The team

Our research is interdisciplinary, creative and relies on a wide range of techniques. Thus, we strive to bring together a diverse group of people with different backgrounds and skill sets.

We have open PhD and postdoc positions!

Hannah Haberkern

Hannah Haberkern, PhD

Principal Investigator

I'm a neuroscientist interested in understanding how animals navigate in complex and dynamic environments. In my free time I sew quilts and garments and practice Ashtanga yoga. Learn more about me on my personal website.

Originally from Germany, I studied biomedicine at the University of Würzburg, before transitioning to a masters in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the ETH/University Zurich. For my PhD I worked with Berthold Hedwig at the University of Cambridge and Vivek Jayaraman at HHMI Janelia working on navigational behaviors in crickets and fruit flies. During this time I developed virtual reality techniques for head-fixed insects, which I combined with in-vivo calcium imaging during my postdoc to study neural mechanisms supporting orientation in complex and dynamic environments. In 2023 returned to Würzburg to start this lab.

CV
Ozlem

Özlem Gonulkirmaz-Cancalar, PhD

Postdoc

I am interested in circadian rhythms and complex behaviors in social insects. During my postdoc, I will explore links between navigation and circadian rhythms as well as sleep on a neural level.

Since my master’s degree in Turkey, I have worked on learning and memory, focusing on connections to circadian rhythms. For my PhD as Marie-Curie fellow scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Israel, I worked with Guy Bloch on the bumble bee clock. In addition to my academic training, I also define myself as an entrepreneur since I ran my own biotech company in the past. I enjoy traveling, dancing (Argentina tango), reading, and writing stories. In addition, I am also a big fan of gaming in my free time.

Romita

Romita Trehan, MSc.

PhD Student (shared with Ache Lab, Würzburg)

I am an aspiring neuroscientist with an interest in studying flexible decision-making behavior and how this helps animals to adapt to their environment. I have experience working with Drosophila, conducting behavior assays to study the impact of environmental stimuli on sleep and navigation. Besides my research, I enjoy exploring new avenues for personal growth. I love reading, nurturing my green thumb, and exploring new places.

I hold a Master's degree in Applied Biosciences and Biotechnology from Imperial College London, and have worked in science communication and outreach. Originally from India, I moved to London for my master's and am now pursuing a joint PhD in the Haberkern and Ache Labs at the University of Würzburg.

Yigit

Yigit Yargili, MSc.

PhD Student

I started my training in Psychology from Ozyegin University, Turkey, where I explored the relationship between the transitivity of actions and perceptual capacity in humans under the tutelage of Ercenur Ünal. Driven by a desire to study neural mechanisms underlying behavior, I moved to Bielefeld, Germany for my master’s in Behavioral Neuroscience, where I worked with Martin Strube-Bloss on the Indian stick insect, and later in the lab of Martin Egelhaaf on the structure change of the bumblebee learning flight. I also spent time in the Couzin-Fuchs lab (Konstanz), investigating the behavioral phase change dynamics in the desert locust. In addition to my laboratory research, I served as a Graduate Research Assistant on a DFG project.

For my PhD, I aim to use connectomics and virtual reality to study of neural correlates of spatial navigation. My goal is to uncover how neural circuit architecture and function enable animals to adapt to dynamic environments which is crucial for effective behavior. Outside the lab, I'm a music fanatic and an alternative music superfan –especially shoegaze and grunge– so I attend many concerts in my free time. I’m also an amateur ambient techno music producer, with one album released and another on the way.

Johanna

Johanna Wegmann, MSc.

PhD Student

I am interested in magnetoreception and navigation behavior in ants. During my master’s degree in Biosciences at the University of Würzburg I explored the role of antennae as potential sensors for magnetic fields in desert ants, Cataglyphis nodus. This research built on my earlier work during my bachelor’s degree, where I sought to characterize the magnetic compass function in foraging desert ants. This field of study continues to inspire my work today.

Throughout my studies, I have gained extensive field experience. During the summers of 2021, 2022, and 2024, I conducted fieldwork in Greece on C. nodus and took on a leadership role within the research team in 2024. Additionally, from October 2023 to March 2024, I held a short-term fellowship with CRC/SFB 1372, “Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates”.

Xenia

Xenia Dünninger, BSc.

Research Assistant

I am interested in neuroanatomy and its connection to development of behavior and orientation. My focus in pervious experiments was on neuronal analysis in bumblebees and zebra fish, Danio rerio.

During my Bachelor thesis in Würzburg I analyzed differences in the morphology in the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system in zebrafish foxP2 mutants. Due to my passion to neuroanatomy, I decided to do one of my masters main projects in the Haberkern lab to help with reconstructing a connectome of the clonal raider ants brain.


Project students & Interns

  • Ülkü Ece Meral (Master Practical Student, Spring 2025)
  • Sahar Ebrazeh (Master Practical Student, Spring 2025)

Alumni

  • Hannah Ball (Bachelor Student, Spring 2024)
  • Alperen Efendioğlu (Intern, Summer 2024)
  • Xenia Dünninger (Master Practical Student, Fall 2024)
  • Antonio Bollig (Master Practical Student, Fall 2024)
Tilda

Tilda aka "Bobo"

Honorary lab member and emotional support animal

Tilda is a beautiful homing pigeon, who has survived a previous life as a "racer". Now that her racing days are over, she occupies herself with loafing, grooming, sunbathing, and caressing her human flock members.

Join us!

Are you curious about the neural mechanisms that allow insects to navigate a complex and highly dynamic world despite having just a tiny brain? We currently not have open funded positions, but please contact us to discuss funding oportunities and future positions.

Undergraduate students

Interested in doing a practical, bachelor or master thesis in our lab? Please send Hannah an email with your research interests.