Ph. D. Gürsel Caliskan
Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
Fakultät für Naturwissenschaften
Leipzigerstr. 44
39120
Magdeburg
Tel.:+49 391 6755108
Profil • Service
Vita
Personal Data
Title |
PhD |
First name |
Gürsel |
Name |
Çalışkan |
Current position |
Research Group Leader – Permanent |
Current institution(s)/site(s), country |
Research Group “Synapto-Oscillopathies” |
Identifiers/ORCID |
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4832-0807 https://www.teamcaliskan.com/ |
1. Qualifications and Career
| Stages | Periods and Details |
Bachelor of Science (BSc) |
Molecular Biology and Genetics, 09/2002-06/2006, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey |
Master of Science (MSc) |
Master Course International Graduate Program-Medical Neurosciences, 09/2006-06/2008, Humboldt University, Charité Medical Faculty, Berlin |
Doctorate (PhD) |
04/2009-09/2014; Date of issue: 04.09.2015, Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Uwe Heinemann, PhD Thesis: “Role of hippocampal network activities in stress- and fear-related processes”, Grade: summa cum laude, Humboldt University and Free University of Berlin, Charité Medical Faculty, Berlin |
Stages of academic/professional |
-09/2014-12/2019; Postdoc at the Department of Genetics & Mol. Neurobiology, IBIO, OVGU, Magdeburg |
2. Supplementary Career Information (Additional career-related activities)
| Periods and Details | |
Parental Leave |
06/2022-09/2022 (3 months) |
Research Stay |
07/2010, University of Haifa, Israel, Prof. Dr. Gal Richter-Levin; Training on behavioural approaches for stress protocols |
Research Stay |
11/2008-03/2009, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, Prof. Dr. David K. Bilkey; Training on in vivo tetrode recordings and data analysis |
Research Stay |
10/2008, Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for the Biology of Memory, Tröndheim, Norway, Profs. Edvard and May-Britt Moser; Training on in vivo tetrode recordings and data analysis |
3. Activities in the Research System
3.1. Reviewing/Editing Activities:
Grant Reviewing Activities: Italian Science Fund (FIS), The German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF), Wellcome Trust Foundation (UK)
| Editing activities: Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Neural Circuits - Research Topic Reviewing activities: Cell Reports, Neuropsychopharmacology, Hippocampus, Cerebral Cortex, Communications Biology, Neuropharmacology, Eneuro, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Journal of Neurochemistry, Translational Neurodegeneration, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Frontiers in Neural Circuits, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, Molecular Neurobiology, Journal of Neuroimmunology, Scientific Reports, Stress- The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, Neural Regeneration Research, Bioengineered-TAND, Cells-MDPI, Brain Research Bulletin, Psychoneuroendocrinology, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience |
3.2. Organization of Symposia/Conferences:
10/2025 |
Aging and Microbiome Conference 2025 Jena (Scientific committee) |
09/2025 |
13. International Conference, Learning and Memory, Magdeburg (Organization committee) |
03/2021 |
International SynAGE conference on healthy ageing (Scientific sessions) |
09/2019 |
MCB-Brain Plasticity International Conference (Organization committee) |
11/2010 |
Berlin Brain Days (Invitation of Nobel Laureate Prof. Edvard Moser) |
04/2009 |
Berlin Brain Days (Invitation of Prof. Gábor Támás) |
3.3. Teaching and Mentoring:
Graduate Neuroscience Courses (MSc Integrative Neuroscience Program):
Lectures: “Neuromodulation and Neuropeptides”, “Dendritic Integration”, "Synaptic plasticity", "Cellular mechanisms of network oscillations”.
Practical Courses: Co-supervision: “Genetic models”, Lead supervision: “Neurophysiology”
Seminars: Seminar series on “Molecular and cellular neurobiology”, Co-supervision of a writing course for master thesis project proposal - “Neural Signalling”
Mentoring: Currently direct supervision of 1 MSc, 2 PhD student and co-supervision of 2 PhD Students. Supervision of several lab rotations (~1 month) and long-term internships (4-to-9 months) of BSc and MSc students (16 in total) and 5 MSc Theses.
