Dev Neuro Academy
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Welcome! We are very happy to welcome you to the series of four Discovery workshops on Neuroscience, delivered by researchers from the Department of Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London. Throughout these four monthly workshops you will get to know us and hear about the research that we do. Those who do best during the workshop and produce outstanding motivation letters will also get to experience what it is like to be a scientists in our international and multicultural research centre. We are very happy to be here with you and hope that this experience will inspire you to consider pursuing higher education. Please feel free to ask all the questions you would like! We hope you enjoy the workshops!
How does the brain develop? The human brain is by far the most complex structure on Earth, it contains billions of nerve cells (neurons), of a thousand or more different, individual types. Moreover, each neuron is wired up to as many as five hundred other neurons! In order to be able to study the development of the human brain we need to gather information across a range of levels, from molecular processes to behaviour. This is what we do in our research centre and that is what we want to share with you for the next 4 months! We have designed these workshops with the goal of providing you with solid conceptual foundations, as well as skills and new ideas to further build on. There will be some theoretical talks and also lots of interactive activities about the exciting field of developmental neurobiology.
Who are we? We are a group of researchers, PhD students and Postdocs, from the Department of Developmental Neurobiology, Guy’s Campus, King’s College London. King’s College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and the fourth oldest university in England. The Guy’s campus, where we are based, is very close to your school and is home to the several Faculties and research centres where you can study a large variety of undergraduate programmes, such as Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Anatomy, Physiology and Biomedical Science. King’s College London is committed to finding the brightest minds regardless of their background and supporting them in accessing higher education.
Dev Neuro Academy
WhAT IS THE DevNeuro RESEARCH ACADEMY? DevNeuro is short for Developmental Neurobiology, the name of our Department and the focus of our research. We want to engage with high achieving sixth-form pupils from schools in our neighbourhood = YOU! The DevNeuro Research Academy combines a series of four in-school interactive ‘Discovery workshops’ with a 2-week laboratory summer research work experience in our Department. Since we want to guarantee that all pupils have appropriate supervision and mentorship throughout their work experience, we can only host 15 pupils from each school. At the end of the work experience there will be a graduation ceremony here at our campus. Your family, colleagues and teachers will be invited and you will be presented with a certificate. The DevNeuro Academy will finish with the Department’s Open Doors event for the general public. You and your mentors will be able to present the project you have developed during your work experience.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY December to April
Discovery workshops
May
Apply to DevNeuro Summer Research Academy
27 June - 8 July DevNeuro Summer Research
8 July
Graduation Ceremony
9 JULY OPEN DAY EVENT For full calendar please see last page
What are the Discovery workshops?
BRAIN
There will be four discovery workshops - you each have a folder, take good care of it and make sure you bring it with you on the day of each workshop. You will get topic specific handouts as well as note taking sheets on each occasion and to stay on top of the knowledge, it is important that you take notes, keep them safe and will be ready to use them when the time comes to write a motivation letter!
TISSUE
CELLS
BEHAVIOUR
Make cells glow! All living organisms are composed of cells. The brain is no exception and contains billions of different types of neurons. In order to distinguish and study all these neurons, we need to be able to see them. The problem is, cells are see through! This is why we introduce the gene of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from jellyfish into cells to make them glow in the dark. Every cell of your body is able to read the gene of the jelly fish and produce GFP. That way we can use the fluorescent cells for many applications; the use of GFP allows us to light up cells and different proteins and to look at them through a microscope while they are at work. Thanks to GFP we can even see microscopic details of neurons, such as the sites where individual neurons interact, called synapses, which are only 1Îźm (1.0-6 metres) wide! You will learn that jellyfish DNA can be introduced into neurons taken from other animals like mice, rats and humans. We will further see, that thanks to the code of life, cells from other animals can read and transcribe jellyfish DNA and produce glowing protein incredibly fast. Finally, you will learn more about the usefulness of making cells glow with GFP, for instance to make cancer cells fluorescent and aid tumour removal during surgeries. This workshop will be developed and delivered by the following researchers: Adna Dumitrescu Greta Schachermayer Sarah Kemlo William Constance Michalina Hanzel Dr. Kinga Bercsenyi Dr. Luis Carretero Rodriguez.
WHAT YOUR EYES CAN'T SEE... The brain is one of the most complex structures in the known universe and even though we know what it looks like externally, we need to look at it at a microscopic level. Indeed, individual cells within the brain tissue play different roles and investigating specific cell types in this higher level structure is essential to understand the brain’s function. During the 20th century, researchers have develop several techniques to see cells in the nervous system; since the 1970s, we have been able to identify large scale patterns of different cell types in the brain using a technique called immunohistochemistry. This essential technique has been much improved and is still used routinely in research laboratories! It takes advantage of a chemical reaction that occurs naturally in our immune system “antibody-antigen recognition”. In this workshop, you will learn about immunohistochemistry staining techniques and how antibodies recognise different proteins that help us see different cell types in the brain. This, together with the use of fluorescence and microscopes, allows us to understand the incredible structure of the brain.
This workshop will be developed and delivered by the following researchers: Emily Armstrong Dr. Clémence Bernard Dr. Rubén Deogracias Dr. Catarina Osório Dr. Vitor Sousa Tristan Varela Dr. Fong Kuan Wong
HOW DO BRAIN CELLS COMMUNICATE? Your brain is made of a huge number of neurons that work together to make you feel, think and do. How do these cells communicate with each other? Our workshop will help you answer this question by covering the main concepts of chemical and electrical signalling. As a group we will model the synapse, where chemical signalling using neurotransmitters takes place, and explore how this process can be regulated during learning and by drugs. We will investigate electrical signalling using a mini version of a recording device we use in the lab together with your mobile phone to listen to neurons in action and see the effects of electrical stimulation on muscles. Finally, we will discuss how these all link together in a simple circuit that controls reflex actions.
