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Neuroscience

PhD Program Neuroscience

Modern neuroscience is a multi-disciplinary field that includes biochemistry, molecular neurobiology, cellular neurobiology, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, clinical neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry and neurology. The aim of the neuroscience program is to educate students to PhD level using a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach preparing them for a successful scientific career within the field of neuroscience in academia and/or industry. Besides laboratory based research work under the supervision of faculty members, this program also provides the theoretical backbone of modern neuroscience via lecture courses and practical courses including the very latest cutting edge findings and techniques. If you are interested in this exciting field of research please search the list of participating research groups and get directly in contact with the faculty members to apply for open positions.


Marco Pende receives von Economy award 2018 for best paper of the CBR in 2016/2017.
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The VDS CoBeNe is one of four Doctoral Schools at the University of Vienna established in March 2016. It aims to foster interdisciplinary interactions between research groups in cognitive-, behavioural- and neurosciences at University of Vienna through a coordinated, structured and internationally recognized PhD education.

The mission of the VDS CoBeNe is to enhance academic and professional development of PhD candidates, to advance intellectual communication and scholarship across disciplines and to promote cultural diversity, scientific integrity and international collaboration.


A central question of neuroscience is how complex brain functions, such as learning, memory, pattern separation, pattern completion, and coding of information, emerge from the function of neuronal elements, like molecules, synapses, and neurons. To address this fundamental question, IST Austria has established an interdisciplinary neuroscience research program addressing this question at several levels: at the molecular and developmental level, at the cellular and synaptic level, and the microcircuit and network level. A central goal of the neuroscience groups is to study brain function at a quantitative level. Another major goal is to develop quantitative models, following the Hopfield quote: “Build it, and you understand it“.

Peter Jonas was appointed as a Founder of this Neuroscience Cluster in 2010, followed by Gašper Tkačik, Jozsef Csicsvari, Simon Hippenmeyer, Ryuichi Shigemoto, Gaia Novarino, Sandra Siegert, Maximilian Jösch, and Johann Danzl. The long-term goal is to establish a Neuroscience Research Cluster, which by 2026, will be composed of 15 research groups. The home of neuroscience is Lab Building East, the futuristic architecture of which is reminiscent of the cutting-edge experimental neuroscience projects performed in this building. Several cutting-edge techniques are implemented here, including subcellular patch-clamp recording, confocal and two-photon imaging, electron microscopy, in vivo recording, optogenetics, molecular biology, and superresolution imaging.


The aim of Clinical Neurosciences is innovation in prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of neurological and psychiatric diseases, and a better fundamental understanding of these conditions. In this sense, the applied doctoral program Clinical Neurosciences (CLINS) addresses a wide scope of scientific challenges related to neurological, psychiatric and neuro-muscular disorders in fetus, children, and adults.

Interdisciplinary interaction of diagnostic and therapeutic disciplines in combination with basic biomedical research is a key element of the program. In this way, CLINS aims to provide early stage scientists with scientific competence that enables them to improve biomedical and clinical practice by means of research


The Medical Neuroscience Cluster bundles the clinically relevant research activities in all areas of neuroscience and psychosocial sciences at the Medical University of Vienna. The research groups forming the cluster cover a broad spectrum of disciplines including anatomy, physiology, immunology, cell biology, pathology and pharmacology of the nervous system, neuroimaging, molecular genetics as well as clinical neurology, pediatric neurology, neuroradiology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, psychiatry and psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, child- and adolescent psychiatry.

The overall aim of all members in the MNC is to provide a better understanding of disease mechanisms in the nervous system and the psyche, to improve prevention, diagnosis and therapy and to communicate this knowledge to patients and the public.

Another important goal of the MNC is also to provide a high-level, systematic training for doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and clinical scientists in basic neuroscience as well as in neurological, psychiatric and psychosocial research.


The "Vienna CogSciHub” is a network of researchers at the University of Vienna active in various disciplines of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience

The overarching goal of the Vienna Cognitive Science Hub is to foster interdisciplinary research in the cognitive sciences in Vienna. A unique characteristic of our Hub is that we incorporate “cognitive sciences” in the broadest sense, not just “traditional” fields like psychology and computer science, but also the humanities (art history, linguistics, musicology, and philosophy), and life sciences (cognitive biology, evolution research, and neuroscience). The core topic binding these fields together is methodology: the scientists in the Hub share an empirical mind-set that involves using (and often sharing) a diverse set of methods including eye-tracking, statistical modelling, field methods, virtual reality, EEG, fMRI, and brain stimulation (TMS and tDCS). Meeting as well as office space, and shared research equipment will soon be housed in a shared center, the Vienna CogSciLabs.







© 2021 Austrian Neuroscience Association (ANA) / Österreichische Gesellschaft für Neurowissenschaften (ÖGN) Design by Pritha Biswas