging from brain implants to non-invasive and wearable devices – that could improve how the brain and body functions.

In tackling their collective challenge, the team also aim to set new benchmarks in research culture, stakeholder involvement, and collaborative working between public and private sectors.

Unit Director Professor Peter Magill, who is also founding Director of the MRC CoRE in Restorative Neural Dynamics, commented: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to build on the many successes of the Unit and to evolve our discovery and translational research, together with that of our partners, in a new challenge-led direction. Many thanks to colleagues at the Unit, the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, and our partner organisations for their contributions to this exciting new vision for harnessing neural dynamics to transform medical device-based therapies for brain conditions.”

UKRI’s announcement of the MRC CoRE in Restorative Neural Dynamics.

University of Oxford’s announcement of the MRC CoRE in Restorative Neural Dynamics.

The Unit was delighted to host a stand at the University of Oxford’s Science Wonder Garden Party on 21st June 2025 at Begbroke Science Park. The event was a huge success, drawing over 2,000 attendees of all ages, all eager to learn more about science.

Visitors discovered the full scope of research at the Unit, from microscopic investigations of individual neurons to large-scale techniques used in humans, and how these approaches help us understand and potentially treat brain disorders. Shenghong He captivated guests with a live demonstration of his brain-computer interface, projecting his own EEG signals in real time. Ioana Grigoras and Iris Weichert amazed the crowd by eliciting visible muscle twitches using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to stimulate the motor cortex and forearm muscles.

Meanwhile, Rosie McDonald-Hill and Chiara Toschi gave guests a glimpse into brain anatomy through fluorescent neuron displays under the microscope. They also guided visitors in building brain models and exploring how the human brain compares to that of rodents. Younger future scientists enjoyed crafting their own pipe-cleaner neurons to take home as a fun souvenir.

A huge thank you to everyone who made the day such a success, especially organiser Natalie Doig, and to all our enthusiastic visitors!

Our congratulations go to Unit D.Phil. student Mufeng Tang for successfully defending his doctoral thesis, entitled “Extending Predictive Coding: Space, Time and Memory”, in his viva voce examination on 12 May 2025.

Mufeng’s viva examiners were Professor Karl Friston (University College London) and Dr Rui Ponte Costa (University of Oxford).

Mufeng was supervised in the Unit by Professor Rafal Bogacz and Associate Professor Helen Barron.

The Unit held its tenth annual Training & Careers Development Event on Thursday 8th May.

Unit Director Professor Peter Magill started the Event by reiterating some key aspects of the Unit’s approach to supporting personalised development across a diversity of career paths and stages. This was followed by an insightful presentation by Professor Charlotte Stagg, Chair of the Unit’s Training, Career Development & Capacity Building Committee, in which she highlighted some important considerations for making the most of annual Personal Development Reviews. Dr Vani Naik, Careers Adviser for Research Staff at the University’s Careers Service, then gave an engaging talk about ways for novices and seasoned experts to strengthen their presentation skills, along with some entertaining do’s and don’ts for interviews. After refreshments, Mary Muers, Research Culture Facilitator at the University’s Medical Sciences Division, deftly moderated an interactive session in which attendees eagerly took the opportunity to share their views about the current and future provision of training and career development opportunities.

Professor Magill commented “Many thanks to Charlie Stagg, the Committee, and our guest speakers for delivering another outstanding Training Event. The afternoon provided a great opportunity to reflect on areas of positive impact as well as areas for improvement. Going forward, we are well positioned to enhance our training and development offerings to further benefit colleagues across the board.”

Our congratulations go to Unit D.Phil. student Fernando Rodriguez Plazas for successfully defending his doctoral thesis, entitled “Harnessing machine learning to decode LFPs for applications in adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation”, in his viva voce examination on 16th April 2025.

Fernando’s viva examiners were Dr Ahmar Shah (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Ashwini Oswal (University of Oxford).

Fernando was supervised by Professor Huiling Tan (MRC BNDU), Dr Shenghong He (MRC BNDU), and Professor Alex Green (Clinical Neurosciences, Oxford).

The MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit was delighted to once again host stakeholders from local state-funded schools for its annual Schools Open Day, held this year on 27th March.

Unit staff and students welcomed pupils and teachers as they visited to learn more about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and medical research at the Unit. The Open Day started with a showing of “The Symphony of the Brain” video to familiarise visitors with the Unit’s research. Some of the Unit’s early-career researchers then talked about their experiences of working in STEM, highlighting their diverse educational backgrounds and career paths that led them to work at the Unit. This was followed by an interactive discussion of the use of animals in research. After that, the pupils rotated in small groups through different hands-on activities led by more of the Unit’s early-career researchers. Special emphasis was placed on giving pupils the opportunity to see real working instruments and laboratories for themselves. Engagement activities were coordinated around 4 ‘knowledge stations’, at which pupils could learn more about the Unit’s key research themes, including: the activity and structure of the brain in health and disease; human brain stimulation; computer modelling of brain function; and brain-machine interfaces. The visit ended with a wrap-up session capturing feedback.