PhD Committees:
From 07/2025 |
Eleonore Pronier, MSc (The Brain, Cognition, Behavior Doctoral School (ED3C), Sorbonne University, Paris) |
From 07/2024 |
Debora Manz, MSc (Institute of Biology, OVGU, Magdeburg) |
From 06/2022 |
Gianluca Masella, MSc (Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Portugal) |
From 01/2020 |
Sara Enrile Lacalle, MSc (Institute of Biology, OVGU, Magdeburg) |
02/2019-07/2023 |
Katharina Klinger, MSc (Institute of Biology, OVGU, Magdeburg) |
02/2017-12/2022 |
Evangelia Pollali, MSc (Institute of Biology, OVGU, Magdeburg) |
3.4. Invited Seminars / Talks:
05/2024 |
Invited Talk, Cognition, Systems, Motion, Oscillation, Social (CoSMOS) conference, Kladovo, Serbia |
09/2022 |
Invited Talk, Multi lab retreat/symposium, Prague, Czech Republic |
05/2022 |
5th Conference on the Functional Architecture of Memory - Blitz Talk, Magdeburg, Germany |
05/2022 |
"GC-I³ Paper of the year 2021" Symposium, Magdeburg, Germany |
02/2022 |
Invited CBBS – Ring Lecture, Magdeburg, Germany |
03/2021 |
Invited Seminar Series – Mikulovic / Remy Lab - Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany |
08/2020 |
Invited Lecture Series - RTG 2413 - SynAGE |
09/2019 |
Session chair and talk, MCB-Brain Plasticity International Conference, Magdeburg, Germany |
03/2019 |
Replacement talk, Proteins and Circuits in Memory, Copenhagen, Denmark |
12/2018 |
Invited Seminar, Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg |
10/2018 |
Invited Seminar, Junior Researcher Journal Club, Magdeburg, Germany |
05/2018 |
Invited Lecture Series – ABINEP Graduate School |
03/2017 |
37th European Winter Conference on Brain Research, Les Arcs 1800, France |
3.5. Grants (as principal investigator):
01/2026- |
Bottom-up modulation of hippocampal function via aberrant amygdalar activity: spotlight on sex-dependent hemispheric lateralization (Funded by DFG) - € ~305,000 (DFG, Project #: 569053334) | |
07/2025-06/2028 |
MOODYGUT: The link between GUT microbiota and MOOD disorders under scrutinY from humans to mice: spotlight on depression (Funded by ERA-NET NEURON – 2024 Call) - € ~244,000 (€ 829,000 total funding) (DFG, Project #: 561967932) | |
07/2024-06/2027 | | REJUVENATE: Rerouting towards REsilience to JUVENile stress-induced psychopAThologiEs in adulthood: Spotlight on behavioural profiling and lifestyle interventions (Funded by ERA-NET NEURON – 2023 Call) - € ~274,000 (€ 1,081,000 total funding) (DFG, Projektnummer: 542950222) |
01/2020-12/2022 | | NeuroNetwork: “A Neuronetwork for functional analysis of the engram connectome"; (Funded by the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt and the „European Regional Development Fund“ (ERDF 2014-2020); Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences (CBBS), grant ID: ZS/2016/04/78113) - € 155,710 (€ 465,000 total funding) |
4. Scientific Results
Research Focus: I have been studying cellular and circuit-level changes in animal models of fear and anxiety via combining different approaches including electrophysiology, behaviour, pharmacogenetics (DREADDs) and optogenetics. My current research focuses on identification of physiological and pathological alterations in the hippocampal activity patterns and their relation to modulation of hippocampal engrams in animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders. I am also interested in the impact of environmental factors and their interactions with immune system in mediation of affective behaviour. Total number of papers in peer-reviewed journals: 32 (15 first or shared first authorships; 2 last/senior authorship); Number of Preprints: 2 (1 last/senior authorship)
Category A
Peer-Reviewed Articles (# Corresponding Author, * Equal Contribution):
1: Çalışkan G#, Lacalle SE, Kul E, Del Ángel M, Zambrano AL, Hukema R, Santos M, Stork O. Modelling fragile X-associated neuropsychiatric disorders in young inducible 90CGG premutation mice. Brain. 2025 Jun 2:awaf203. doi: 10.1093/brain/awaf203. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40455869.
