Funded by the MCSA & Citizens action - RAISE is built around a concept of co-creation that will blend Researchers at Schools (RAS) activities with European Researchers’ Nights (ERN) public events over the next two years.

Let's face it. As enticing as the idea of starting lunch with a chocolate cake might be, few would actually make that choice when it comes down to it. And yet, at the end of the meal, many would reach for that same cake without hesitation. 

The cause behind this phenomenon is the body's ever-changing internal states: by lunchtime, the body often needs protein, so the brain promotes that particular food choice. However, after the protein was ingested, carbs might be a nice extra for padding the body’s fat stores. 

A study published today (July 6th) in the journal Nature, uncovers how the brain stops us from jumping the gun. "We discovered a brain area responsible for driving action and another for suppressing that drive. We could also trigger impulsive behaviour by manipulating neurons in these areas", said the study's senior author, Joe Paton, Director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme in Portugal.

Aside from Raquel Oliveira and Carlos Ribeiro, who conduct their research at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência and Champalimaud Foundation, respectively, 56 other EMBO Members have been elected this year, coming from 15 different Member States of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), EMBO’s intergovernmental funding body.

The Champalimaud Foundation and the IAEA are thus starting a partnership for the development of research, treatment and diagnosis of oncological diseases. The collaboration focuses on the areas of radiation oncology, diagnostic medical imaging, nuclear medicine and medical physics.

The BALANCE project, from the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Lab at Champalimaud Research, will focus on medulloblastoma, one of the most common malignant brain tumours in children, and aims to “discover to what extent the developing brain is plastic and capable of compensating for the disturbances caused by the formation of a tumour, while maintaining its normal development and function”, as those responsible for the study say.