User:Marlieve/Serge Daan

Serge Daan is a Dutch chronobiologist.

Early life and education
Serge Daan (Mook, 1940) was born in a wind mill, grew up in the Dutch countryside, and went to high school (Gymnasium β) in Deventer. The family as a whole was highly interested in biology and undertook impressive enterprises, such as investigating the ecology of reptiles in the Mediterranean area, and they even started to write an encyclopedia of the results. It was only because another encyclopedia was published shortly before their own was finished that the plan did not work out. It was a logical consequence of this interest that Serge studied biology at the University of Amsterdam.

Academic career
Serge received his Ph.D in Amsterdam (cum laude) with a thesis on hibernation. This research put him on the track of the timing of behaviour, a theme he is still pursuing and no doubt he will do that for the rest of his life. He was trained as a postdoc by the two founders of modern chronobiology, Jürgen Aschoff and Colin Pittendrigh. This 4-year episode, at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Andechs, Bavaria and Stanford University in California, and the life-long collaboration and friendship with both were crucial for his professional career. In 1975 Daan was appointed at the University of Groningen as associate professor in the Animal Ecology group of R.H.Drent. In 1994 he became Extra-ordinarius in Chronobiology, in 1996 Professor of Ethology. Since 2003 he occupies the prestigious Niko Tinbergen chair in Behavioral Biology.

Research
Serge Daan’s research focuses on the temporal organisation of behaviour in animals and humans. In about 250 publications (that elicited more than 10,000 citations) he contributed a number of key concepts and models to our insight in life history, biological timing and periodicity. These concern the ‘circadian’ (circa 24-h) rhythms of rest and activity, the regulation of human sleep, and the annual timing of reproduction.

Circadian rhythms
A large number of his papers are devoted to the daily organisation of behaviour. The concepts were clearly explained in 5 key publications he wrote together with Pittendrigh in 1976 (4 of them are each cited over 500 times). They still have their impact on the field. Many other studies have followed, shifting the focus from behavioural black box models to testable hypotheses about underlying molecular mechanisms.

Regulation of human sleep
The work on circadian rhythms culminated into the notion that a single circadian pacemaker exists to keep track of environmental time, while at the same time controlling downstream oscillations in physiology and behaviour. This notion was inconsistent with observations on the timing of sleep of human subjects living in isolation from time cues. Serge Daan, together with Borbély and Beersma, developed a model which convincingly explained the observations. It was called the two-process model of sleep regulation (published in 1984) and demonstrates how a circadian pacemaker can exert gentle control over other oscillating processes. This paper is cited more than 500 times, and continues to have a large influence on sleep research around the world.

Annual timing of reproduction
Apart from daily patterns in external circumstances, there are substantial alternations across the year. Animals have to deal with those changes and adjust their number and even sex of their offspring in the context of the current situation and weighted against the expectations for future situations. In his publication “The Prudent Parent” with R.H.Drent (1980) this new concept was introduced and substantiated. The paper (cited more than 1150 times) was one of the top-3 publications in the life sciences in the Netherlands in the 1990’s. The series of PhD theses and papers on the timing of reproduction in the European kestrel have become a classical example in this field. The six top papers are still being cited at a rate that is pretty close to the maximum rate they ever received. Every two or three days a paper appears that cites one of the six papers, which demonstrates the scientific value of the work.

Serge Daan is frequently invited to conferences as a keynote speaker. He gave prestigious lectures such as Laurence Irving-Per Scholander Memorial Lecture at the University of Alaska (1990), the Niko Tinbergen Lecture (Londen 1996), the First Colin S. Pittendrigh Lecture (Florida 1998). Scientific research requires grant support. Serge Daan succeeded in obtaining many substantial grants from various sources to support his own work and that of his PhD students, including for a large European consortium.

