Curriculum overview and credits
⇒ Please read the Admission page for an update!
Doctoral research project
Throughout the three-year program doctoral candidates will work on their research projects.The second and third years will be dedicated almost exclusively to research and dissertation writing.
Teaching program
Teaching weeks (21 CP)
Each course is conducted either as a week-long block course (30 hours of teaching) or as a weekly course during the semester (2 hours/week × 15 weeks).
First semester (October - February)
1 Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology (3 CP)
2 Basic Philosophical Concepts and Philosophy of Mind (3 CP)
3 Cognitive Neuroscience (3 CP)
4 Clinical Neuroscience (3 CP)
5 Ethics of Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence (international winter school) (3 CP)
Second semester (April - July)
6 Neuroimaging (3 CP)
7 Language and the Brain (3 CP)
Candidates take written exams at the end of each of the classes. Exams will be graded according to the German grading system: 1.0–1.3 A=excellent; 1.7–2.0 B=very good; 2.3–3.0 C=good; 3.3 D=satisfactory; 3.7–4.0 E=sufficient; less than 4.0 FX/F fail.
Key competencies’ courses (5 CP)
- Good Scientific Practice (1.25 CP) (recommended for first year)
- Scientific writing (1.25 CP) (recommended for first year)
- Scientific presentation (1.25 CP) (recommended for second year)
- Grant-application writing (1.25 CP) (recommended for third year)
See also: Key competencies courses
Presentations, lectures, workshops (5 CP)
= Update August 2026! =
For cohorts 12–18 (start 2018–2024), most of the activities listed below will not have taken place within the Berlin School of Mind and Brain’s doctoral program. Please check with the M&B management (Annette Winkelmann, mb-manager@hu-berlin.de) whether you are eligible to receive all, some, or any of the credits for this section in your transcripts (e.g., for documented participation in scientific conferences with own talk/poster and/or attendance of the M&B poster presentations 2018/2021).
- Conference attendance with own talks or posters
- Journal and methods clubs of cohorts
- Annual research reviews in poster presentations, lab presentations or colloquia
- Annual academic retreats (self organized, if available)
- Participation in international lecture series
