Dr. May-Britt Moser is a distinguished Norwegian neuroscientist renowned for her pioneering contributions to understanding the brain's spatial navigation system. She has been Professor of Neuroscience at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) since 2000; she previously served as Associate Professor in Biological Psychology from 1996 to 2000, where she holds the prestigious position of Founding Director of the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex and Co-Director of the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience. Born in 1963 in Fosnavåg, Norway, she pursued studies in psychology, mathematics, and neurobiology at the University of Oslo where she met her future husband and scientific collaborator Edvard Moser. After completing her PhD in neurophysiology in 1995, she established herself as a leading researcher through positions at the University of Edinburgh and University College London before returning to NTNU where she has built one of the world's premier neuroscience research environments.
Dr. Moser's groundbreaking research, conducted in collaboration with Edvard Moser and John O'Keefe, revolutionized our understanding of how the brain creates internal maps of space. In 2005, she and Edvard Moser discovered grid cells in the entorhinal cortex, specialized neurons that form a hexagonal coordinate system enabling precise spatial navigation and positioning. This discovery, which solved a centuries-old philosophical and scientific question about how the brain represents space, revealed the cellular basis of what has been termed the brain's 'inner GPS' system. Their work demonstrated how these grid cells collaborate with previously discovered place cells to create a comprehensive neural positioning system essential for spatial orientation and memory, fundamentally transforming neuroscience's approach to understanding cognitive mapping.
Beyond her Nobel-winning discovery, Professor Moser has profoundly influenced the field through her leadership in establishing major research centers including the Centre for the Biology of Memory in 2002 and the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience in 2007. She continues to advance the field through her current research at the Centre for Algorithms in the Cortex, where her team investigates the functional organization of neural circuits and their contribution to memory formation. As a dedicated mentor, she has nurtured the next generation of neuroscientists while maintaining an active research program that extends her pioneering work into broader aspects of cognition. Despite the demands of her leadership roles, she has successfully integrated professional and personal life while continuing to shape neuroscience through both her scientific discoveries and institutional leadership.
