Prof. Máté Lengyel, Senior Research Fellow at Churchill College and Professor of Computational Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge’s Dept. of Engineering, has been appointed to lead a groundbreaking international research collaboration that recently secured $85 million in funding from the Simons Foundation.
The Simons Collaboration on Ecological Neuroscience (SCENE) will bring together 20 laboratories from across the globe in a 10-year programme aimed at uncovering how interacting with the world around us shapes representations in the mind and brain. Prof. Máté Lengyel’s project was selected from an initial pool of 245 applicants after a rigorous multi-year selection process.
“To understand more about the brain has always been my driving ambition,” explains Máté. “This collaboration represents an extraordinary opportunity to bring together diverse perspectives and expertise to tackle fundamental questions about how our brains process information while interacting with the environment.”
From Hungary to Cambridge
Máté’s journey to becoming a leader in computational neuroscience began in Hungary, where he attended a specialised Mathematics High School. Coming from a family of artists – painters, sculptors, and a father who was a theatre director – Máté briefly considered following the same path but ultimately decided to carve his own niche through academia. Growing up behind the Iron Curtain in then-isolated Hungary, a couple of extended family members who worked as academics in the US made rare visits to Hungary, and he developed an association between academic pursuits and freedom. “As a child, in my mind, these two things of being an academic and being able to live in a free world somehow got associated.”
After completing his MSc in Cell Development and Neurobiology and PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Máté pursued postdoctoral research at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London and joined the Dept. of Engineering at Cambridge in 2007.
Bridging Mathematics and Biology
Prof. Lengyel’s research stands at the intersection of mathematics and biology, using sophisticated mathematical methods to understand the brain’s complex information processing systems but his academic pathway to this specialism was not a conventional one!
“Whilst I was still at school it became pretty clear to me that I was not going to be a mathematician, but I enjoyed using maths – not in the abstract way to create more maths – but using maths to understand the physical world around us,” he reflects.
As an ambitious high school graduate, Máté identified two interests: using mathematics to understand economics or to understand how the brain works, but he had no knowledge that the field of computational neuroscience even existed.
“With all the arrogance of an 18-year-old, I thought that I already knew everything that there was to be known about mathematics, so if I wanted to use mathematics to understand the brain, it was time for me to do biology, because that’s where you learn about the brain,” he recalls.
This decision led him to pursue biology rather than physics, which he now acknowledges would have been a more direct path. The five-year undergraduate and Master’s commitment proved so challenging that he intermitted twice. Yet this unconventional route provided unexpected advantages.
“In our field, it’s really important to be able to collaborate with other experimental groups, and it’s relatively easy for me to communicate with experimental neuroscientists who have no knowledge of computational neuroscience because I was brought up amongst them. I kind of speak their language, so I am academically bilingual, I guess.”
This interdisciplinary background has given him a unique advantage in computational neuroscience, where his intimate understanding of the underlying biology has enhanced both his research and collaborative capabilities.
The Churchill College connection
Máté was invited to join Churchill College as a Senior Research Fellow in 2018, after being nominated by Fellows Simon Laughlin and Wolfram Schultz.
“The timing was perfect to be affiliated with a College,” Máté notes. His position allows him to enjoy the benefits of the College environment while maintaining focus on his research and family commitments.
One of the greatest advantages of the College community is “interacting with people from very different backgrounds and very different disciplines”. Máté also serves as a postgraduate mentor, providing guidance to students and discussing their research progress during College dinners. “It’s very important for me to give something back,” he emphasises.
Looking forward
The SCENE project represents a significant milestone in Máté’s career and promises to advance our understanding of how the brain works across levels – from neural circuits to behaviour.
As this ambitious 10-year project unfolds, Máté will continue dividing his time between Cambridge and Budapest, where his wife and children live.
With the substantial backing of the Simons Foundation and the support of Churchill College, Máté is well-positioned to make significant contributions to our understanding of the brain – fulfilling the ambition that has driven him since his days as a young student in Hungary.
