The first CMMS doctoral student successfully completed his doctorate. On 19 April 2024, Pierre Ekelmans defended his doctoral thesis in the field of computational biosciences at the University of Bonn. He conducted his research in the laboratory of FIAS Fellow Tatjana Tchumatchenko, which focuses on the theoretical analysis of neuronal dynamics.

In his doctoral thesis, Ekelmans developed a simplified mathematical model to predict the firing activity in excitatory-inhibitory (e-i) neuronal networks.

The activity in such networks can be determined by running a complete simulation or with the help of complex numerical methods. However, Ekelmans focused on creating a simple and tractable mathematical framework that can capture the activity regimes of neural networks qualitatively and quantitatively. Thanks to this simplified model, the study of activity regimes in small neural circuits can be done analytically, and precise conditions on parameters leading to diverse properties can be derived.

This approach can highlight the mechanisms underlying the transformations operated by e-i networks, making the analysis of such systems more transparent.

"I hope that these results will lay the ground for the study of larger neural systems," says the fresh doctor. "I believe, the full characterisation of local modular neural circuits will provide the foundation for an in-depth understanding of the way the brain carries out complex computations involving many such circuits."

Pierre Ekelmans has now started a job in the field of regulatory process automation at LORENZ Life Sciences.

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