This workshop provides a hands-on learning experience with a focus on a wider variety of AI tools, their ethical implications and their practical applications. The aim is to facilitate the responsible and efficient use of AI-based tools in research and academia.

Content:

• Understand the importance of using AI in research and academia and assess the benefits and risks involved
• Craft effective prompts for your research tasks
• Develop strategies to integrate AI tools into your research workflow
• Stay informed about and adapt to new developments in the field of AI

At the end of the workshop, you will receive a list of generative AI prompts useful in research and academia. There will be practice sessions during the workshop for which you will need access to AI tools, particularly ChatGPT/GPT-4o. If you do not have an account with ChatGPT/GPT-4o, alternatives like Microsoft Copilot, Google Bard or Claude.ai could also be used.

The "Clinical Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Methods and Practice" course aims to cover a range of methodological factors in clinical trials on youths with psychiatric disorders, including psychiatric assessment and psychological as well as pharmacological treatment. The course will provide broad as well as in-depth knowledge about methodological and practical aspects of clinical psychiatric research focusing on children and adolescents. The course also addresses good clinical practice principles and Swedish and international rules and regulations relevant to clinical research involving young individuals.

The course is designed to provide students and researchers with a solid understanding of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a relatively new tool to measure brain activity and will emphasize both theoretical knowledge and practical skills of fNIRS. The students will gain expertise in the underlying principles of fNIRS, its instrumentation, and various analytical approaches. The primary goal is to empower students with the knowledge of this additional neuroimaging tool to design and execute advanced experiments, interpret fNIRS data effectively, and contribute to cutting-edge research in neuroscience and related fields.

The main purpose of the course is to provide the students with a solid understanding of the tools available to analyze brain structural data measured with structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI). The students will develop the ability to critically review results provided by different methods, to select the most adequate tools and experimental designs to answer different questions and to compare their relative advantages.

This course provides a solid ground in neuroscience, including cellular neuroscience, sensory and motor functions, and higher brain functions. It is intended for those lacking a basic neuroscience education. It runs in parallel with the Neuroscince course of the Bachelors programme in biomedicine. The course does not give regular course credits for doctoral students, but can be used to cover the demand of a grounding course in human physiology/pathology.

This course takes you on a journey into the exploration of how the brain shapes and enables our social and affective behaviors. We will examine key questions, such as how we learn from each other, when and in what ways social norms influence us, and how our communication and social decision-making unfold. 

The course covers the theoretical background to the brain imaging methods sMRI, fMRI, PET, EEG and MEG, such as what aspects of the human brain's structure and function they register, and the operation principles of the imaging instruments. The coursed gives the student a good understanding in how the different methods are used within in academic research as well as within health care. The course also addresses how the imaging methods can be combined in multimodal analyses, and discusses the interplay between development of theory, instrumentation, method, and applications.
The course begins with an introduction to brain imaging methods within neuroscience. In separate course modules, the course then offers the student a deeper understanding of the different methods sMRI, fMRI, PET, EEG and MEG, as well as combining them in multimodal brain imaging. Finally, the students will deepen their knowledge on a topic of their choice in an individual study project.

The purpose of the course is to introduce the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) in mental healthcare focused on theoretical development, ethics and practical application informed by a scientific approach.

This course provides students with in-depth knowledge in the field of digital health from an entrepreneurship perspective. Domains of digital health, needs-based innovation including prototyping, usability and testing as well as data management, intellectual property, reimbursement, business models, ethics and future trends will be discussed and analyzed.

This course is a basic course on advanced fluorescence microscopy imaging and correlation spectroscopy techniques for quantitative characterization of molecular transport and interactions in live cells. The purpose of the course is to give an introduction of the underlying physicochemical principles, hands-on training and an overview of applications of these specialized techniques in biomedical research. At the end of the course, the student will have hands-on experience with live-cell imaging and specialized fluorescence microscopy and correlation spectroscopy techniques. The course is suitable for doctoral students lacking training in mathematics, physics, or optical engineering who want to apply these techniques in their research.

The course aim is that the doctoral student develops a theory of science approach by enabling the doctoral student to understand, employ, reflect upon and critically assess concepts and ideas of theories of science as well as their implications for in particular medical scientific practice. A further aim is to enable the doctoral student to understand, reflect upon and critically assess views on and implications of definitions of health and disease.

The course is given online. The teaching and learning activities used are web lectures, written examination, individual writing exercises, an individual written assignment, and reading of course literature and other distributed materials.

The course aims to introduce students to human sensory perception with a focus on clinical utility and research. The neurological and evolutionary principles underlying vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and additional methods of perception will be covered.

