Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

@SWC_Neuro@neuromatch.social
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The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre aims to discover the fundamental principles of how the brain drives behaviour. Based at UCL, funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and Wellcome.
Websitehttps://www.sainsburywellcome.org/

Don’t miss the chance to share your research with the London neuroscience community! Apply for the SWC Emerging Neuroscientists Seminar Series 2025. Open to postdocs around the world.

Deadline 10 July.

https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/emerging-neuroscientists-seminar-series-enss

Dr Alicia Izquierdo (@alicia_izquierdo), UCLA, studies how animals weigh reward, cost and risk - and what that tells us about flexible decision-making in the brain.

She spoke to us during her recent visit to SWC.

Read the full interview ⬇️

https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/qa/weighing-risk-reward-and-uncertainty-one-decision-time

We’re heading to The Big Bang Fair next week – the brain hats are back!

Come and find us in the Teacher’s Hub for all things #neuroscience

#BigBangFair

How does the brain weigh up options and choose what to do next?

In this Q&A, SWC Seminar Speaker Loren Frank (UCSF), discusses how the hippocampus helps rats imagine alternative futures, and how disrupting the timing of these thoughts impairs learning.

Read the full interview on our website: https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/qa/flexible-minds-how-do-we-decide-what-do-next

New research shows long-term learning is shaped by dopamine signals that act as partial reward prediction errors.

The study in mice reveals how early behavioural biases predict individual learning trajectories.

Find out more ⬇️

https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/blog/long-term-learning-trajectories-uncovering-role-dopamine

Read the full paper ‘Dopamine encodes deep network teaching signals for individual learning trajectories’ in Cell

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00575-6

‘Some dopamine neurons signal default behaviors to reinforce habits’

SWC research features in @thetransmitter

⬇️

https://www.thetransmitter.org/neurobiology/some-dopamine-neurons-signal-default-behaviors-to-reinforce-habits/

Some dopamine neurons signal default behaviors to reinforce habits

Movement-sensing neurons that target the striatum influence a mouse’s choice of action by favoring routine.

The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Applications are closing soon for Neuronauts Summer Camp 2025!

Neuronauts is a free programme for secondary school students offering hands-on learning in electrical engineering, computer science, computational neuroscience, machine learning, and AI.

The camp will run from July 28 to August 8 at SWC (W1T 4JG)

🎓 Open to students entering Years 10–12, from the Greater London area
🍽️ Lunch and travel covered
🗓️ Applications close June 13 at 23:59

Please share with teachers and students who may like to apply!

👉 Apply here: https://forms.gle/Z6NQtDUmS32tBaiV6

ℹ️ Find out more: https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/neuronauts

Neuronauts Summer Camp 2025 - Application Form

Application Deadline: 13 June 2025, 23:59 Neuronauts Summer Camp 2025 is an intensive 2-week summer camp for Greater London secondary school students (entering years 10-12) that teaches fundamentals in electrical engineering, computer science, computational neuroscience, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Students gain knowledge, skills, and tools to pursue a creative project in one or more of these areas, and the camp culminates with a short presentation of their chosen project. The camp will be hosted at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre at UCL on weekdays from July 28 - August 8, 09:30 - 18:00. The camp will be fully funded, including: lunch, snacks, transportation costs (within London Zones 1-6), and all required equipment will be provided.

Google Docs

We are proud to be part of the Fitzrovia community in London, and pleased to sponsor a Fitz&Sits seat to provide a welcoming space for people to sit, reflect, and connect.

#LFA2025

We are also excited to use the space to host “The Travelling Drawing Club” — an art workshop for the public, on 14 June.

Find out more about the seat and public art event:

https://fitzroviapartnership.com/2-esg-economic-social-governance/the-junction-sponsored-by-sainsbury-wellcome-centre/

Calling all neuroscience postdocs!

Come and share your work with the London neuroscience community. No CVs, publication records or recommendation letters needed.

Learn more about SWC’s Emerging Neuroscientists Seminar Series and apply by 10 July:

https://www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/emerging-neuroscientists-seminar-series-enss