Frank Sengpiel
Cardiff University, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.107.43

Although I describe myself as a neuroscientist now, this job description did not even exist when I started studying for a Diploma in Biology at the Ruhr University in Bochum (Germany) in the mid-1980s. Instead, for 2 years I learned about zoology and botany, about statistics and organic chemistry. A module on animal physiology (in those days involving actual frogs rather than computer simulations) kindled my interest in how the body works, which was soon narrowed down to how the brain works when Klaus-Peter Hoffmann was appointed the first professor of neurobiology. In 1990, I moved to the UK for the first time, to study for a DPhil with Colin Blakemore at the University of Oxford. My focus on mechanisms of binocular integration and plasticity of the visual cortex started at this time and has stayed with me ever since. Following nearly 3 years as a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalen College I left Oxford in 1996 to become a research associate in the group of Tobias Bonhoeffer at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology near Munich.

In 2000 I was lured back to the UK to take up a senior lecturer position at Cardiff University. Seventeen years later I am still at Cardiff, by now Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Neuroscience Division in the School of Biosciences.

My first encounter with The Physiological Society was as a PhD student, at meetings which, in those days, were held at university physiology departments. I remember them as quite intimidating affairs, because of the voting by members on whether the communication was to be published or not. I later became an Associate Member, benefiting from generous travel grants, and then a Full Member in 2001. I soon took over from Kevin Fox as convenor of the Development & Plasticity Special Interest Group. This was followed by a term as Theme Lead for Cellular & Integrative Neuroscience from 2009 to 2014. In 2015 I was elected as a Trustee, and I joined the Finance Committee last year.

I have a long-standing interest in financial matters, which may be rooted in family history, since my grandfather, my father, and my brother have all worked in the financial sector. However, my practical experience so far has been limited to dabbling in investment funds and reading the money pages in the newspaper that everyone else discards! I am very glad to say that I did not receive a note from Anne King saying there is no money left; on the contrary, the balance sheet is looking very healthy, with a successful property strategy and an excellent publishing deal as major contributing factors. My aspiration is of course to build on this, although ‘past performance is no guarantee of future results’! The biggest threat, which I do not need a crystal ball to see, is Brexit and the uncertainty in the financial markets that it has already started to cause. But, in partnership with our COO and finance committee, I am confident that we will steer The Society through the next 4 years without suffering shipwreck.