.: About the Network of European Neuroscience Schools

The Network of European Neuroscience Schools

In Europe, Neuroscience education at the graduate level is characterised by its broad spectrum of specialist areas as well as a rich diversity of research fields. In addition to schools that focus on the entire neuroscience field, multiple schools exist that focus specifically on either molecular, cellular, developmental, systems, cognitive, clinical or computational neuroscience.

The Network of European Neuroscience Schools (NENS), was founded in 2003, and represents over 130 graduate schools and programmes across ca. 30 european countries that offer Master’s, MD, PhD and doctoral degrees in neuroscience. NENS is a formal structure within the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS).

NENS offers a basis for communication between european neuroscience graduate programmes, that creates a basis for mutual support. Specifically, we have the following goals:

• the promotion of the European higher education area in the field
• assisting in generating quality standards in neuroscience programmes
• encouraging and supporting mobility among graduate students and teachers
• increasing choices and opportunities for graduate students
• improving the cooperation among current and future European scientists
• generating new and significant knowledge in the field
• laying the basis for obtaining consortium funding at national and EU levels

Concrete support for your programme and your graduate students

NENS offers a yearly annual general meeting where coordinators and directors of NENS member schools and graduate programmes can come together to discuss common issues and dilemmas that we face in optimising neuroscience graduate education, engaging in state of the art research, and recruiting talented students to our programmes. Advice and exchange of experiences in terms of grant acquisition, identification of grant application partners, discussions of recruitment strategies, credit pointing, and quality control are key areas of discussion. NENS members are given the opportunity to talk about their programmes and experiences, and give feedback to NENS as to the kind of support needed.

NENS offers stipends for graduate students that would like to gain methodological or practical experience in the laboratory of another NENS member school. Grants are targeted at graduate students at the Masters level or early phase of the doctoral studies, that wish to acquire key new skills for integration into their research work. Funding of up to 1,000 € can be acquired. Only students of NENS members schools are eligible to apply. Calls are regularly announced on the NENS website.

Why your neuroscience school should join

With over 130 members schools and programmes, representing at a conservative estimate over 5,000 neuroscience graduate students and ca. 2,500 teachers and senior researchers, NENS offers a powerful voice and lobby at the European level.

Our shared experiences and the establishment of a tradition of mutual support both in terms of neuroscience education and research, means that each school can optimise its quality, recruitment potential and output.

As a whole this renders Europe and extremely attractive basis for completing neuroscience degrees at the graduate level, and prtusuing postgrdaute career on the European continent.

In addition, NENS boasts the most comprehensive online source of neuroscience graduate school information in Europe.

In joining NENS, you can:

• Become part of NENS neuroscience graduate programme directory and avail of the opportunity to advertise your programme to a huge international readership
• Advertise vacancies and announce educational events at your institution to an international user base via the NENS website
• Expand your professional and personal networks across the European neuroscience community
• Identify cooperation partners within other neuroscience graduate programmes
• Benefit from exchange of methodological know-how between NENS members
• Take part in the NENS Annual Meetings and meet Neuroscience coordinators from all over Europe.
• Gain access to training stipends for your graduate students
• Receive our monthly NENS Newsletter with up-to-date information on the community and in-depths reporting on member programmes

How to register with NENS

Do you offer a structured Master's or doctoral degree programme in the neurosciences? To register with NENS, simply go to our online platform, register on the website, fill in a questionnaire and add your neuroscience programme or school to the directory. That's it!
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you within the NENS community.

If you are a student

As a student you can make use of all our web services. You have the possibility to search the programme directory, identify Master;s or PhD programmes of interest, find out about training opportunities in our member programmes & schools, and read the monthly newsletter. What’s more, you can get into contact with other students and programme officers via the Discussion Board.

For further information contact the NENS Office on nens-office@rub.de

NENS Committee

Chair	Denise Manahan-Vaughan, Germany
Committee Members	Pavle Andjus, Serbia Jean-Pierre Hornung, Switzerland Mariken de Krom, The Netherlands Jolanta B. Zawilska, Poland
Ex officio, FENS Secretary-General	Asla Pitkänen, Finland
Ex officio, FENS Treasurer	Alois Saria, Austria

NENS Office

Ruhr University Bochum
Universitaetsstr. 150
44780 Bochum
Tel: +49 (0)234 32 29174
Mail: nens-office@rub.de