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Martin Giurfa
A Personal Ant-thology
Life Sciences (SDV)
Uno es uno y su circonstancias–You
are yourself and your circumstances,”
quotes Martin Giurfa to illustrate his career.
And citing a sentence attributed to Jorge-Luis
Borges might not be unexpected, given the
Argentinian roots of this 44-year-old scientist,
the recent recipient of the CNRS silver
medal and the current director of Toulouse's
CRCA.1 But not all memories
are pleasant. The dictatorship set up by
Videla was still in place when he entered
Buenos Aires University in 1981, to study
biology. “It was a reign of terror–we
were searched by police when entering campus,
and informants were everywhere,” he
recalls. It was only two years later, in
1983, that democracy was restored. “Such
happiness... Many high-level Argentinian
researchers returned from exile. A real
intellectual effervescence had begun.”
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the euphoria did not last. The austerity
plan imposed by the International Monetary
Fund (IMF)–started in 1986–cut
back on both education and research,
once more pushing Argentinian scientists
out of the country. But this also coincided
with his first stroke of luck. Among
the few remaining scientists were two
specialists in behavioral neurobiology,
Giurfa's chosen field. “I had
always wanted to understand how we learn,
how we memorize things. I was fascinated
by the work of Nobel prize-winner Karl
Von Frisch on the behavior of bees.” |
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The publication of his thesis work in various
international reviews led to an invitation
to join the Institute of Neurobiology at
the Free University of Berlin. He arrived
in 1990, another period of historical effervescence:
The Wall was coming down. This man, who
had witnessed the return of democracy to
Argentina, has a fond memory of the time.
Twelve years in Berlin made him an experienced
neurobiologist. Then came a new “circumstance”–in
the form of a work opportunity in France.
CNRS and the Paul Sabatier University in
Toulouse invited him to found the Research
Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA). The objective
was to undertake the comparative study of
cognitive processes in a wide range of vertebrate
and invertebrate animals, focusing on both
individuals and animal societies, such as
those formed by ants and honeybees. He accepted
the position because of the “great
serenity in research that France offers
through permanent positions; it is crucial
that this serenity be preserved by the institutions.”
Today, the center has some 30 scientists
and an equal number of PhD and post-doctoral
students–research scientists working
side by side despite coming from different
fields like ethology, molecular biology,
neurobiology, modeling, experimental psychology,
and robotics. He himself heads a group focused
on behavioral, neural and molecular bases
of learning and memory in invertebrates
(honeybees, fruit flies, and ants).
“I like building gateways,”
enthuses Giurfa. “Gateways towards
international cooperations, but also gateways
to the public.” This warm and open
man leads his team into pedagogical actions
through associations for popularizing science.
He also organizes the “Brain Awareness
Week” in the Midi-Pyrénées
region. Would he go back to Argentina to
encourage others to take up a similar calling?
“One can never say never, but I now
have a lot of ties in France. This is the
country I chose for my research project.”
He concludes with another quote, but this
time he can't seem to recall the author:
“your home country is the one that
allows you to flourish.”
1. Centre de recherches
sur la cognition animale (CNRS / Université
Toulouse-III).
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