Introductory Courses

Building on the success of the Introductory Courses organised at FENS 2018 in Berlin, the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) is pleased to announce that introductory courses will be held prior to the FENS Forum 2020 on Friday 10 July 2020. 

These courses, hosted at venues across Glasgow, aim to introduce ECRs and academics to hot topics outside their current research area. Each course, which is kindly sponsored by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation or the BNA, will be delivered by internationally renowned researchers and build from a broad and easy-to-understand introduction to the latest cutting edge research. 

All courses take place on Friday 10 July 2020, 9am - 5pm and include refreshments. 

Please click on the links below for more information about each course and to register. 

Improving mental health and psychiatric disorders: complementary preclinical and clinical research - University of Strathclyde

This course will cover how preclinical and clinical research approaches can complement each other through translation and back-translation to lead to greater understanding of and improvement in treatment of mental health and psychiatric disorders.

Credibility of Neuroscience: increasing the transparency and reliability of modern-day neuroscience  - University of Strathclyde

This course will highlight the key issues that threaten the credibility of neuroscience and provide a comprehensive overview of the proposed open and reproducible science solutions - and how they can be implemented into neuroscience research (at all stages of scientific discovery).  

The microbiome and the gut-brain axis: What is it and why is it important? - University of Strathclyde

The microbiota-gut-brain axis is emerging as an important regulator of brain and behaviour across the lifespan. This course will focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying such brain effects and how they can be exploited by nutritional means.

Manipulating neuronal activity using chemo- and optogenetics - University of Glasgow  

Hear from researchers using tools to study circuits in various regions of the rodent central nervous system, discover how these approaches are being applied in other animal models, and see how these technologies are likely to evolve in the near future.

Glial Cells: Identities, functions and roles in brain health and disease - Glasgow Caledonian University

This course will provide a general introduction to astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia, from their basic features and roles to recent advances in knowledge of their functional roles. 

These events are supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and organised by the British Neuroscience Association

12th FENS Forum - 11-15 July, Glasgow 2020    

The introductory courses precede the 12th FENS Forum of Neurosience. Please see the main meeting website for full information and registration: https://forum2020.fens.org/