Date: Monday, December 8, 2025
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Seminar Room 3189

Title:  How flies learn to engage with objects and one another

Abstract:
A central goal shared by neuroscience and robotics is to understand how systems can navigate and act autonomously in complex environments. Although extensive research has revealed how the visual system segments natural scenes into distinct components—insights that have inspired advances in computer vision and robotics—the next crucial challenge remains: learning the properties of these objects and responding appropriately. In this talk, I will present our work using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate how the brain learns about objects and other animals in its environment, and how it uses that information to guide behavior. By integrating quantitative behavioral analysis, genetic manipulation, connectomics, and neural recordings, we aim to uncover the neural mechanisms that enable flexible, adaptive interactions with the world.

Bio:
Pavan Ramdya, Firmenich Next Generation Chair of Neuroengineering, is the Director of the Neuroengineering Laboratory at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Ramdya received his PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard University and then performed postdoctoral work in Robotics and Neurogenetics at EPFL and UNIL, then Bioengineering at Caltech. His laboratory aims to draw inspiration from animals in order to design more intelligent and adaptive artificial systems. To accomplish this, they use computational, engineering, genetic, and microscopy approaches to investigate how neural population dynamics, biomechanics, and gene expression sculpt complex limb-dependent behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster. In recognition of his work, he has been awarded an HFSP Career Development Award, a Swiss National Science Foundation Eccellenza Grant, the UNIL Young Investigator Award in Basic Science, and is a member of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence.