This seminar focuses on the increasing importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic research and writing, providing practical insights into AI technologies; use in these areas.The workshop explores ChatGPT and prompt engineering, as well as other academic AI tools to aid research and writing, examining both benefits and challenges. Ethical aspects, such as copyright and authenticity of research results, are discussed, with the goal of equipping participants with practical knowledge and skills to effectively utilize AI in daily research through interactive elements like case studies and group discussions.

The course is practical and aims at teaching students how to:

• Use the programming environment R and RStudio, which includes installation, how to handle errors, problem solve and access helper documents.
• Use basic concepts of programming, such as data types, logical and arithmetic operators, if else conditions, loops and functions.
• Use common R packages to perform basic statistical analysis (e.g., t-test, chi2-test, correlation) and visual presentation (e.g., boxplot, histogram and heat-map) of data in R.

The course is structured with the intent to gradually make students more autonomous in writing code. Starting by introducing a concept through a lecture, then providing formative quizzes and tasks relateed to the concept. This all leads up to a project (exam) where the student gets to combine multiple concepts into a project with the intent of solving a certain problem or displaying specific statistical tests of visual components. 

Do you need to turn data into a publication figure? We offer tools and confidence for the student to independently select a statistical method for research questions in their field. The course is practical and includes implementing a basic statistical analysis in R, the leading statistical programming language in bioinformatics and medical science. Furthermore, we give a brief introduction to visualization in R, with a focus on R/ggplot2. Students can bring data from their own research project, or work on data from the course.

The course content lean on Design thinking ideology and methodology that inform research as well as developmental work and form a practice-based foundation for innovation aimed to meet the needs of societal and scientific environments. As a student, you work  individually from your own research perspective, and get helpful insights for future research.  

The course apply a problem-oriented teaching and learning style,  with a pedagogy that enables students to take active responsibility for individual and also group learning in a multi-disciplinary context.

Progress in medical innovation stands as a catalyst for worldwide economic growth. Whether within pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, information technology, or a fusion of these advancements, the potential advantages extend significantly to private businesses and societal well-being. However, due to long development times and rigorous regulations, these innovative concepts require a lot of financing to establish their presence in the market. Consequently, assessing the value of novel medical innovations remains crucial. The primary objective of this course is to empower researchers with the proficient capability to effectively assess the worth of emerging technologies or processes within the medical industry.

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.

Dive into the cutting-edge world of nuclear medicine with this comprehensive course that blends theory and hands-on practice. In this one-week course, you will gain invaluable knowledge and skills at the forefront of medical imaging and targeted radiopharmaceutical therapies.

This course offers a unique opportunity to:

• Master the fundamentals of radiation physics and biology
• Explore state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic applications in oncology and neurology
• Gain practical experience handling radiopharmaceuticals in a laboratory setting
• Understand the latest developments in personalised medicine using radioactive tracers

Upon completing the course, you will be allowed to handle radiopharmaceuticals and open radioactive sources at Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital.

The course will introduce neuropsychological assessment in an aging population, focusing on age-related cognitive changes and their neural correlates. An additional purpose is to increase understanding of cognitive aging and how to differentiate between non-pathological cognitive aging and early signs of pathology. After the course, you will be able to define and describe common neuropsychological concepts and measurement techniques and demonstrate an overall understanding of neuropsychological investigation methodology and cognitive diagnostics in aging. The course will give you an increased understanding of cognitive aging and the complexity of differentiating between “normal” and early-stage pathological aging.

This course will provide curious students with an overview of the field of nervous system injury and possibilities for repair. We will focus on the cellular pathobiology but have a translational outlook and integrate the clinical perspective. The student will after the course know the basic concepts and recognise relevant research questions in the field. Hence, the student have aquired up to date information and understanding of the problems and possibilities for repairing an injured central or peripheral nervous system. 

The course is aimed for you who want to get an understanding of the principles of PET, the methodology used for neuroreceptor imaging and quantification, as well as to get an insight in important research ongoing in the field and in the clinical applications of PET.

This course has the main general purpose of connecting two topics, or disease types, which are generally known by the scientific community to be completely distant from each other, such as Infections of the Central Nervous System (Neuro-Infections) and neurodegenerative diseases/dementia.  

Students should gain knowledge on the common neuroinflammatory processes and molecular mechanisms of neuronal damage that are common between neurodegenerative diseases and Central Nervous System infections. These learning outcomes reflect the purpose of the course, which is of shedding light into the interplay between dementia/neurodegenerative disease and infections and try to understand the molecular biology that connects these two types of brain disease. 

The purpose of the course is to give doctoral students a broad knowledge of Alzheimer's disease, covering cellular
mechanisms as well as clinical features and diagnosis. Experts in the field are invited to give the lectures securing
communication of up-to-date knowledge about the disease. Students will also get the opportunity to obtain deeper
knowledge on specific sub-topics during the planned group assignments. The second part will provide pratical
knowledge about brain development, brain anatomy and connectivty and AD and dementia neuropathologies.

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. 

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.

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)

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.