Kassandra is interested in understanding how affective touch during early life shapes the development of the reward system. To address this, she is dissecting the skin to brain circuits using neuronal tracing and slice electrophysiology combined with optogenetics. 

Viktor has received  an NAD (Neuroscience Academy Denmark) PhD fellowship in 2024. He is interested in computational approaches to understanding the neural underpinnings of cognition with a focus on the implementational level. He is also co-affiliated to Dr. Chris Mathys’s lab in School of Culture and Society - Interacting Minds Centre and the Petersen lab at Copenhagen University.

Nicole is a neurobiology graduate whose research interests focus on understanding how early life stress influences behavior and how sex differences modulate this relationship. She has a molecular background, but is seeking to gain experience in electrophysiology and optogenetic methodologies in the lab. She joined our group as a Ph.D. screening fellow in 2025. Currently, her aim is to broaden her technical expertise and advance her understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying behavior. 

Hans is a medical student with a strong interest in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive functions. He is enthusiastic about gaining hands-on experience with animal experiments conducted in our group, including stereotaxic surgery, electrophysiological recordings, and computational modeling. Viktor serves as the co-supervisor of his research year project.

Annalina is a bachelor’s student in Neuroscience at the University of Cologne. She joined our group as an internship student to gain laboratory experience using animal models in 2025. She contributes to the establishment of behavioral paradigms and to the functional analysis of neuronal circuits related to affective touch. She is enrolled in a bachelor’s thesis project in our group to further develop her skills in neuroscience research.