Nobel laureate and neuroscientist May-Britt Moser to deliver 2025 Kafatos Lecture
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Talk to explain how the brain’s ‘grid cells’ work as a combo speedometer, GPS, and collision warning system
how the brain’s ‘grid cells’ work. Photograph: Geir Mogen / Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, Graphic: Creative Team/EMBL
EMBL will host its 2025 Kafatos Lecture on Tuesday, 18 March at 18:00 CET at the Student Society in Trondheim, Norway, during ISFiT 2025, the International Student Festival in Trondheim.
May-Britt Moser, Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in Norway, will deliver this year’s lecture. She has made transformational contributions to neuroscience through her pioneering work on the brain’s spatial navigation system. Her groundbreaking research, conducted in collaboration with Edvard Moser, revealed how the brain uses ‘grid cells’ in the memory-related region of the brain known as the entorhinal cortex. The grid cells create an internal coordinate system, enabling navigation and spatial memory. This discovery earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014, which she shared with Edvard Moser and John O’Keefe. In her Kafatos Lecture, she will share new elements of her work to update the audience on her findings since then.
Identifying grid cells was a major breakthrough, providing unparalleled insights into how the brain maps environments and processes spatial information. This work has had profound implications for understanding memory, cognition, and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, where these systems often deteriorate.
Moser continues to lead innovative research into the brain’s mechanisms, fostering a collaborative environment that inspires the next generation of neuroscientists. Her discoveries remain at the forefront of neuroscience, offering immense potential for advancing treatments for cognitive disorders.
The Kafatos Lecture series, inaugurated in 2021, continues to bring groundbreaking and socially relevant life sciences research to the public, seeking especially to inspire young scientists and students worldwide. This year’s lecture is once again generously supported by the Bodossaki Foundation. Admission is free although registration is required due to limited seating. The hybrid event can also be viewed live online, with advance registration available at the same link. Likewise, it will be recorded for later viewing on YouTube. Visit the Kafatos Lecture webpage for more information.
Previous Kafatos Lectures from speakers Hans Clevers (2024), Elena Conti (2023), and Denis Duboule (2022) are available on the EMBL Alumni YouTube channel.