Institute
The Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences (IZN) was founded in 2000 as a research network incorporating neuroscientists from all faculties and local research institutions in Heidelberg.
Its mission is to enhance brain research, coordinate technology transfer and improve graduate and post-graduate education in the neurosciences. Originally consisting of three “core” institutes, including the Departments of Neurobiology, Neuroanatomy and Clinical Neurobiology, the IZN has been joined by groups from the departments of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Anatomy and Medical Cell Biology, as well as by various other research units both within and external to the University of Heidelberg that collectively formed the IZN’s “ring” structure.
Structure of the IZN
The IZN consists of more than 60 research groups with representatives from several institutions within the Heidelberg/Mannheim area. It is led by a board of directors elected from among it members and advised by a distinguished group of outside experts.
Concept
The IZN has three primary objectives:
- Bundling of the fundamental research being carried out in the neurosciences, with the intention of achieving synergistic effects and consequently increased refinement of scientific capacity
- Intensification of translational research with the intentions both of improving conditions for research and of developing novel treatment strategies for patients in clinical neurology and psychiatry
- Networking within and between its group members and researchers from the fields of physics, chemistry and scientific computing, all of which are expected to contribute in a decisive and significant way to the elucidation of the complex functions of the central nervous system
