Eleonora Russo appointed DFG Mercator Fellow: International collaboration between Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Eleonora Russo, assistant professor at the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, has been awarded a DFG Mercator Fellow by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), one of Germany's leading research funding organizations. The highly competitive fellowship supports long-term scientific collaborations with German research institutions.
As part of the fellowship, Russo will collaborate with Professor Wolfgang Kelsch's research group at the University Medical Center Mainz (Universitätsmedizin Mainz) to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent learning. The project explores how the brain learns to flexibly interpret identical sensory stimuli by assigning different meanings depending on the context. Although these processes are fundamental to adaptive behavior, they remain only partially understood despite their significant clinical relevance. When context-dependent learning becomes dysfunctional, everyday experiences may be misinterpreted, for example, as threatening, leading to fear, stress, and avoidance behaviors.
The project combines advanced experimental neuroscience techniques with artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches. Experimental work will be carried out in Mainz, while Russo's laboratory at the BioRobotics Institute, the Brain Dynamics Laboratory, will lead the development of data analysis methods and computational models to characterize the neural mechanisms underlying sensory processing.
The Mercator Fellowship will support Professor Russo's regular research visits to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz over the next three years. The collaboration aims to strengthen an already established scientific partnership and expand an international research network dedicated to advancing our understanding of the brain mechanisms that govern perception, learning, and resilience, with the long-term goal of contributing to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for mental disorders.
