Lab Visits Directory
For Early-Career Researchers
Looking to gain hands-on experience and learn new scientific methods? Explore lab visit opportunities offered by EBRAINS members and partners in our Lab Visits Directory.
The EBRAINS Education Coordination Team is gathering information on available lab visits, and a list of offers is posted below. Please apply directly to the respective labs.
Lab visits offer a chance to build technical or conceptual expertise for your research and your institute’s programmes. This opportunity is available for:
Early-career researchers from EBRAINS members or partners seeking to visit a different EBRAINS lab.
Researchers outside EBRAINS interested in visiting an EBRAINS lab.
EBRAINS does not cover expenses for visiting students. However, students are encouraged to explore funding options through their home institutions or consider the following opportunities:
Erasmus+ Traineeships abroad for students
We encourage you to check with your home institution if your planned lab visit is eligible for Erasmus+ funding. Please note that your planned stay should last minimum 2 months to fulfil the requirements.
FENS/IBRO-PERC Exchange Fellowships
Directed at MSc and PhD students as well as early post-doctoral fellows based in Europe, the FENS/IBRO-PERC Exchange Fellowships Programme aims to foster and broaden the scope of their methodological training by supporting goal-directed laboratory visits in established European laboratories.
Link: https://ibro.org/fens-ibro-perc-exchange-fellowships/
For EBRAINS Members and Partner Labs
Interested in hosting lab visits? Submit your offer by completing the EBRAINS Lab Visits form and sending it to education@ebrains.eu.
Passecker Lab - Systems Neuroscience, Medical University Innsbruck, Austria
We are intrigued by the question of how our brains arrive at decisions—decisions that emerge from sometimes complex thought processes shaped by our experiences and environment. These underlying thought processes, when disrupted, can lead to symptoms similar to those seen in severe neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. To investigate the information processing in prefrontal neuronal pathways that underlie cognitive decision-making, we apply advanced machine learning, behavioural modelling, and primarily digital neural probes. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://lab.jpassecker.com/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Neurokraken, open flexible behavioural platform
Behavioural Neuroscience
Electrophysiology
Data Analysis & Behavioural and Neural Modelling
Lab visit details
Duration: open
Period: open
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: research material, consumables
Costs covered by the selected students: Travel & Accomodation; If a student is member of a university part of the Eurolife Network, costs may be in part covered by the scholarships. See https://eurolifeuniversities.org/ for more information.
Application details
Required documents and format: It is recommended to first contact the PI about the project and visit feasibility with the CV and a short description of the visit/project plan, with the current PI in cc. Passport copy and visa if applicable will be needed as well.
Application process: see above
Applications should be sent to: Johannes Passecker, Johannes.passecker@i-med.ac.at
Computational neuroscience and brain connectivity lab, Ghent University, Belgium
Getting familiar with data feature extraction, and/or Bayesian model inference, and pursue a project of intensity and depth matched to the visit duration. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://users.ugent.be/~dmarinaz/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Brain connectivity
Network theory
Model inference
Computational neuroscience
Lab visit details
Duration: 1-12 months
Period: open
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: office space
Costs covered by the selected students: Travel costs and accommodation. Students from a country participating in Erasmus+ can apply for a visit as (PhD) student, or trainee
Application details
Required documents and format: Motivation letter and description of the home institution and trainee status (student, etc.) to check eligibility for Erasmus+, sent via email
Application process: The host lab will revise the applications and get back to the candidate with a response.
Applications should be sent to: Daniele Marinazzo, daniele.marinazzo@ugent.be
Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Visiting students will observe functional imaging and electrophysiological experiments, and engage in discussions with PhD and postdoctoral students. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://gbiomed.kuleuven.be/english/research/
50000666/50000669/50488669
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
MRI in nonhuman primates
Behavioural experiments in nonhuman primates
Electrophysiology in nonhuman primates
Electrical microstimulation and optogenetics in nonhuman primates
Lab visit details
Duration: 2-3 days
Period: January-June 2025 and September-December 2025
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: Research material
Costs covered by the selected students: Travel costs and accommodation
Application details
Required documents and format: Please include the following information in your application: Name of current supervisor, CV, Skills list, Recommendation letter, Copy of passport, Recent TB test (< 6 months old, needs to be negative)
Application process: Applicants will have a Zoom session with Wim Vanduffel
Applications should be sent to: Wim Vanduffel, wim.vanduffel@kuleuven.be
MIND Team, Inria-CEA, Saclay,
France
MIND develops Machine learning tools for neuroimaging data and acquisition and analysis. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://team.inria.fr/mind/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Human brain imaging
Data analysis
Statistics
Machine learning
Python programming
Lab visit details
Duration: 1 week - 2 months
Period: open
Required language skills: Python
Costs covered by the hosting lab: Company restaurant
Costs covered by the selected students: travel costs, accommodation, students should bring their own laptop
Application details
Required documents and format: letter of motivation, CV, to be sent via email
Application process: For long stays, the administrative application may take 2 to 3 months.
