WOMEN'S TRAVEL AWARDS - BERLIN SCHOOL OF MIND AND BRAIN

WOMEN'S TRAVEL AWARDS - BERLIN SCHOOL OF MIND AND BRAIN

Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin
Berlin School of Mind and BrainWeb: www.mind-and-brain.de
Email: admissions@mind-and-brain.de

The Berlin School of Mind and Brain is an international research school,
which was founded in 2006 as part of Germany's Excellence Initiative. The
School offers a unique three-year interdisciplinary doctoral program in
English in the mind and brain sciences.As part of the Berlin School of Mind and Brain's commitment to supporting
women in science and the humanities, the School is delighted to announce a
limited number of travel awards for female students who are interested in
exploring the possibility of doctoral studies at the School.

Successful applicants will receive reimbursement for accommodation, travel
costs, plus a per diem to cover living expenses during their visit.
Candidates will be invited to visit the School during the week of the 7-12
December 2009, and will have ample opportunities to meet with faculty and
students relevant to their research interests, as well as have a chance to
view the School's facilities, and to get a better sense of city itself. In
addition, they will be encouraged to participate in Berlin Brain Days (9-11
December 2009), an annual event that brings together more than 200 doctoral
students from across the neurosciences to discuss and present their work
with senior international faculty.

In order to be eligible for this award you need to meet the basic
eligibility criteria for applying to the School's doctoral program in 2010
or 2011 (in particular you need to have completed or be in the process of
completing a Master's or equivalent degree in an area of study relevant to
the School). Further details about eligibility criteria for study at the
School can be found at: http://www.mind-and-brain.de/63.0.html. Applications
(and questions) should be made to admissions@hu-berlin.de; please include a
short 1-2 page letter of application (detailing your reasons for applying
for the travel award, your background and research interests), your academic
CV, as well as a letter of recommendation.

The deadline for applications is 1 November 2009.

Further details about the School and its program can be found below. We look
forward to hearing from you soon!

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Research within the School focuses on the interface between the humanities
and the neurosciences. Of particular interest are research areas that fall
on the borders between the mind sciences (e.g., philosophy, linguistics,
behavioral and cognitive science, economics), and the brain sciences (e.g.,
neurophysiology, computational neuroscience, neurology, and neurobiology).
Major topics of research within the program include: 'conscious and
unconscious perception', 'decision-making', 'language', 'brain plasticity
and lifespan ontogeny', 'mental disorders and brain dysfunction', and the
'philosophy of mind'. However, research is not limited to these areas, and
students are strongly encouraged to develop and work at their own initiative
on any projects that are relevant to interdisciplinary questions relating to
mind and brain.

The School accepts eight-to-twelve doctoral candidates into its program each
year. Here are some excellent reasons why students might wish to be
considered for one of these highly sought after positions at the Berlin
School of Mind and Brain:

* The School has a faculty comprised of 60 distinguished researchers,
including four Max Planck directors, which cover the gamut of research
within the mind and brain sciences.

* Research within the School is strongly embedded in the basic and clinical
research conducted within the region allowing for strong synergistic
research initiatives and opportunities. Hosted by the Humboldt University,
the School's research program includes scientists from the Free University,
the Technical University, the Bernstein Center for Computational
Neuroscience, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Berlin), the
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (Leipzig), and
the nearby universities of Potsdam and Magdeburg.

* Students acquire a strong foundation for interdisciplinary work by
attending eight one-week classes during the first half of their doctoral
program, which cover all fields relevant for mind/brain-related research,
and allow students to explore research methods and topics that they have not
been previously exposed to. Each doctoral candidate is assigned two
professorial advisors - one from the brain sciences, one from the mind
sciences - in order to maximize the interdisciplinary impact of their work.

* Students meet with leading international researchers via the School's
Distinguished Lecture Series, interactions with its senior visiting faculty,
as well as by attending international workshops and meetings. As part of the
School's commitment to maximizing students' research opportunities, the
School also encourages and provides assistance for students to spend time
studying and conducting research abroad during the course of their doctoral
candidacy.

* Extensive practical services to international doctoral candidates are
available, including assistance with visa applications, matriculation,
health insurance, local authorities, scientific soft skill courses, and
language classes.

Finally, there are good financial reasons for studying at the Berlin School
of Mind and Brain:

* There are no tuition fees associated with the program.

* Administrative fees are very low. Administrative fees for attending the
Humboldt University come to only approximately 250 Euros per semester.

* The School offers generous scholarships to the best applicants. Students
who were not successful in winning one of the school's own scholarships will
receive support in obtaining alternative sources of funding (e.g. a research
post within a university department or with one of the School's research
groups, or help in finding alternative funding sources for a scholarship).

Recent progress in the neurosciences has opened up new and exciting avenues
for research that raise challenging conceptual and ethical questions calling
for an interdisciplinary approach. The Berlin School of Mind and Brain
offers a unique research and training environment for doctoral candidates to
work at this exciting interface between the sciences and the humanities.

--
Patrick Wilken, PhD

Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin
Berlin School of Mind and Brain
Luisenstra?e 56
D-10099 Berlin

www.mind-and-brain.de