The Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences has two complementary goals of education and research.

We aim to raise a new generation of neuroscientists trained to work in forward-thinking interdisciplinary environments. The philosophy of the Center is “pedagogy from hands-on research experience”. A central focus of the Center is our Ph.D. program, created to provide a multi-disciplinary training with the goal of creating a “new breed” of scientist who can unite theory and experiment, computational modeling and complex data collection and analysis using the latest technologies. Our graduates have pursued research careers at Institutions such as Harvard, Brown, Emory, New York University, the Salk Institute, and the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego in addition to private industry such as IBM and Mathworks, and institutions such as NIH, US Air Force, NASA and NRL. Many now hold university professorships and leadership positions in teaching and research in the U.S. and around the world [see map].

We aim to conduct cutting-edge research leading to new discoveries and advances in several scientific, technological and medical fields. The overarching objective of the Center is to understand the principles and mechanisms underlying complex behavior on all levels, from molecules and cells to whole brain functioning and even brains (people) working together. Such understanding is crucial not only for the 'normal brain' but to the anticipation, treatment and rehabilitation of the many neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases and 'disorders' that afflict society from early childhood to old age.