Prof. Dr. Anna Schroeder
Tenure-track Assistant Professor (W2) in Neuroscience
Principal Investigator
ERC Starting Grant Awardee
Anna Schroeder, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist who, starting in April 2025, will be a tenure-track Assistant Professor (W2) of Systemic Neuroscience at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich. Her research explores the neural circuit mechanisms of internal state-driven behavioral flexibility and aims to develop new therapeutic directions for psychiatric disease via neuromodulation. She uses cutting-edge molecular, cellular, and circuit-level technologies together with diverse behavioral paradigms and advanced machine-learning techniques to study these brain computations in mouse models.
Born and raised in New York, USA, Anna completed her B.A. at the University of Chicago, received her M.Sc. from the Charité, and earned her Ph.D. from the VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research and KU Leuven. Here, she trained with Prof. Dr. Joris de Wit and was ranked in the top 2% of Ph.D. candidates ever evaluated. She then completed her postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research and the University of Freiburg with Prof. Dr. Johannes Letzkus, which included a 2-year guest residency with Prof. Dr. Erin Schuman. Her work has been funded by a number of prestigious awards, including an ERC Starting Grant, a BBRF Young Investigator Award, and fellowships from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, EMBO, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, FWO, BAEF, and the Peter and Traudl Engelhorn Foundation.
In addition to her core training, Anna’s scientific education includes extended research stays (e.g., University College London, Brain Mind Institute of the EPFL, Saints-Pères Paris Institute for the Neurosciences, Max Delbrück Center) and training (e.g., Cold Spring Harbor Labs, Champalimaud, Bordeaux Neurocampus) at more than a dozen universities and institutes across 10 countries. She has presented her research findings over the years through invited lectures at numerous conferences (e.g., SFN, GRC, EMBO) and institutes (e.g., SILS Amsterdam, MPI EM).
Teaching has been central to her work. Anna taught medical students at the University of Freiburg and will give classes at LMU Munich within the Faculty of Biology and the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN).
Dedicated to supporting women through mentorship, advocacy, and outreach, she served as President of the Women in Science organization in Chicago, has been a panelist and instructor for initiatives aimed at encouraging women to pursue scientific education, and currently serves as a selection committee member for the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards.
Contact Info
Faculty of Biology, Biocenter
Großhaderner Str. 2
82152 Planegg-Martinsried
Germany
Academic Appointments
04.2025 – onwards
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Tenure-track Assistant Professor (W2) of Systemic Neuroscience
Principal Investigator, Awardee of an ERC Starting Grant
09.2022 – 03.2025
University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Postdoctoral Fellow
BBRF Young Investigator, Engelhorn Fellow
Johannes Letzkus Lab
02.2019 – 08.2022
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Postdoctoral Fellow
Marie Skłodowska-Curie, EMBO and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
Johannes Letzkus Lab
09.2013 – 11.2018
VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium
Ph.D. Student
FWO Scholar, BAEF Fellow
Joris de Wit Lab
01 – 09.2012
Saints-Pères Paris Institute for the Neurosciences, Paris, France
M.Sc. Thesis Student
BDSRA Grantee
Bruno Gasnier Lab
08 – 09.2011
University College London, London, United Kingdom
M.Sc. Rotation Student
NENS Scholar
Anselm Zdebik Lab
05 – 07.2011
Max Delbrück Center, Berlin, Germany
M.Sc. Rotation Student
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Scholar
Erich Wanker Lab
01 – 03.2011
Brain Mind Institute of the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
M.Sc. Rotation Student
ThinkSwiss Research Scholar
Patrik Aebischer Lab
06 – 09.2009
Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
B.A. Summer Student
Jeff Metcalf Fellow
Dimitra Mangoura Lab
06 – 09.2008
Albrecht-Kossel-Institute for Neuroregeneration, Rostock, Germany
B.A. Summer Student
DAAD Research in Science & Engineering Scholar
Arndt Rolfs Lab
03.2007 – 06.2010
University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
B.A. Research Associate, Honors Thesis Student
Glyn Dawson Lab
Education
2013 – 2018
Ph.D. in Neuroscience
VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Ranked in the top 2% of Ph.D. candidates ever evaluated
Thesis Advisor: Joris de Wit
2010 – 2012
M.Sc. in Neuroscience
Charité, Berlin, Germany
NeuroCure Scholar, DAAD Graduate Study Scholar
Thesis Advisor: Bruno Gasnier
2006 – 2010
B.A. with Honors in Neuroscience
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
General & Departmental Honors, Dean’s List
Thesis Advisor: Glyn Dawson
Awards, Scholarships & Honors
2025 – 2030
Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC; 1.5 million €)
2024
Tenure-track Assistant Professorship, University of Amsterdam (offer declined)
2024
Host for an ERC, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (offer declined)
2023 – 2025
BBRF Young Investigator Award ($70,000)
2023 – 2024
Peter and Traudl Engelhorn Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (140,000 €)
2020 – 2022