Applications should be sent to: Bertrand Thirion, bertrand.thirion@inria.fr
NeuroMod Institute, Université Côte d’Azur, France
NeuroMod is an interdisciplinary institute of Université Côte d’Azur on Modeling for Neuroscience and Cognition. It aims at promoting modeling as an approach for integrating brain mechanisms and cognitive functions. To meet this central challenge, the institute relies on the interdisciplinary resources available within Université Côte d’Azur: more than 250 researchers and 16 different laboratories and research entities.
The NeuroMod Institute open day event will present its Masters of Science as well as the diversity of the researches in the Institute. It also represents a good opportunity to discover our labs for internships or PhD thesis. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://neuromod.univ-cotedazur.eu/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
the possibilities to do research on the topics of modelling for neuroscience and cognition at Université Côte d’Azur
Testimonies of our alumni students and researchers and active discussions about
“What are the challenges of a PhD thesis?”
“What are the challenges for a foreign student to settle in Nice / France?”
“What are the job opportunities in the private sector?”
“Interdisciplinarity seems awesome but does that mean I need to be good in all fields to do it ?”
Lab visit details
Duration: 1 day
Period: 8 March 2025
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: As a student, you can apply to the NeuroMod travel grant of about 400 euros.
Costs covered by the selected students: The travel grants might cover flights or trains and accommodation. Students with travel grants will have to pay for the travel and accommodation. They will be reimbursed in the limit of 400 euros after presentation of invoices and presence at the event.
Application details
Required documents and format: Mandatory online registration for all participants: https://forms.gle/pUSNhS31rscSkgAw5. Students who request a travel grant will be asked to upload their CV, a cover letter, a cost estimation and their transcript of grades of their current degree.
Applications should be sent to: online via https://forms.gle/pUSNhS31rscSkgAw5
Application deadline: 8 February 2025
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine 1, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany
At INM-1, a 3D model of the human brain is being developed that takes into account cytoarchitectonics, connectivity, molecular structure as well as genetics and brain function.More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/inm/inm-1
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
slicing brain tissue
different staining methods
cyrtoarchitectonic border detection
statistical methods to analyse cytoarchitectonic differences between brain areas
Lab visit details
Duration: 2-6 weeks (depending on the project)
Period: open
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: research material
Costs covered by the selected students: travel costs and accommodation
Application details
Required documents and format: CV, short project description and motivation for the lab visit, copy of highest university degree, name of current supervisor, copy of passport. Applications should be sent via email as one pdf
Applications should be sent to: Sabine Ruland, s.ruland@fz-juelich.de
Simulation and Data Lab Neuroscience, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany
During the lab visits students will gain insights in how HPC resources can be used for processing and analysis of high-resolution data sets, for the simulation of large and complex neuronal network models, and for the analysis of the simulation and/or experimental neuroscientific results. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website (https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/ias/jsc/about-us/structure/simulation-and-data-labs/sdl-neuroscience).
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
developing simulation, data analysis and visualisation technology for neuroscience
developing and designing large Research Infrastructures
porting and optimizing user codes for supercomputers
maintaining installations of widely used simulation and data analysis tools on the supercomputer
Lab visit details
Duration: 1-2 weeks
Period: February 2025-September 2026
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: /
Costs covered by the selected students: students have to cover the costs related to the lab visit (e.g. travel, accommodation, subsistence)
Application details
Required documents and format: Applications should be submitted as one pdf-file voa email containing the following information:
CV incl. name of current supervisor
Motivation letter outlining topics of interest
Application process: Applications are selected based on the interests of the applicants and the availability of vacancies.
