Dr. Joanna Urban-Ciećko received the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding habilitation achievements in 2018.

The award was granted for the achievement entitled: Plasticity of the tonic GABAergic inhibition and the modulation of the synaptic transmission by the somatostatin-expressing GABAergic interneurons and cholinergic pathway in the mouse somatosensory cortex.

The distinguished cycle of work is a significant contribution to the development of biology, especially neurobiology, and concerns the study of the principles of cerebral cortex functioning: mechanisms of neural plasticity evoked by learning, and mechanisms controlling synaptic transmission in cortical networks.

The list of publications included in the habilitation achievement:

· Urban-Ciecko J., Jouhanneau J.S., Myal S.E., Poulet J.F.A., Barth A. L. (2018) Precisely-timed nicotinic activation drives SST inhibition in neocortical circuits. Neuron, 97, 611-25.

· Urban-Ciecko J., Barth A.L. (2016) Somatostatin-expressing neurons in cortical networks. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17, 401-9.

· Urban-Ciecko J., Fanselow E., Barth A.L. (2015) Neocortical somatostatin neurons reversibly silence excitatory transmission via GABAb receptors. Current Biology, 25, 722-31.

· Urban-Ciecko J., Mozrzymas J.W. (2011) Sex-specificity of associative learning-induced changes in GABAergic tonic inhibition in layer 4 neurons of mouse barrel cortex. Behavioural Brain Res, 219, 373-7.

· Urban-Ciecko J.*, Kossut M., Mozrzymas J.W. (2010) Sensory learning differentially affects GABAergic tonic currents in excitatory neurons and fast spiking interneurons in layer IV of mouse barrel cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 746-54.

*corresponding author