Sleep disturbances in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy – designed to shrink the tumours prior to surgery – are one of the common side effects of these treatments, which can not only exacerbate other side effects, but also impact prognosis. One of the possible, non-pharmacological strategies to mitigate these disturbances is thought to be physical exercise.

Following Episode 5 - Part 1, where we explored the hidden world of the hypothalamus and the “love hormone” oxytocin, this second part of Hedi’s conversation with neuroendocrinologist Gareth Leng takes us even deeper.

From the “love hormone” and maternal bonding, to why your brain is more like a quantum computer, discover the brain’s secret hormonal languages that drive your behaviour and keep you alive in Episode 5 (Part 1).

[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS FOR THIS CALL IS NOW CLOSED]

Offer Description

Applications are welcome for a Research fellowship (Bolsa de Investigação) for a Master’s student to develop their Master’s thesis. The successful applicant will join our team at Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr.

Host

Rita Fior, PhD, Cancer Development and Innate Immune Evasion Lab

Venue

Seminar room

The results of the most recent European Research Council (ERC)  Advanced Grants have been announced today (June 17th). In Portugal, the ERC selected two new projects in the area of ​​life sciences, which in total will receive 5M€. 

The ERC funding, worth in total €721M, will go to 281 leading researchers across Europe. In the case of life sciences, 732 proposals were submitted and 83 were selected for funding, which represents a success rate of approximately 11%. 

From philosophical zombies and the purpose of dreaming, to measuring consciousness like temperature and why brains aren’t computers, in Episode 4 Seth unpacks the idea that our experience of reality – and of ourselves – is a kind of waking dream, a “controlled hallucination”, shaped by prediction, perception, and the body’s primal drive to stay alive.

His theory of what it means to ‘be you’ challenges how we understand perception – and turns what you thought you knew about yourself on its head.

Following intro sessions that happened at schools back in February, nearly 200 8th-grade students from Escola do Alto do Lumiar (Lisboa) and Escola Dr. Azevedo Neves (Amadora) took part in a series of hands-on/minds-on experiments at both the GIMM Foundation and Champalimaud Foundation (CF) in March. 

Date and Time

July 15, 2025, 14:00-18:00 WEST

Location

Seminar Room, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon

The problem with averages

Imagine you’re deciding whether to wait in line for your favourite meal at a busy restaurant or grab a quick snack at the nearest café. Your brain weighs not just how good the meal might be, but also how long it will take to get it.