Aims of the Graduiertenkolleg „Development and Plasticity of the Nervous System“The GK represents a new Neuroscience Programme at the Ruhr-University Bochum. The GK complements and extends the neuroscientific research of the currently existing Sonderforschungsbereich 509 „Neurovision“ and collaborates with the „International Graduate School for Neuroscience, IGSN“ at Ruhr-University. We offer for graduate (PhD) students of the Natural Sciences and Medicine a high level interdisciplinary neuroscientific education and methodological training. Topic: Developmental Neurobiology with well-defined research projects on neurogenesis, axonal and dendritic differentiation, molecular aspects of pre- and postsynaptic differentiation and electrical coupling, synaptic plasticity, on the role of neurotrophic factors for cell differentiation, and programmed cell death of distinct neuronal populations in animal models for neurological diseases (details at : Research Groups and Projects). Accordingly, the students accepted into the Programme will be educated and trained in an exceptional variety of neuroscientific concepts and modern techniques. We encourage teams! The Group Leaders (Thesis Advisor) contributing to the Graduate Programme have designed interdisciplinary research projects: besides working in their „home labs“ students will work in associated labs in order to learn and run the techniques and methods required for their projects under supervision of associated thesis advisors. These collaborations are essential aspects of the research projects. We explicitly encourge team work of the students which should cumulate in joint publications. The Advisor and the Associate Advisor will eventually prepare the reviews of the doctoral thesis and run the examinations and the Thesis Defense. The Study Programme offers a broad selection of special courses, mostly practical courses. A weekly colloquium with invited speakers will be centered around our research topics. The IGSN lecture (winter term) introduces all aspects of Neuroscience. Special Lectures of the Advisors will review aspects of Developmental Neurobiology. The colloquium of the SFB 509, lecture and seminar series of the groups/departments, and GK-internal seminars presented by the students contribute to the theoretical education. The doctoral thesis has to be prepared within 3 years. The title „Dr. rer. nat“ or „PhD“ will be awarded after a defense of the thesis / rigorosum either in the Faculties or at the IGSN (PhD in Neuroscience). |