This workshop will be developed and delivered by the following researchers: Andrew Bard, Chris Puhl, Thomas Ryan, Dr. Darren Williams Dr. Guilherme Neves Dr. Rachel Jackson Dr. Rachel Moore Dr. Veronique van den Berghe
Whether consciously or unconsciously we are constantly interpreting and responding to our surroundings. This is known as behaviour. To do this, a large number of different cell types in the nervous system must sense, interpret and react to this information. Because there are so many cells involved and because there are so many different options it makes behaviour difficult to study. In our workshop we will introduce the basics of behaviour, explaining why it is important to study and how we can use whole organisms to study these complex processes. We will then focus on a particular behaviour, the detection and capture of prey, and demonstrate how we can begin to work out which brain structures and networks underlie this behaviour using zebrafish.
SENSE, THINK, MOVE!
This workshop will be developed and delivered by the following researchers: Claire Bromley Emily Baldwin Paride Antinucci Sinziana Pop Dr. Amrita Mukherjee Dr. Katherine Trevers Dr. Patricia Gordon Dr. Vineetha Vijayakumarand
What will the DevNeuro Summer Research Academy experience be like? The aim of the DevNeuro summer research work experience is for you get a real feel of what it is like to be a researcher. You will meet researchers of all ages and sorts, and get information on King’s undergraduate course options, the admissions process and how to write a UCAS personal statement. You will also attend talks made by prominent professors, where you will get a chance to further enhance your knowledge in science (and get some interesting knowledge that might come useful for the UCAS statement and the admission interview!)
Sounds greaT, right? How can I get on this programme? You will need to pay attention at all four workshops, take notes, then summarise what you learned and why you think you are worthy of this experience in a short and punchy motivation letter. We will assess these letters and select the very best, so make sure that you have a maximal chance of getting in by staying on top of the game, excelling at the workshops and writing a real letter where you showcase your interest and enthusiasm!
DETAILS: During the first week in our research department YOU, and 29 other pupils, will experience the daily life of a scientist and develop a research project based on one of the Discovery workshops that you have previously participated in. You will gain hands on laboratory experience, perform experiments and keep a record of your research project (lab book). During the second week you will analyse the results of the experiments and prepare for the presentation of your project and results at the Department Open Doors Event. You will have complete freedom as to how you wish to present your work: prepare a poster, prepare a demonstration of experiments, create a Facebook page about what you did here, publish a blog in the Department’s website, do a video blog of your work experience, etc.. Your mentors, a PhD student and a Postdoc researcher, will have designed your project and will help and guide you throughout the whole way.
WE WILL CELEBRATE YOUR ACHIEVEMENT BY HOLDING: GRADUATION CEREMONY
At the end of the DevNeuro Summer Research Academy Graduation we will hold a Graduation Ceremony here at the King’s College Campus. It will be presided by the Head of Department Prof. Oscar Marín, the Assistant Director, Prof. Corinne Houart and the members of the DevNeuro Summer Research Academy committee. We will ask 4 pupils to give short presentations on each of their projects and all pupils will receive a graduation certificate. Your family and Teachers will be invited to attend, so will the researchers that have participated in the programme. The ceremony will finish with refreshments.
The DevNeuro Research Academy will finish with the Department’s Open Doors event for the general public. You and your mentors will be able to present the project you have developed during your work experience. The Open Doors Event will coincide with the King’s College Guy’s Campus Open Day, this way, you will also be able to explore our campus and find out what student life is all about. Your colleagues, Teachers and family members will be invited to attend the Open Doors Event.
OPEN DOORS EVENT
AFTER THE DevNeuro RESEARCH ACADEMY... You can use this unique experience for writing your UCAS statement, it will surely make you and outstanding candidate! If you need help with this, just maintain contact with your mentors and ask them to review your statement for you. Furthermore, you can take your lab report/any record on the experience to your admissions interview with you :) We would very much like to maintain contact with you and invite you to serve as student ambassadors for the students participating next year’s academy!
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CALENDAR DevNeuro Summer Research
December to April
From December to April, the researchers will come to your school once a month to deliver 4 Discovery workshops. The workshops will last around 45 minutes and will take place during a biology class. During that time you will get introduced to cells, tissues, the brain and how this all links into how animals behave. The workshops will be interactive and you will get to do some fun experiments: December: Make cells glow! January: What your eyes can’t see February: How do brain cells communicate? April: Sense, think, move!
Apply to DevNeuro Summer Research Academy
May
Once you have participated in all four workshops, you will be able to apply for the summer work experience in our research Department. There will be an online application form, where we will ask you to tell us in a few words which workshop you liked best and why you want to do the summer work experience. We will select the most interested and motivated students, 15 from each school. We will tell you the exact details of how to submit your application and the deadlines to do so at the end of the 4th workshop.
DevNeuro Summer Research
27 June to 8 July
The summer school will take place from Monday 27 June to Friday 8 July 2016. The summer school is not residential and days will last from approximately 10am until 5pm. Financial support for travel will be provided where necessary and lunch will be provided each day.
Graduation Ceremony - 8 July We will invite your family and teachers. The Department’s researchers will also be present. You will receive a graduation certificate
9 JULY
Open Doors event
VISIT our webpage
www.kcl.ac.uk/devneuro
follow us on twitter @dev_neuro
Image Credits Front & back cover, 8, 9 pp. | Synthetic Neocortical Circuit, Hermann Cuntz and Michael Hausser, UCL [detail] 3, 7, 10 pp. | Brainbow Hippocampus, Tamily Weissman, Harvard University [detail] All other photos | © King’s College London, © Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and ©Department of Developmental Neurobiology
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