Major depressive disorders (MDD) represent a global challenge. Although many recent initiatives have resulted in new antipsychotic drugs, their efficacy is not optimal. One possible reason for this is that the prevailing paradigm for drug development is based on the neuron-centric view of how the central nervous system (CNS) copes with diseases. In the fellowship, I will study neuroglia, the nonneuronal cells responsible mainly for maintaining homeostasis in the CNS. Failure in the function of these cells can set the course for neurological conditions, including psychiatric diseases and MDD. Thus, targeting neuroglia has recently been viewed as a new translational ground for drug development. The present proposal is therefore based on our understanding of the potential role of neuroglia in brain disease. One of the major neurotransmitters, dopamine, is known to play an important role in MDD. I will examine the regulation of astrocytes, a major type of neuroglia, by dopamine. Based on the state of the art, I hypothesise that astrocytic dopamine D1 receptor signalling may be involved in the pathophysiology of MDD. Through innovative methodological approaches I will study the regulation of astrocytic D1 receptor signalling at the cellular level in an experimental model of MDD. Moreover, this project will explore D1 signalling in vivo to validate the results obtained on isolated cells. The proposed research will provide a new framework that includes astrocytes and the mechanisms underlying the dopaminergic modulation in depression. This will afford novel cellular targets for treatment of MDD associated with dopamine D1 receptor signalling. In addition, a comprehensive two-way transfer of knowledge is envisioned to bring together competences and experiences necessary for the proposed research. The fellowship will facilitate my career development and enable me to get established in the field.

The cosmic dark ages - when the Universe was filled with neutral hydrogen that was opaque to ultraviolet light - are thought to have ended around one billion years after the Big Bang, when first light sources produced enough energetic photons to ionize the neutral hydrogen. This phase is referred to as the epoch of reionization and is also the era of the first galaxies' formation. However, this is also one of the least understood epochs in the Universe's evolution. When did it start/end? Was it patchy or smooth? How did galaxies reionize the Universe (if they did)? What are the properties of the earliest galaxies? To answer these questions, this proposal will use deep observations of the largest sample of the most powerful cosmic telescopes that will be observed with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) right after its launch. Compared to all previous facilities, JWST’s capabilities are dazzling. Its instruments will provide data beyond those yet seen by any astronomer. However, with high power comes great responsibility. Given its limited lifetime, excellent leadership needs to be established. As a key member of the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) team with guaranteed time and a member of the Early Release Science program, I am in a unique position to guarantee success of this project. I am proposing to relocate to Europe. JWST's NIRISS instrument is not represented in Europe, and this program will bring immediate and proprietary access to the data. This proposal will (1) determine the timeline of reionization, (2) identify the exact role first galaxies played in this process by studying their ionized bubbles, and (3) determine stellar properties of the earliest galaxies. With an unprecedented facility, the program will undoubtedly bring many exciting discoveries and allow the first look at the details of the Cosmic Dawn.

The cultural, political and economic changes have reshaped Central European societies in the early 1990s and they also brought religious pluralism. New religions and New Age phenomena from the West have blended with traditional folk belief and mainstream religions which resulted in a heterogeneous religious culture. Previous scholarship has already pointed at the importance of female actors in this eclectic religious / spiritual field, but this has not been systematically explored so far. The WiseWomen project aims to investigate the roles of women in creating meanings and innovations through religious beliefs and practices in Central European communities. The main objectives of the research are 1. to understand the creation and the expressions of individual belief systems; 2. to explore the ways how religious experience is born and communicated; 3. and to investigate interactions through which religious expressions are negotiated. To highlight these processes from women’s perspective the project focuses on wise women, female experts of magic, medicine and religion as specific figures in contemporary urban and rural societies. During the inquiry multi-site ethnographic fieldwork will be carried out in multi-ethnic and multi-confessional communities in South Western Hungary, Northern Croatia, and Slovenia. To obtain knowledge on the subjective and inter-subjective processes creating religious thought and utterances, ethnographic fieldwork combined with historical research provides the most appropriate methodology. Furthermore vernacular religion, a concept elaborated by Primiano, will serve both as a category of analysis and a practical model, because its bottom-up perspective highlights the individual actors. By integrating folklore studies, anthropology, ethnology of religion, religious history and sociology into an interdisciplinary approach, it enables the fellow to bring the creation and re-creation of religion by and among individuals into the spotlight.