Organisation
Serge Daan held many offices in academia. He was member of the board of Earth and Life Sciences of NWO – the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (1997-2002), and chairman of the NWO program Evolution and Behaviour (2002-2009). He was president of the Dutch Society for Behavioural Biology (1996-2001). From 2001 to 2004 he was vice-dean for research at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of the University of Groningen, and together with dean D.A. Wiersma responsible for incisive changes such as the tenure track system and the Rosalind Franklin fellowships for women. From 2007 till 2009 he was dean of this Faculty. He served on numerous national and international committees and editorial boards.

Teaching
Serge Daan tought a wide array of courses on all levels of the curriculum of Biology (animal ecology, zoology, human ethology, biological rhythms, animal behaviour, evolution), including the recent tutorial Honours College for highly talented students. He supervised more than 200 master students during their research projects. Serge Daan took the initiative to set up and coordinate the top-master program in Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Ph.D.’s supervised
Much of his research was made possible by the enthusiasm of numerous students, among which so far 43 Ph.D. students.

1986 D. Masman: The annual cycle of the kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. A study in behavioural energetics.

1988 C. Dijkstra: Reproductive tactics in the Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. A study in evolutionary biology.

1988 T. Meijer: Reproductive decisions in the Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus. A study in physiological ecology.

1988 D.J. Dijk: Spectral analysis of the sleep EEG. Experiments inspired by the two-process model of sleep regulation. (cum laude)

1989 J.H. Meijer: Neuropharmacological and photic manipulation of the circadian pacemaker.

1991 M.P. Gerkema: Ultradian and circadian oscillators in the temporal organization of behaviour in voles.

1993 P.C.J. Franken: Sleep homeostasis and brain temperature. Experimental and simulation studies in the rat.

1995 S. Verhulst: Reproductive decisions in the Great Tit: An optimality approach. (cum laude)

1995 M.W.G. Brinkhof: Timing of reproduction. An experimental study in coots.

1996 C. Deerenberg: Parental energy and fitness costs in birds.

1996 T. de Boer: Sleep regulation in the Djungarian hamster. The effects of temperature, photoperiod and daily torpor.

1997 P.M. Meerlo: Behavioural and chronobiological consequences of social stress in rats.

1997 K.C. de Kogel: Long-term effects of brood size on offspring. An experimental study in the Zebrafinch.

1999 A.M. Strijkstra: Periodic euthermy during hibernation in the European ground squirrel: causes and consequences.

1999 P.E. Boon: Daylength and growth: Behaviour, energy balance and protein synthesis.

1999 M.J.H. Kas: Sleep and circadian timekeeping in Octodon degu.

2000 I.R. Pen: Sex allocation in a life history context. (cum laude)

2001 R.A. Hut: Natural entrainment of circadian systems. A study in the diurnal ground squirrel Spermophilus citellus.

2001 K. Jansen: Circadian rhythms in pacemaker and behavior. (a study in the Common vole, Microtus arvalis)

2001 M. Oklejewicz: The rate of living in tau mutant Syrian hamsters. Studies on the impact of a circadian allele on temporal organisation.

2002 B.I. Tieleman: Avian adaptation along an aridity gradient. Physiology, behavior, and life history. (cum laude).

2003 C. Carere: Personality as an epigenetic suite of traits. A study on a passerine bird.

2003 B. Riedstra: Development and social nature of feather pecking.

2003 B.A.M. Biemans: A time to remember. Consequences of ageing on the circadian memory modulation in rodents.

2004 C.M. Eising: Mother knows best? Costs and benefits of differential hormone allocation in birds.

2004 W. Müller: Maternal phenotypic engineering. Adaptation and constraint in prenatal maternal effects.

2004 N.B. Baron von Engelhardt: Proximate control in avian sex allocation - a study in zebra finches.

2005 M. Rüger: Lighting up the human clock: Effects of bright light on physiological and psychological states in humans.

2005 K. Spoelstra: Dawn and Dusk. Behavioural and molecular complexity in circadian entrainment.

2005 S. Engel: Racing the wind. Water economy and energy expenditure in avian endurance flight.

2006 P.D. Dijkstra: Know thine enemy. Intrasexual selection and sympatric speciation in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish.

