Excellence Initiative

Graduate School of Mind & Brain

Neuro-XXX and the Convergence of Disciplines

Although the prefix "neuro" is commonly in use in many various scientific fields such as Neurophilosophy, Neuroecology and Neuroeconomics, it is usually unclear which scientific approaches these fields have in common. In addition, themes such as "free will", "justice" and "equity" and "ethics" are increasingly being addressed by leading researchers in a transdisciplinary manner. However addressing such themes in a transdisciplinary way remains uncommon in the training of young scientists and scholars.
The "Berlin School of the Mind and Brain" is a common initiative of the social and life sciences and the humanities at Humboldt-Universität. This graduate school will serve as a transdisciplinary platform for the multifaceted relationship between the various scientific cultures, thereby promoting their convergence. Under the leadership of Humboldt-Universität, integrated in the existing dense network of graduate schools and special research programmes and in cooperation with university and non-university research institutes, the graduate school will train the next generation of scholars and scientists.
These young scholars and scientists will no longer be limited by the traditional borders of individual disciplines. Within the framework of their doctoral studies, they will receive a broad fundamental education, enabling them to become familiar with commonalities and differences with other scientific cultures and to understand the value of these differences in their research.