From the 31st of July until the 5th of August, 2023 the University of Pisa will host the European Summer School in Neuroscience, a summer course intended for Master’s degree students, who are interested in delving into the complexity of the human mind and brain under the guidance of renowned European specialists. The Summer School is an initiative organized in the framework of Circle U. – the European University Alliance that brings together the universities of Aarhus, Belgrade, Berlin, Louvain, Oslo, Paris Cité, Pisa, Vienna and King’s College London – and particularly from the cooperation between the University of Pisa, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, UCLouvain, and Aarhus University.
The course is mainly aimed at students who have acquired a Bachelor’s degree and are about to start or have already started a Master’s degree course in Neuroscience. However, given the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience, the course is also meant for students with significantly different backgrounds, such as medicine, biology, psychology, philosophy, engineering, bioengineering. The Summer School will use the “Blended Intensive Programme” format, with a five-day online part (24th-28th July 2023) and a five-day classroom part in Pisa (31st July-5th August 2023). There are thirty places available and the enrolment period ends on the 1st of June (follow this link for more information).
The training objective of the course is to promote the development of critical thinking and creativity, while building a solid theoretical foundation on the physiology of sensory systems. The BIP format appears ideal, as it consists of two parts. The first one, taught remotely, will be dedicated to bringing all students up to speed on the basic physiology of sensory systems; the second part, taught in presence in Pisa with lectures at Le Benedettine teaching centre, aims to open up research to students, who will be able to take part in the discussion of ongoing experiments presented by scientists of international fame. The students will have the opportunity to experience and use some of the main techniques in the field, including neuroimaging.
“Circle U. represented a stimulus to networking and to broadening the educational offer,” comments Professor Paola Binda, contact person for the Master’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of Pisa and coordinator of the Summer School. “Besides their common research interests, the four co-organisers also share the same approach to second-level neuroscience studies. The course in Neuroscience of the University of Pisa has an international focus: all activities are in English, and students are encouraged to do their thesis internships abroad. I see Circle U. as an opportunity to improve the circulation of talents, as well as promoting access to the world of research starting from the Master’s degree level”.