The course will introduce the historical and evolutionary context for our senses, so as to provide an understanding for why humans operate and behave the way we do. Beyond the traditional five senses of vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, we will discuss several other sensory modalities available to humans, including the vestibular system. The neurological principles guiding the integration of these senses will be outlined, with special reference to subconscious and conscious decision-making. These systems will then be tested through a series of practical experiments, giving students a chance to reflect on blind-spots in human perception and how to implement these in a scientific and clinical setting. Finally, common sensory pathologies will be discussed.

The course reviews central concepts and topical research in stress, sleep and health. In particular, it is focused on how acute stress, chronic stress, diurnal rhythm and sleep problems affect and interact physiological systems such as the immune system, the endocrine system, cognitive processes and possible consequences for health. The course encompasses neuroscientific and other biological perspectives, and describes interventions to improve stress- and sleep related symptoms. Theoretical models and methods to understand and study stress- and sleep related processes will be applied. 

The course will be provided fully online, partly via Zoom but also taking advantage of recent digital tools such as Gather; and using Canvas as the learning platform in-between in-class sessions.

Why doesn't the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) regenerate while many other tissues do? Which cutting-edge technologies and models are most effective for studying CNS repair? What regenerative strategies can be designed to rebuild such a complex tissue? Led by renowned experts and featuring distinguished international speakers, this course will delve into the intricacies of how the CNS responds to injury at a cellular and molecular level, as well as the most advanced research into regenerative therapies ranging from stem cell-based to gene therapies. The curriculum spans from fundamental research to preclinical development, with a particular focus on state-of-the-art approaches for studying CNS injury, degeneration, and repair.

Selection will be based on:
1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation),
2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)

Our MATLAB-based comprehensive course is designed to equip you with the essential knowledge and practical skills to delve into biomedical image processing, specifically tailored for biological/medical and neuroimaging applications using MATLAB.

Selection will be based on:
1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation),
2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)

The course provides a deeper understanding of neurodegenerative disorders from a basic to a clinical perspective. It consist of a combination of lectures, lab demonstrations and group dicussions led by experts in the field. It covers cellular and molecular pathophysiological mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders and the mechanisms of current and/or possible future treatments. We will discuss similarities and differences between the different neurodegenerative diseases. The students will also be introduced to some powerful techniques that can be used for studying neurodegeneration, subcellular localization, and omics approaches. We will discuss advantages and drawbacks of important methods and models for studying mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disorders

SELECTION

Selection will be based on:  
1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant’s doctoral project (according to written motivation). 
2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date). 

The course consists of theoretical sessions and practical work related to decision-making, memory formation and emotion. It will also include the neuroanatomy related to these functions using both MRI and human brains. The participants will be actively involved in group work dealing with practical and theoretical aspects of cognitive neuroanatomy.

Selection will be based on:
1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant's doctoral project (according to written motivation),
2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date)

Developmental biology lies at the heart of an effort to understanding complex biological systems. By studying how neural circuits are assembled we can extrapolate key aspects of their function as well as devise strategies for their repair. This course is given to deepen the understanding of how molecular and cellular mechanisms underlie neurobiological function and to widen the horizon of students within the strong Karolinska neuroscience community.

Contents of the course: The course will cover the main steps of development from neural stem cells to mature circuits, including the patterning of the neural plate and thus the origin of cell types, the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic factors, gene regulation including epigenetics, neuro-glia interactions and the role of network activity in shaping the final circuits. Different molecular and tracing technologies, and model organisms will be covered. An important aspect of the course regards molecular technologies for labeling, transcriptional analysis, and genetic manipulation of defined neural populations. Connections between aberrant developmental processes and neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders will be discussed.

Course director

The course is given by four course-leaders: Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, Jens Hjerling-Leffler and Ulrika Marklund all at MBB and François Lallemend at Dept of Neuroscience.

The purpose of the course is for participants to gain knowledge concerning genetics, molecular mechanisms as well as clinical features and treatment strategies of neurodegenerative disorders.

SELECTION

Selection will be based on:  
1) the relevance of the course syllabus for the applicant’s doctoral project (according to written motivation). 
2) start date of doctoral studies (priority given to earlier start date). 

Experimental neuroscience is key to progress in the understanding of how the brain functions. The experimental toolbox for studies in rodents is currently without comparison, allowing detailed investigation of how the brain is built and the function of brain circuits. Technological advances also make it possible to directly connect neurons and circuits to behaviour. 

In the Brain Circuits course, students will meet international and KI neuroscientists who have made significant contributions to the study and understanding of neuronal circuits and behaviour. The development and application of novel technologies and analysis (high-density electrophysiology and imaging of single-neuron activity, optogenetics, behavioural tracking, machine learning etc) will be covered, with a focus on advances using transgenic rodents. We have a strong emphasis on engaging junior neuroscientists in the course and on creating a network for future neuroscience leaders.