Bernstein members participate successfully in the Excellence Initiative

Also in the second round of this program, the results of which were publically announced on June 15, concepts of many Bernstein members prevailed. Scientists of the Bernstein Network are now affiliated with 9 of the 11 universities with a future concept now selected for funding, and contribute to 9 of the 43 now funded Clusters of Excellence and to 8 of the 45 now funded Graduate Schools.

Up to now, Bernstein scientists were working at 8 of the 9 universities that received funding within the first program round (Aachen, FU Berlin, Freiburg, Göttingen, Heidelberg, Konstanz, LMU Munich, TU Munich). With RWTH Aachen, FU Berlin, the universities of Heidelberg and Constance and the two Munich universities, 6 of these institutions receive continued funding. From November, also the universities of Bernstein scientists at HU Berlin and the universities of Bremen and Tübingen will be included into the illustrious circle of funded universities.

Of the 8 existing Clusters of Excellence in which Bernstein members were involved, 6 are granted funding for another 5 years. In addition, 3 new clusters prevailed in the contest for new funding:

• The new Freiburg cluster „BrainLinks-BrainTools“ will investigate the function of the human brain and develop new interfaces that will allow patients to control technical devices with their nervous system.
Link: http://www.brainlinks.uni-freiburg.de/

• The new Oldenburg cluster „Hearing4all“ deals with models, technology and solutions for diagnostics, restoration and support of hearing.
Link: http://www.zentrumfuerhoerforschung.uni-oldenburg.de/

• The new Munich cluster „SyNergy“ puts the systems aspect of neurology into its focus.

Bernstein scientists also contributed successfully to new training concepts. 8 out of the 9 graduate schools that were previously funded and have Bernstein members in their faculty were selected for extended funding.

The successful contributions of the Bernstein Network to the Excellence Initiative impressively document the value that the German scientific landscape attributes to Computational Neuroscience and neuroscience in general.

A complete list of all projects funded in the Excellence Initiative with contributions of Bernstein members can be found at:
http://www.nncn.uni-freiburg.de/nachrichten-en/bernsteinexin2/

The National Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience (NNCN) is a funding initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) that interconnects German research capacities in computational neuroscience. The network is named after the German physiologist Julius Bernstein (1835–1917).

Contact:

Dr. Simone Cardoso de Oliveira
Bernstein Coordination Site
Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience
Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg
Hansastr. 9A
79104 Freiburg, Germany
phone: +49-761-203-9583
cardoso@bcos.uni-freiburg.de