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (175,000 €)
2020
Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship (offered, 70,000 €; utilized 25,000 €)
2019 – 2020
EMBO Long-Term Fellowship (offered, 75,000 €; utilized, 38,000 €)
2018
Ranked in the top 2% of Ph.D. candidates ever evaluated, KU Leuven
2018
BAEF Ph.D. Fellowship (offered, $135,000; utilized, $7,000)
2014 – 2018
FWO Ph.D. Fellowship (150,000 €)
2012
Batten Disease Support & Research Association Grant ($14,000)
2011 – 2012
NeuroCure Scholarship (7,000 €)
2011
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Scholarship ($3,000)
2010 – 2011
DAAD Graduate Study Scholarship (10,000 €)
2010
ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship (3,000 CHF)
2009
Jeff Metcalf Scholarship ($5,000)
2008
DAAD Research in Science & Engineering Scholarship (3,000 €)
Merit-Based Travel Grants
2018
Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Fellowship ($500)
2016
Broaden Your Horizon Travel Grant (500 €)
2015
FENS Travel Grant (750 €)
2011
NENS Travel Grant (1000 €)
Scientific Training
2021
EMBO, Virtual
Course: Laboratory Leadership
2019
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA
Course: Imaging Structure & Function in the Nervous System
2017
Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
Course: Interacting with Neural Circuits
2015
Bordeaux Neurocampus, Bordeaux, France
Course: Advanced Techniques for Synapse Biology
2015
Neuroscience School of Advanced Studies, Florence, Italy
Course: Synaptic Plasticity and Neural Circuit Remodeling
2015
European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
Course: ELECTRAIN, Extended Methods Course in Electrophysiology
2014
University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Course: Neural Circuit Development and Plasticity
2005
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Course: General Chemistry
Leadership & Community Outreach
2024 – Present
L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards, Germany
Member of the Selection Committee
2023
Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
Women in STEM Career Discussion Leader
2023
Clubhouse: Science Society, Virtual
Podcast Guest Speaker
2019
Max Planck Junior Scholars Program, Frankfurt, Germany
Mentor
2019
Girl’s Day, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Frankfurt, Germany
Instructor
2009 – 2010
La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA
Volunteer for Health Leads, an initiative to advance racial health equity
2007 – 2009
Women in Science organization, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
President
2006 – 2007
Women in Science organization, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
Secretary
Teaching & Project Supervision
2022 – 2025
University of Freiburg Medical School, Freiburg, Germany
Lecturer in Physiology
2022 – 2025
Johannes Letzkus Lab, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Students supervised:
- 07 – 09.2024, Aseem Gidwani: visiting B.A. student from the University of Chicago
- 06 – 08.2023, Charlotte Clulow: visiting B.A. student from the University of Chicago
- 04.2023 – 03.2024, Shambhavi Phadnis: M.Sc. rotation and thesis
2016 – 2018
Joris de Wit Lab, VIB Center for Brain & Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium
Students supervised:
- 06 – 08.2018, Danielle Lee: visiting B.A. student from the University of Chicago
- 06 – 09.2017, Zainab Aziz: visiting B.A. student from the University of Chicago
- 06 – 08. 2016, Trevor Roberts: visiting B.A. student from the University of Chicago
Conferences & Seminars
Invited Talks
2024
Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2023
Center for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2023
GRC on Dendrites: Molecules, Structure and Function
Barga, Italy
2022
Society for Neuroscience
San Diego, CA, USA
2022
Barrels Meeting
La Jolla, CA, USA
2022
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Munich, Germany
2022
Max Delbrück Center
Berlin, Germany
2022
GRS on Thalamocortical Interactions
Barga, Italy
2022
Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience: Young Investigators Colloquium
Frankfurt, Germany
2022
EMBO Dendrites: Dendritic anatomy, molecules and function
Heraklion, Greece
2022
LOOPS: subcortico-cortical loops in sensory processing and perception
Virtual
2022
Humboldt University of Berlin
Virtual
2021
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, TU Berlin
Berlin, Germany
2018
Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
Göttingen, Germany
2017
GRS on Dendrites: Molecules, Structure and Function
Barga, Italy
2017
Lowlands Molecular Neuroscience Meeting
Corsendonk, Belgium
Poster Presentations
2024
FENS Forum
Vienna, Austria
2022
The Assembly and Function of Neuronal Circuits
Ascona, Switzerland
2022
FENS Forum
Paris, France
2022
Neuronal representation: from synapses & microcircuits to behavior
Freiburg, Germany
2022
Fresh Look on Brain Inhibition
Marseille, France
2018
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium on Brains & Behavior
Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA
2017
VIB-NERF PhD Symposium
Prize for Best Poster
Leuven, Belgium
2016
The Brain Mosaic: cellular heterogeneity in the CNS
Leuven, Belgium
2010
Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Professional Activities
2024 - Present
DFG Collaborative Research Center IN-CODE (TRR 384), Germany
Associate Member
2024 - Present
French National Research Agency, France
Peer Reviewer
2020 - Present
German Humboldt Network, Germany
Member
Our team
