Congratulations to Associate Professor Armin Lak, who is one of eleven academics from the University of Oxford who are to lead new research projects supported by European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants. These grants support highly promising mid-career scientists of any nationality and any field with building a research team at an eligible host organisation. Consolidator Grants award around €2 million for projects typically lasting 5 years. Awardees must have 7-12 years of highly promising postdoctoral experience plus an excellent research proposal.
Armin's Learning Trajectories project seeks to understand neuronal circuits underlying individual learning trajectories. Many abilities such as playing football or choosing food in a restaurant menu are learned. Different individuals learn in drastically diverse ways. However, the brain signals underlying individual diversity in learning remain unknown. Learning Trajectories aims to address this fundamental knowledge gap by monitoring neuronal activity throughout the whole process of learning, from naïve to expert. The results may also help us to understand conditions where people struggle to learn.