Information for Current Master and Doctoral Students

Mentoring Program

Each master student in the CNS program is randomly assigned a mentor at the start of their studies. You will receive an email in the first 1-2 months of the program informing you of your mentor assignment and asking you and your mentor to arrange a first meeting. Generally, the mentor is more important in the 2nd year of the CNS master program when you have freedom to choose lab rotations, courses on advanced topics, and a master thesis. We recommend nevertheless a first meeting in the first year, especially if you feel you need advise for your individual studies.

If you have questions about the program or need support, you can always go to the BCCN office or to your mentor for support.

 

What is the purpose of the mentoring program?

The mentoring program is there to support you in study and career specific questions. It gives you the possibility to have a closer contact with one of the BCCN Berlin PIs who are experts in their field and know the Berlin-neuroscientific community.

 

What can I expect from my mentor?

Your mentor is there to help you navigate the large field of computational neuroscience. In the first year, they can help identify potential gaps in your background knowledge and suggest topics which you can take in your Individual Studies module (see below) to help you strengthen your background and prepare yourself for the 2nd year of the master program.

Then, towards the end of your 1st year in the CNS master program, when you're considering what sort of research you want to complete, your mentor can help suggest labs at the BCCN Berlin and wider-Berlin and world-wide neuroscientific network for your lab rotations and master thesis. They can also help you choose between modules or courses which you are considering taking for your Courses on Advanced Topics module (see below).

Finally, they can also help you with career advice and suggest potential labs for a PhD or maybe suggest contacts for future careers outside of academia.

 

How can I address my mentor?

Please write an email to your mentor when you want to meet and arrange a meeting. You need to do the first step. Please remember that your mentor is a professor or junor group leader, and as such, is very occupied. Important is, that you prepare for your meeting with your mentor by having specific questions prepared, as well as potential labs or courses which you are considering taking / working in so that you can discuss the options with your mentor.

 

Enrolling in the module

CNS MSc students are automatically enrolled in their 1st semester.

All external students should contact graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to enroll.

 

Registering for the exam

The exam takes place after the winter semester lecture period has ended, the date will be shared on the Teaching page and during the lecture.

Please fill out the 1st section of this form and email it to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

Note that registering for an exam is binding! If, for whatever reason, you can not take part in the exam:

• if > 3 days until the exam: you must send an email to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to deregister
• if < 3 days until the exam: you must provide a doctor's note

If you do not sit an exam that you have registered for, it will count as a failed attempt.

Enrolling in the module

CNS MSc students are automatically enrolled in their 1st & 2nd semesters.

All external students should contact graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to enroll.

 

Registering for the exam

The exam takes place after the summer semester lecture period has ended, the date will be shared on the Teaching page and during the lecture.

To register, please fill out the 1st section of this form and email it to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

Note that registering for an exam is binding! If, for whatever reason, you can not take part in the exam:

• if > 3 days until the exam: you must send an email to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to deregister
• if < 3 days until the exam: you must provide a doctor's note

If you do not sit an exam that you have registered for, it will count as a failed attempt.

Enrolling in the module

CNS MSc students are automatically enrolled in their 1st & 2nd semesters.

All external students should contact graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to enroll.

 

Registering for the exam

The exam takes place after the summer semester lecture period has ended, the date will be shared on the Teaching page and during the lecture.

To register, please fill out the 1st section of this form and email it to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

Note that registering for an exam is binding! If, for whatever reason, you can not take part in the exam:

• if > 3 days until the exam: you must send an email to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to deregister
• if < 3 days until the exam: you must provide a doctor's note

If you do not sit an exam that you have registered for, it will count as a failed attempt.

Enrolling in the module

CNS MSc students are automatically enrolled in their 1st & 2nd semesters.

All external students should visit the Neural Information Processing group's webpage for information.

 

Registering for the exam

There is no scheduled exam date. CNS students need to organize their exam together with Prof. Obermayer directly, we highly encourage students to sit the exam in the 1st week of lectures during your 3rd semester (mid-October 3rd semester).

To register, please fill out the 1st section of this form and email it to Camilla Groiss (camilla (dot) groiss (at) tu-berlin.de).

Note that registering for an exam is binding! If, for whatever reason, you can not take part in the exam:

• if > 3 days until the exam: you must send an email to camilla (dot) groiss (at) tu-berlin.de to deregister
• if < 3 days until the exam: you must provide a doctor's note

If you do not sit an exam that you have registered for, it will count as a failed attempt.

 

After your exam: Please send an email to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de with your grade so that we can add it to your BCCN records!

Enrolling in the module

This module takes place as a week-long Winter School at the end of the Winter semester lecture period. You will be informed of the registration period via email and will be asked to register for the Winter School.

 

Completing the module

To successfully complete the module, you must:

1. Physically attend the Winter School
2. Take part in the Group Work session
3. Submit a 2-page essay

 

 

Enrolling in the module

CNS MSc students are automatically enrolled in their 2nd semester.

 

Registering for the Exam

The module concludes with a project which is called a "portfolio exam".

