Approaches to Brain Research

The brain researcher Ad Aertsen, who is Professor of Neurobiology and Biophysics and Director of the Bernstein Center Freiburg for many years, is convinced: “We have to get people interested in science!” That is why he and his colleague Prof. Dr. Stefan Rotter have enlisted several supporters to help revive a tradition of lecture series after a break of many years. The scientists are now inviting all who are interested to attend their new lecture series “Wege zur Erforschung des Gehirns” (Approaches to Brain Research) this Winter Semester 2017/18. The first lecture will be on October 23, 2017.

How are rats able to hunt in the dark? What goes on in our brains when we formulate a sentence? Can monkeys count, and why is it important for us to know this? In which neurological structures does fear manifest itself, and how can we control it? What happens in the brain during an epileptic seizure, and what does this mean for medical treatment? What is philosophy’s point of view on brain research? These and many more questions will be discussed in way that laypeople can also understand in the lectures by researchers from a variety of disciplines from the University of Freiburg and other institutions.

The lecture series is intended for a broader audience, and the lectures are open to all who are interested in the latest developments of brain research. The first lecture will be held by Prof. Dr. Michael Brecht from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. He will talk about the interplay between physical contact, stimuli, and the brain.

The lecture series is organized by the Bernstein Center Freiburg, the center for experimental and theoretical research in computational neuroscience and neurotechnology at the University of Freiburg.

The lectures will be held in German every Monday at 7 p.m. in the main lecture hall in the Faculty of Biology II/III, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg. The roughly 40-minute lectures will be followed by a discussion. Admission is free.

For more on the lecture series program (in German), please visit:
www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/ringvorlesung

For more information about the Bernstein Center Freiburg, go to:
www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de