Kate Jeffery is a neuroscientist researching how the brain makes an internal representation of space, the so-called “cognitive map”, which it can use for navigation. She studied medicine originally, and as a student became interested in the question of how the brain makes “knowledge” using neurons. After qualification she embarked upon a research career to investigate this question by studying the activity of a class of brain cells called place cells, which seem to form the core of a place-knowledge system used for both navigation and memory. Her current research focuses on how the brain represents complex space, with a particular focus on two main issues: three dimensional space, and the internal “sense of direction”. She heads the Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience in the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at UCL, and is co-director of the electrophysiology company Axona Ltd, which makes high-density recording systems for behavioural neuroscientists. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Fellow and Vice-President of the Royal Institute of Navigation, and holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award.