Date: 13 May 2026 (Wed)
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Michael Hӓusser

Prof. Dr. Balázs Rózsa is the founder, scientific and managing director, BrainVisionCenter Research Institute and Competence Centre in Budapest, Hungary. He received his medical degree summa cum laude from Semmelweis University in 1999, and studied physics, mathematics and biophysics at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Eötvös Loránd University where he graduated in physics in 2001. He completed his PhD studies summa cum laude in neurosciences at Semmelweis University in 2007. Since 2002, he has been involved in the research of the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. From 2005 to 2008 he was the leader of the two-photon microscope development team, and from 2008 he is the leader of the three-dimensional two-photon microscope development team. Since 2010, he has been the Head of the Two-photon Imaging Laboratory at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and also works at the Two-photon Imaging Centre of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, where he has been the Head of the Neuronal Networks and Dendritic Activity Research Group since 2016. His expertise and research cover a very broad range of areas, including IT, electronics, optics and mechanical engineering to laser physics, laser scanning, nonlinear optics and neural network imaging. His scientific interests include dendritic signal integration studies, fast 3D two-photon imaging, and electrophysiological measurements for in vitro and in vivo experiments.

Understanding how neuronal circuits support rapid visual learning in real-world conditions is a major challenge in systems neuroscience. Prof. Dr. Balázs Rózsa and his team have developed a new generation of high-speed 3D acousto-optical (AO) imaging technology capable of tracking and recording from behaving animals in real time, with minimal interference.

This platform enables simultaneous imaging and photostimulation at subcellular resolution across large 3D volumes—even during active behavior in freely moving mice. The talk will highlight how this technology, when paired with immersive VR, reveals the dynamics of learning-related circuit adaptation, and how these insights pave the way for visual prosthetics development.

All are welcome.