2: Çalışkan G# et al. Comparison of three common inbred mouse strains reveals substantial differences in hippocampal GABAergic interneuron populations and in vitro network oscillations. Eur J Neurosci. 2023. 58(6):3383-3401. doi: 10.1111/ejn.16112
3: Çalışkan G# et al. Antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis leads to activation of microglia and impairment of cholinergic gamma oscillations in the hippocampus. Brain Behav Immun. 2021. 18;99:203-217. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2021.10.007
4: Çalışkan G#, Stork O. Hippocampal network oscillations at the interplay between innate anxiety and learned fear. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2019. 236(1):321-338. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-5109-z
5: Çalışkan G et al. Identification of Parvalbumin Interneurons as Cellular Substrate of Fear Memory Persistence. Cereb Cortex. 2016. 26(5):2325-40. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw001
6: Albrecht A*, Çalışkan G* et al. Long-lasting increase of corticosterone after fear memory reactivation: anxiolytic effects and network activity modulation in the ventral hippocampus. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2013. 38(3):386-94. doi: 10.1038/npp.2012.192
7: Ivens S*, Çalışkan G* et al. Persistent increase in ventral hippocampal long-term potentiation by juvenile stress: A role for astrocytic glutamine synthetase. Glia. 2019. 67(12):2279-2293. doi: 10.1002/glia.23683
8: Albrecht A, Müller I, Ardi Z, Çalışkan G et al. Neurobiological consequences of juvenile stress: A GABAergic perspective on risk and resilience. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017. 74(Pt A):21-43. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.005.
9: Albrecht A, Ivens S, Papageorgiou IE, Çalışkan G et al. Shifts in excitatory/inhibitory balance by juvenile stress: A role for neuron-astrocyte interaction in the dentate gyrus. Glia. 2016. 64(6):911-22. doi: 10.1002/glia.22970.
10: Raza SA, Albrecht A, Çalışkan G et al. HIPP neurons in the dentate gyrus mediate the cholinergic modulation of background context memory salience. Nat Commun. 2017 Aug 4;8(1):189. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00205-3.
5. Academic Distinctions
10/2022 |
CBBS Best Paper of the Year 2021 |
11/2021 |
Selected to attend the Cajal course on Optogenetics, chemogenetics and biosensors for cellular and circuit neuroscience Bordeaux School of Neuroscience |
07/2021 |
Travel Award, The 44th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society 2021 |
04/2017 |
Travel Award, IBRO-PERC, The Brain Prize and FENS Stipend, the Spring Brain Conference 2017, Learning, Memory and Synaptic Plasticity, Denmark |
11/2016 |
Travel Award, German Neuroscience Society-Leopoldina, „Brains in vivo and in silico: from Synapses and Circuits to Brain-Inspired Technologies" in Jerusalem |
07/2016 |
FENS /IBRO Travel Award, Copenhagen, Denmark |
10/2015 |
Travel Award, FENS Featured Regional Meeting, Thessaloniki, Greece |
Expertenprofil
Serviceangebot
Stereotaxy
Rodent Behavior
Immunohistochemistry
Forschung • Kooperationen
Projekte
Kooperationsliste
- Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Katarzyna Winek
- Dr. rer. nat. Anil Annamneedi
- Dr. rer. nat. Emre Kul
- Dr. rer. nat. Syed Ahsan Raza
- Prof. Dr. Eckart Gundelfinger
- Prof. Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Anne Albrecht
- Prof. Dr. Gal Richter-Levin, Universität Haifa
- Prof. Dr. Oliver Stork, Institut für Biologie, OvGU Magdeburg
- Prof. Hermona Soreq, Hebrew University, Jerusalem