Haesler Lab is a vibrant place for research and is at the centre of many exciting projects in the European capital of innovation (2020). The aim of our lab is to gain a mechanistic understanding of the brain by studying fundamental information processing problems, that are evolutionarily conserved and can be readily studied in mice, the genetically most tractable mammal. Specifically, we focus on a simple computation, the ability to discriminate novel from familiar sensory stimuli. We use multielectrodes & optogenetics in awake behaving animals to investigate how sensory representations of novel but not familiar stimuli are transformed into motor responses. Moreover, we employ viral circuit tracing to delineate novelty circuits with cell type specific resolution. In addition to the experimental work on novelty circuits, we engage in method development, with a particular emphasis on novel brain interfaces.