About

The Berlin School of Mind and Brain is an international research school, located in the vibrant heart of Berlin. Founded in 2006 as part of Germany's Excellence Initiative, it offers a unique, three-year, interdisciplinary doctoral programme in English in the mind/brain sciences. Research within the school focuses on the interface between the humanities and neurosciences. Of particular interest are research areas that fall on the borders between the mind sciences (e.g., philosophy, linguistics, behavioural and cognitive science, economics), and the brain sciences (e.g., neurophysiology, computational neuroscience, neurology, and neurobiology). Students acquire a strong foundation in interdisciplinary work by attending a teaching programme during the first two years of their doctoral project, which covers all fields relevant to mind/brain-related research and allows students to explore research methods and topics to which they have not been previously exposed. Each doctoral candidate is assigned two professorial advisers - one from the brain sciences and one from the mind sciences - in order to maximise the interdisciplinary impact of their work. Major topics of research within the programme include conscious and unconscious perception, decision-making, language, brain plasticity and lifespan ontogeny, mental disorders and brain dysfunction, social cognition, and philosophy of mind. However, research is not limited to these areas, and students are strongly encouraged to develop and work on their own initiative on any projects that are relevant to interdisciplinary questions relating to mind and brain. Excellence in Training and Research The school has a faculty comprising nearly 60 distinguished researchers, including several Max Planck directors, who cover the gamut of research in 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 Humboldt-UniversitÃ¤t, the school's research programme includes scientists from the Freie UniversitÃ¤t, the Technische UniversitÃ¤t, 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, Leipzig, and Magdeburg. Through our lecture series, students meet with leading international researchers, and they attend international workshops and meetings. http://www.mind-and-brain.de/doctoral-program/

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Master's degree or equivalent (Research Master, e.g., MA, MSc, MPhil, MLitt), "Diplom", "Staatsexamen", or "Magister" in a field related to mind and brain research, such as philosophy, linguistics, psychology, medicine, computer science, biology, law, or economics

Fee Information

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted through the online application tool.Â The central requirement for admittance to the school is the applicantâ€™s proposal for a doctoral research project that has been developed by himself or herself. All research proposals must have clear mind/brain relevance. For more information: http://www.mind-and-brain.de/doctoral-program/application/.