Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience

The Graduate School of Neural and Behavioural Sciences / International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) provides research-oriented training in systems, behavioural and cognitive neuroscience. A major aim of the research is to understand the role of higher brain functions that allow humans and animals to operate successfully in natural environments.  Topics include the neuronal basis of perception and its top-down control by attention, expectation and motivation. Furthermore, spatial orientation, the planning and execution of movements, the storage and retrieval of memories, and the processing of language and communication are all being investigated. A wide spectrum of neuroscientific methods is employed, in particular brain imaging methods and their application in neurology, psychiatry and neurocognition.

The curriculum of this school focuses on:

• functional neuroanatomy

• basics in computational neuroscience

• essential maths, statistics and programming

• physical and physiological basis of brain imaging and recording

• motor and sensory systems neuroscience

• cognitive neuroscience and psychophysics

• neurophysiology and neuropsychology

• mechanisms of learning and memory

• behavioural neuropharmacology

The major partners of this graduate school are, in addition to the CIN, the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Biological Cybernetics and its IMPRS, which provide financial support and whose international scientists contribute extensively to teaching and laboratory training.

The Graduate School of Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience provides research-oriented training with a focus on neurological and psychiatric disorders employing genetic, molecular and cellular approaches, as well as molecular imaging techniques and transgenic mouse technology. Of particular importance is basic and clinical research on mechanisms leading to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. A second research focus is on pathomechanisms in sensory organs, in particular the eye and the inner ear. Further research topics include neuro-oncology, development and regeneration.

The curriculum of this school focuses on:

• molecular and cell biology of neurons and glia

• sensory systems neuroscience and their pathology

• neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neurotransmitters

• cellular and molecular mechanisms of learning and memory

• microscopy/cell and molecular imaging techniques

• genetic and molecular basis of neural diseases

• neural plasticity and neuroregeneration

• model organisms in neurobiology

• behavioural neuropharmacology

• developmental neurobiology

In addition to the CIN, major partners of this graduate school are the Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research and the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases who provide financial support and whose international staff provides teaching and laboratory training.

The Graduate School of Neural Information Processing provides research-oriented training in a wide spectrum of computational neuroscience topics, such as coding principles in the sensory periphery and their clinical application; population coding in the early sensory cortex; perceptual inference mechanisms; and multi-sensory integration processes. Other fields of research include brain computer interfaces, neuroprosthetics and rehabilitation robotics. The interdisciplinary combination of neurobiological, psychophysical and theoretical approaches will not only advance understanding of sensory and neural information processing, but also promote the development of technical devices mitigating lost sensory organ or brain function.

The curriculum of this school focuses on:

• neural data analysis and models of neural coding and computation

• computational motor control and computational vision

• rehabilitation robotics and brain-computer interfaces

• physical and physiological basis of neural recordings and brain imaging

• systems neuroscience and neurophysiology

• basic mechanisms of learning and memory

• mathematics, statistics and programming

• machine learning for neuroscience

• theoretical neuroscience

• behaviour and cognition

The major partners of this graduate school are, in addition to the CIN, the Tübingen Bernstein Centre for Computational Neuroscience and the MPI for Biological Cybernetics and its IMPRS. They provide financial support and their international scientists contribute substantially to teaching and laboratory training. We expect that in the long run members of the newly founded MPI for Intelligent Systems will also make scholarly contributions.

Dean of Studies
Prof. Dr. Horst Herbert
horst.herbert(at)uni-tuebingen.de