Berlin School of Mind and Brain

The Berlin School of Mind and Brain is an international and interdisciplinary graduate research school. It was established in 2006 and receives its funding primarily through the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments. The focus of research at the School is on the interface between the humanities and behavioral sciences with the neurosciences. Main topics of research are: ‘perception, attention, consciousness’, ‘decision-making’, ‘language’, ‘brain plasticity and lifespan ontogeny’, ‘mental disorders and brain dysfunction’, and ‘human sociality and the brain (social cognition)’. The School offers a highly successful three-year English-language doctoral program in English. In 2012, the School started a structured English-language postdoctoral program and a research-based English-language master’s program “Mind and Brain” (M.Sc. and M.A.). This English-language master’s incorporates the innovative research conducted by the Berlin School of Mind and Brain into an interdisciplinary master’s program. The master’s program “Mind and Brain” acquaints students with the most up-to-date approaches to and results of neuroscience research as well as their bearing upon the fields of psychology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience and cognitive science. The teaching program systematically demonstrates how interdisciplinary knowledge can be usefully employed in tackling questions related to specific fields of study. The master’s program is aimed at students holding bachelor degrees from the fields of psychology, philosophy, linguistics, biology, cognitive science and neuroscience. The master’s program “Mind and Brain” offers students three different areas of specialization: (1) neuroscience, biology or psychology, (2) philosophy or linguistics or (3) academic management. Depending on the chosen area of specialization, the degree awarded at the end of the course may be a Master of Arts, M.A. (Track Mind) or a Master of Science, M.Sc. (Track Brain).