Dr Stefan Pulver

Senior Lecturer

Researcher profile

Phone

+44 (0)1334 46 3503

Email

sp96@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

Teaching

I teach on various modules in the School of Psychology and Neurocience and School of Biology. I founded and now coordinate the Masters of Research (MRes) in Neuroscience programme. I serve as faculty advisor for Students Teaching Teachers Teaching Students (ST3S), an initiative aimed at empowering students to impact how neuroscience educators teach.

Research areas

I study the neuroethology of movement in small animals. I am particulraly interested in understanding how the brains of insects control complex physical plants to solve problems associated with moving over different types of terrain. Work in the lab is highly integrative, involving everything from genetics to anatomy to electrophyisology and live imaging to biomechanics and animal behaviour in the field. We work with multiple species including flies, beetles, and aquatic invertebrates. Our work is well positioned to inform work in vertebrates and influence development of  biologically inspired machines. Lab members weave research, teaching and outreach together and we invest in developing sustainable, accessible ways of doing science.

PhD supervision

• Max Leach
• Rebecca Lewis
• Solene Morelle
• Hope Nitsche
• Ranjini Sircar
• William Smith
• Jacob Thomas-Hegarty

Selected publications

• Open access

  Context-dependent coordination of movement in Tribolium castaneum larvae

  Xu Ying, B., Zwart, M. F. & Pulver, S. R., 10 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 228, 7, jeb250015.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Dopamine promotes motor programs underlying substrate tunneling in larval Drosophila

  MacLeod, J., Xu Ying, B., Zwart, M. & Pulver, S., 17 Sept 2025, bioRxiv.

  Research output: Working paper › Preprint

• Open access

  Highly transparent elastic optical microcavities for interferometric mapping of cell mechanics

  Busse, F., Booth, J. H., Kronenberg, N. M., Sun, Y., Meek, A. T., Mischok, A., Pulver, S. R. & Gather, M. C., 1 Nov 2025, In: Biomedical Optics Express. 16, 11, p. 4617-4632 16 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Inhibitory circuit motifs in Drosophila larvae generate motor program diversity and variability

  Francis, J., Gibeily, C. R., Smith, W. V., Petropoulos, I. S., Anderson, M., Heitler, W. J., Prinz, A. A. & Pulver, S. R., 21 Apr 2025, In: PLoS Biology. 23, 4, p. 1-39 39 p., e3003094.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Deformable microlaser force sensing

  Dalaka, E., Hill, J. S., Booth, J. H. H., Popczyk, A., Pulver, S. R., Gather, M. C. & Schubert, M., 5 Jun 2024, In: Light: Science & Applications. 13, 14 p., 129.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Optical mapping of ground reaction force dynamics in freely behaving Drosophila melanogaster larvae

  Booth, J. R. H., Meek, A. T., Kronenberg, N. M., Pulver, S. R. & Gather, M. C., 23 Jul 2024, In: eLife. 12, 24 p., RP87746.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Temporal dynamics of Na/K pump mediated memory traces: insights from conductance-based models of Drosophila neurons

  Megwa, O. F., Pascual, L. M., Günay, C., Pulver, S. R. & Prinz, A. A., 22 May 2023, In: Frontiers in Neuroscience. 17, 18 p.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Localization of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor dependent rhythm generating modules in the Drosophila larval locomotor network

  Jonaitis, J., MacLeod, J. & Pulver, S. R., 15 Apr 2022, In: Journal of Neurophysiology. 127, 4, p. 1098-1116

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  An electrically coupled pioneer circuit enables motor development via proprioceptive feedback in Drosophila embryos

  Zeng, X., Komanome, Y., Kawasaki, T., Inada, K., Jonaitis, J., Pulver, S. R., Kazama, H. & Nose, A., 18 Oct 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Current Biology. In press

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

• Open access

  Regulation of coordinated muscular relaxation in Drosophila larvae by a pattern-regulating intersegmental circuit

  Hiramoto, A., Jonaitis, J., Niki, S., Kohsaka, H., Fetter, R. D., Cardona, A., Pulver, S. R. & Nose, A., 19 May 2021, In: Nature Communications. 12, 14 p., 2943.

  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

 

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