Jutta Kretzberg studied computer science and biology at University of Bielefeld, Germany. In her PhD in Biology she modelled neuronal responses in the fly visual system. As a postdoc in San Diego, California, she started to work also experimentally on the leech tactile system. In 2004, Jutta Kretzberg became a Junior Professor at University of Oldenburg, Germany, where she is now professor for computational neuroscience and head of the master’s program neuroscience. As a member of the cluster of excellence Hearing4all and having worked also on the vertebrate retina, her main research interest is neural coding and flexibility in different sensory systems of vertebrates (including humans) and invertebrates. While juggling her family, teaching, research and administration duties, her favorite task is mentoring.
Flexibility is not only Jutta’s research topic in computational neuroscience, but also her personal philosophy for teaching, mentoring and communication. Together with her PhD student Jens-Steffen Scherer she developed the concept of the hybrid IK 2022 with the goal of fostering flexible interactions of participants and lecturers. As one of the chairs, she feels responsible for the fields ‘the nervous system’ and ‘communication’, as well as for the links between the virtual and the physical IK community.