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.

This course aims to introduce students to health care organization and management, and how this affects public health. There is a special focus on the opportunities offered by digitization and how these can be utilized in quality and improvement work.

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.

The Statistics module covers:

Basic test theory; 2-tests for contingency tables; t-Test; non-parametric tests; analysis of variance (ANOVA); multiple testing; power calculations; calculation rules for probabilities and neurobiological applications; guidelines for choice of analysis strategy; software implementations; effect size based hypothesis testing

The Scientific writing module:

• Introduction into general guidelines and rules for scientific writing
• Introduction into the elements of style
• Analysis and discussion of scientific texts
• How to improve and correct a text
• Practices in writing. Students will write their own texts and correct and make suggestions for improvements of the texts of others

Research ethics module covers:

• Main approaches and methods in current research ethics
• Ethical standards of good scientific practice
• Ethical issues related to research with humans
• Ethical issues related to animals
• Ethical issues related to research with biological material

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.

This course will provide up-to-date insights into the neurobiological basis of language. The course will be given by internationally leading researchers in the field. Students will learn how state-of-the-art methods and approaches are currently being applied, and what are the next big questions for the field. 

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.

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.