Philipp Brand, Group Leader
I am an evolutionary neuroscientist, interested in how the nervous system evolves behavior and diversifies within and across species. Particularly, I would like to know how ecological differences affect behavioral evolution and vice versa, and how sensory processing of ecologically relevant environmental features contributes to these processes. My research focuses on insects, which are amazingly diverse in their behavioral repertoires and their comparatively simple nervous systems are amenable to deep investigation of neural circuits. Having worked on many systems, including orchid bees and insects more broadly in the past, I am now focusing on behavioral evolution within Drosophila fruit flies. I am particularly interested in understanding how sensory perception, processing, and integration varies and contributes to the diversification of behavior and the origin of species. Translating the powerful neurogenetic toolkit from D. melanogaster to other species and combining it with single-cell and population genetics, I hope to learn more about how behavior evolves and shapes animal diversity in nature.
Education and Positions
2025 – present
Max-Planck Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
2019 – 2025
Postdoctoral Fellow with Vanessa Ruta, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
2013 – 2019
PhD, in Population Biology, University of California, Davis, USA
2010 – 2013
M.Sc. in Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf and Ruhr University, Bochum
2007 – 2010
B.Sc. in Biology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
Awards and Grants
2023 – 2025
K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Institutes of Health, USA
Kavli Neuroscience Institute Postdoctoral Fellow
2022
Dobzhansky Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution
2020 – 2023
Junior Fellow of the Simons Society of Fellows
2019
Allen G. Marr Prize for Superior Dissertation Work, UC Davis
Merton Love Award for Outstanding Dissertation in Ecology and Evolution, UC Davis
DeLill Nasser Award
2018
Genome Biology and Evolution Best Paper of the Year Award
2017
Loreto Godoy Memorial Fellowship
Bee Health Symposium Poster Award
Godfrey Hewitt Mobility Award
2014 – 2015
German Academic Exchange Service Annual Fellowship, DAAD