| (A)
Introduction
(B) General structure (C) Introductory lectures (D) Technical workshops (E) Additional lectures taken from a catalogue of neuroscience lectures (F) Project participations (G) The steering committee (H) Master thesis (I) Time table |
This is just a
proposal. It is presented here to kindle reactions and discussion. For
the moment, no practical realization is in sight. Please address your comments
to michael.berger
@univie.ac.at. |
At several places in Europe, international graduate Neuroscience
Programs have been implemented during the last years (Helsinki,
London,
Oxford,
Göttingen,
Tübingen,
Copenhagen,
Maastricht,
Triest,
Zürich,
Bochum,
Berlin).
They recruit students from all countries of the world, and from all neuroscience
disciplines. In the first part of these programs, introductory lectures
supply the basic knowledge necessary for the participants to be in the
position to follow more specialized presentations in the various disciplines.
In the second part, the students are confronted with various techniques
applied in neuroscience research in workshops and by actively participating
in specific research projects. In the third part, a master thesis is prepared,
usually followed by a Ph.D. thesis. All programs encourage a high degree
of diversification, including lab rotations to other universities. In the
near future, students might change between several neuroscience programs
all over Europe. Coordination between different neuroscience programs will
facilitate the exchange of students. A Vienna Neuroscience Program will
establish the University Vienna as participant and beneficiary of an international
network of neuroscience training programs.
(B) General structure
of a Vienna Neuroscience Training Program
The establishment of a graduate Neuroscience Program at the University Vienna is the next logical step after the implementation of the Vienna Brain Research Institute in the year 2000. This program will be open to international students at the lowest collegiate level (bachelor or equivalent). Applicants should have completed undergraduate studies in natural sciences or medicine, or in psychology or informatics. Thus, it carries the idea of multidisciplinarity to the extreme, and will be at least as challenging for the lecturers as for the students.
For the beginning of each 2nd winter term, up to 20 students would be recruited from an international background on the basis of a world-wide announcement; they go through the program as a class. Language of the introductory lectures and of the workshops will be English; applicants whose native language is not English must show proof of English proficiency. An optional German language course would accompany the whole program, to allow the students also the participation in lectures in German. The M.Sc. program would take 2 years (4 semesters), and only each 2nd year, a new class is recruited. At the end, the program awards the degree of a Master of Neuroscience. Participants will be encouraged to continue the program with a Ph.D. thesis (2-3 years).
During the 1st semester, the Vienna Neuroscience Program foresees an introductory series of lectures (90 min once a week) covering all disciplines contributing to neuroscience. Always the same competent experts will participate in all lectures, either as speakers or as discussants. Due to the high level of the academic participants, discussions will be stimulating and exciting not only for the students. The versatility of the academic lecturers and their openness to all disciplines of neuroscience will be an indispensable prerequisite for the supervision of an ambitious neuroscience training program. The lecturers will constitute the core of a program steering committee. The introductory lectures will be open to the curiosity of guests.
The students will be sponsored on a financial basis still
to be established. Sponsoring will have to include university fees and
standardized grants for the participation in research projects (compensation
of material expenses). Students from abroad may apply to an academic exchange
service for covering their living expenses.
(C) Introductory
lectures: 90 min once a week (i.e. 2 h) during the 1st
semester, in English language:
(1) Biological basis of Neuroscience: 4 x 45 min
(2) Molecular basis of Neuroscience: 4 x 45 min
(3) Cellular basis of Neuroscience: 4 x 45 min
(4) Neuropharmacology: 4 x 45 min
(5) Informatics, AI, Cognitive Science: 4 x 45 min
(6) Behavior of animals and humans: 4 x 45 min
(7) Diseases of the brain: 4 x 45 min
These lectures do not convey specific neuroscientific
contents, but knowledge necessary as a prerequisite for the acquisition
of more specific knowledge. In each 90 min presentation, 2 speakers will
present basic knowledge from 2 disciplines from the list above. At the
end of the 1st semester,
the students have to pass a single written exam with simple questions from
all 7 disciplines. Students only pass, if in each discipline at least 50%
of the answers were correct.
(D) Technical workshops:
The class as a whole will be introduced (again in English language) by
specialists to various neuroscience topics as e.g. electron microscopy,
immuno-cytochemistry, patch clamp, receptor binding, neuronal cell culture,
handling of laboratory animals as mice and rats, designing and evaluation
of psychological tests, EEG recording, brain dissection, brain imaging
techniques, computer simulation of neuronal activity, and more. The class
is introduced to the topic by a theoretical presentation and a subsequent
practical demonstration; subdivision of the class into groups of 3-6 students
may be convenient. Usually, the workshops might take 3-4 h.
(E) In addition,
the students acquire knowledge from lectures taken from a catalogue
of neuroscience lectures during all 4 semesters of the M.Sc. program
(10 h, not exceeding 4 h per discipline as outlined in F).
A steering committee (see G) decides on the lectures to
be included in this catalogue. The catalogue is subject to dynamic changes
and may not only include lectures at the University Vienna. However, most
of these lectures will be in German language; therefore, the students must
be able to follow presentations in German (a German language course will
be offered during the whole program). A first version of such a catalogue
of neuroscience lectures is constantly updated since 1998.
(F) Project participations:
Short-term participation in 6 different research projects (duration: 3
weeks) after completion of the 1st
semester (by passing the test). To foster interdisciplinarity, projects
must be selected from at least 3 of the following disciplines:
(1) Molecular
(2) Cellular
(3) Biological
(4) Cognitive, A.I.
(5) Clinical
3 of these 6 projects may take place outside the University
Vienna ("lab rotation"), at one of the European partner neuroscience programs.
(G) A steering
committee, including those responsible for the introductory lectures
and workshops, and the supervisors of the research projects, decides on
the organization of the program. E.g., the project supervisors have the
possibility to suggest the inclusion of basic knowledge into the introductory
presentations.
(H) The master
thesis will consist in the long-term participation in 2 research
projects from 2 different disciplines (duration: 3 months each; not necessarily
related to each other). At least one of these projects has to be located
at the University Vienna. The students prepare a written M.Sc. thesis,
describing their 6 short term and 2 long-term project participations.
(I) Time table:
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