Applications should be sent to: sdl-neuroscience@fz-juelich.de
Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Full immersion in a clinical neuroscience group, with advanced techniques in human neuroscience and focus on memory function. Exposure to rare patient groups with intracranial recordings. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://www.thestrangelab.org/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Human intracranial EEG
Structural and functional MRI
Magnetoencephalography
Deep brain stimulation
Biomarkers of aging
Lab visit details
Duration: 6 months or more
Period: anytime except July and August
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: Research material
Costs covered by the selected students: travel costs, accommodation to be covered by student.
Application details
Required documents and format: CV, short project proposal, recommendation letter(s), copy of passport, name of current supervisor, languages, programming experience, list of publications, to be submitted as one pdf
Application process: Applications via email. Interviews will be held after shortlisting.
Applications should be sent to: Bryan Strange, bryan.strange@upm.es
NeuroTMA Lab, University of Bern,
Switzerland
Collaboration on topics related to biological deep learning, neuro-inspired AI and neuromorphic applications. More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://physiologie.unibe.ch/~petrovici/group/
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
spiking neuronal networks: theory, modelling and applications
rate-based neuronal networks: theory, modelling and applications
statistical modelling
neuromorphic applications
edge computing applications
Lab visit details
Duration: 6-12 months
Period: as required
Required language skills: English
Costs covered by the hosting lab: research material, office space
Costs covered by the selected students: accommodation and living expenses, ca. 2,000 CHF/month
Application details
Required documents and format: CV incl. name of current supervisor and list of publications, recommendation letter, sketch of project ideas (as one pdf)
Application process:
Applications should be sent to: Virginie Sabado, virginie.sabado@unibe.ch; Mihai A. Petrovici, mihai.petrovici@unibe.ch
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
The Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, is a world leading centre for advanced neuroimaging technologies, functional and structural analyses, and biostatistics in the understanding of psychopathologies that arise from brain development, neurodegeneration, injury, and brain tumours. It works closely with the Section of Surgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge who undertake surgical procedures and acquire longitudinal datasets as part of ethically approved research studies. It is a major centre for neurosurgery in the East of England (population 3.5 million) that aims to improve the surgical management of disease through both basic and translational research, with a major focus on applied clinical research.
Visiting students are invited to undertake data analysis on structural, functional and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and other data acquired pre- and post-surgically from patients with gliomas with the objective of predicting cognitive outcomes.
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Surface and volumetric reconstructions of cortical and subcortical structures
Functional (BOLD) imaging pre-processing, functional connectomes and gradients
Machine learning algorithm applications
Biostatistics
Data visualisations
Lab visit details
Duration: 3-12 months
Period: as required
Required language skills: English (C1)
Costs covered by the hosting lab: Data, high performance computing
Costs covered by the selected students: travel, accommodation, subsistence
Application details
Required documents and format: CV, short project description, recommendation letter, copy of passport, name of current supervisor. Applications should be sent by email as a single file.
Application process:
Applications should be sent to: John Suckling, js369@cam.ac.uk
GIGA CRC Human Imaging, University of Liège, Belgium
During the visit, the visiting researcher will be able to follow research teams activities: meetings, data acquisition (behavioural, MRI at 3T and 7T, EEG,…), data management & analysis, etc. He/she may also have the chance to actively participate in these activities, depending on his/her experience. Each Team has his specific research topic (sleep & chronobiology, aging & memory, physiology of cognition,…). More information on the lab can be found on the lab website: https://www.gigacrc.uliege.be/cms/c_4212477/en/gigacrc
Scientific methods offered to the student
Students will learn about:
Subjects handling and evaluation
3T and 7T MRI data acquisition
MRI data curation and processing
Lab meetings, including project and results presentations
Lab visit details
Duration: 1 month
Period: open
Required language skills: English, French is a plus
Costs covered by the selected students: Living cost in Liège for a few weeks, accommodation at hotel, student residence or AirBnB, depending on availability, Bus transport from city centre to campus
Application details
Required documents and format: CV, including list of publications (paper, preprints, code repository, conference abstract/poster,…), short motivation letter, possibly including current project description, All in PDF format
Applications should be sent to: Christophe Philips, c.phillips@uliege.be