On Friday the 11th of July 2014 Nils Kasties defended his PhD thesis entitled „Neuronal foundations of decision making in the pigeon nidopallium caudolaterale”. …And what a defense it was!!! Nils presented two major experiments and perfectly embedded them into the current literature. In the end, he was able to integrate his findings into a model of decision making in the avian forebrain. Afterwards, Nils bravely and successfully defended his arguments for a full hour against a whole barrage of counterarguments until the members of committee were exhausted and were just yearning for sparkling wine and party. But before the party could start, members of the committee unanimously decided to award Nils the title Dr. rer. nat. Congratulations Nils! We are proud of you. In the picture you can see Nils with his two advisors on his PhD-cart with which he was drawn back to the lab.