2006 P. Korsten: Avian sex allocation and ornamental coloration. A study on blue tits.

2007 C. Schmidt-Wellenburg: Costs of migration. Short- and long-term consequences of avian endurance flight.

2007 L.M. Vaanholt: The rate of living in mice. Impacts of activity and temperature on energy metabolism and longevity.

2007 A. Zavada: Defining and detrimining the properties of the human sleep homeostat.

2007 D. van der Veen: Neural substrate and the timing of behaviour in a multiple clock system.

2009 T. Limbourg: Parental care in relation to offspriung sex and mate attractiveness in the Blue tit.

2009 R.H.M. Mullers: The commuting parent. Energetic constraints in along distance forager, the Cape gannet.

2009 K.A. Schubert: Breeding on a budget. Fundamental links between energy metabolism and mammalian life history trade-offs. (cum laude)

2009 M.A. Comas Soberats: Entrainment to daylength in the mouse circadian system. Behavioural and molecular analyses. (cum laude)

Honorary doctorate:

2009 Michael Menaker, University of Virginia

Agama Stellio Daani
Not many of us will be honored by the fact that an animal subspecies received our name. This is exactly what happened to Serge Daan. A Greek lizard: the Agama stellio daani is namend after S. Daan by A.Beutler, E. Frør, Mitt. Zool. Ges. Braunau 3: 255-290 (1980). The subspecies differs from the main species (A. stellio stellio) by having a black-grey head instead of yellowish or reddish head color. This difference was noted by Serge Daan during his investigations in the Mediterranean area, and reported in a paper in 1967.

Social gatherings
Serge Daan and his wife Ruth Hohe-Daan are well known for their hospitality for the scientific community. Throughout the years, many biologists have stayed in their house ‘villa Later’ in Paterswolde when they visited the lab. They all enjoyed the pleasant atmosphere and magnificent dinners that Ruth prepared. Serge and Ruth saw that these things can be essential ingredients for vivid and inspiring scientific discussions and on many occasions plans for future work were born at their dinner table. Serge and Ruth are also well known for organising a yearly garden party for the people working in the lab. These parties took place during the summer and the families of all the colleagues filled their large garden. While kids were playing ball games on the lawn, the family of the house took good care of all the guests: Serge roasting meat on the barbeque, Ruth preparing salads, and their children serving drinks to the guests with professional skill. Starting in the afternoon, these parties often went on during nightly hours while a bonfire stimulated deep philosophical discussions.

Honors and Awards
1967	UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM: The annual student award, for a study on: Lateral undulations in the spinal chord in lizard locomotion

1980	Agama stellio daani, a Greek lizard, named after S.Daan by A.Beutler, E. Frør, Mitt. Zool. Ges. Braunau 3: 255-290

1992	ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT Forschungspreis (Research Prize) (Germany)

2000	ROYAL SOCIETY of CANADA, elected Foreign Fellow

2002	Recipient of “Aschoff’s Rule”, meeting of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, Amelia Island (Fa, USA). Many chronobiologists will envy Serge for this prize. It is the ruler that was owned by Jürgen Aschoff, one of the fathers of modern chronobiology. The ruler is awarded each time by the previous winner to a new winner, who is selected because he or she is doing chronobiological research with a different technique in a different species than the previous winner. The names of the winners are listed on the back of the ruler.

2003	Appointed as Niko Tinbergen Distinguished Professor in Behavioural Biology

2005	Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw (Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion)

2006	INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR BIOLOGY (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science). Without doubt, this is the most prestigious prize Serge Daan obtained. Many biologists consider this prize to be the highest international award in Biology. For Serge Daan, the fact that this prize introduced him to the royal family of Japan represents a special dimension.

2008	Eminent Scientist Award (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science)