Students must register for the exam by completing this document and emailing it to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

 

 

The module consists of 3 lab rotations:

• One must be an experimental project (at a minimum, must work with real-data, ideally involves working in a lab and collecting data or similar)
• One must be a theoretical project (basic analysis is not sufficient)
• Only 1 may be external to the BCCN Berlin
  • If your supervisor is not listed on the BCCN Berlin members page, then the rotation is external.
  • If external: You need to submit a project proposal detailing the goals of the lab rotation & you need an internal BCCN supervisor (someone listed on the members page) to act as a quality-control for the project. Note that the internal BCCN supervisor signs the lab rotation document - not the external supervisor.

 

Before beginning the lab rotation

You must fill out the 1st page of the lab rotation document:

1. Write your name, matriculation number, supervisor's name, address, and the title
2. Indicate if the rotation is theoretical or experimental
3. Indicate the planned time-period
4. Sign the document
5. Get your supervisors signature
6. If external: You need your internal BCCN supervisor's signature & a project proposal

Send the document to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The lab rotation document will be checked by the Head of the CNS MSc Examination Board.

You will be informed if there are any issues. If you don't hear anything, then your rotation has been approved.

 

After completing the lab rotation

For help with writing your lab rotation report, please refer to this guide for help.

1. The rotation is completed when you have submitted your report to your supervisor and you have presented in their lab meeting
2. Your supervisor should sign the 2nd page of the lab rotation document
3. Send the signed document & the lab rotation report to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de

Note: For external lab rotations, you need to submit the report to the BCCN internal supervisor and present in the internal supervisor's lab meeting. The internal supervisor also signs the 2nd page of the lab rotation document.

Congratulations! You've completed a lab rotation!

 

After completing 3 lab rotations

Please fill out the lab rotation module overview form.

The module is worth 27 ECTS: each rotation is 9 ECTS.

Do not sign the document - please email the document to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The teaching coordinator will obtain the necessary signature and will send the module documents to the TU CNS MSc Examination Office

 

 

 

 

For this module, you need to take 6 ECTS worth of University-level courses.

Note that many CNS students take part in the Neurobiology & Math prep-courses, completing both prep-courses means that you have already completed the Individual Studies module and you can skip to the bottom of this section. The Teaching Coordinator has the certificates for the prep-courses.

The courses don't need to be graded and can be any University-level course which you want or think is necessary. You can also take German-language courses or online-courses. If you're not sure, please discuss your choice with the teaching coordinator &/ your mentor before beginning.

 

After having completed the course, you must submit a certificate of completion to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The certificate must state:

• The name of the course / module
• The name of the course coordinator / person who taught the course
• The number of ECTS awarded for the course
• When the course took place
• Your name & matriculation number
• The grade &/ successful completion of the course
• The signature of the person responsible for the module

It is also possible to ask the course coordinator to send an email with the above-listed information to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

 

After having completed 6 ECTS worth of courses

Please fill out the Individual Studies module overview form.

Send the unsigned form to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The Teaching Coordinator will collect the necessary signature and forward the form, together with your certificates, to the TU CNS MSc Examination office.

 

 

 

 

For this module, you need to take 10 ECTS worth of University-level courses. Of the 10, 6 ECTS need to have a grade and 4 can be pass/fail.

For course suggestions, please:

• Discuss with your fellow students
• Ask your mentor for suggestions
• Ask the BCCN administration for suggestions
• Check the University catalogs and suggested courses* This document will be updated in a fairly regular fashion

Note that not all courses are offered each semester and that courses can fill up!

Please contact the coordinator for your desired course in a timely manner to ask if you can take part in the course.

 

Also, the module is intended for you to deepen your knowledge in Computational Neuroscience, thus the courses must be relevant to the field! Please ask the BCCN administration if you're not sure whether your course will count towards the module!

 

After having completed the course, you must submit a certificate of completion to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The certificate must state:

• The name of the course / module
• The name of the course coordinator / person who taught the course
• The number of ECTS awarded for the course
• When the course took place
• Your name & matriculation number
• The grade &/ successful completion of the course
• The signature of the person responsible for the module

It is also possible to ask the course coordinator to send an email with the above-listed information to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

 

After having completed 10 ECTS worth of courses, 6 with a grade

Please fill out the Courses on Advanced Studies module overview form.

Send the unsigned form to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The Teaching Coordinator will collect the necessary signature and forward the form, together with your certificates, to the TU CNS MSc Examination office.

 

 

 

Registering your master thesis

To register your master thesis, you need to write an email to the TU CNS MSc Examination Office (ib4(at)pruefungen(dot)tu-berlin.de) with the following information:

• your name
• your matriculation number
• that you're a CNS MSc student
• that you want to register your master thesis

Note that to register your master thesis you must have completed:

• Models of Neural Systems
• Models of Higher Brain Functions
• Acquisition and Analysis of Neural Data
• Machine Intelligence
• Ethical Issues
• Individual Studies

Courses on Advanced Topics and your lab rotations don't have to have been completed to register your thesis.

If you have completed the prerequisites, IB4 will send you the registration form.

You should fill out the 1st section including the following information:

• Course of study: Computational Neuroscience
• Module: Master Thesis

Date & Sign the document and send it back to IB4.

IB4 will then complete the 2nd section of the document and send it to your supervisor - please remind your supervisor to check their inbox!

Your supervisor should complete the 3rd section and email it to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de.

The Teaching Coordinator will get the head of the CNS MSc Examination Board's signature and send it back to IB4.

IB4 will then finalize the registration and you will receive an email with:

• the official start date of your master thesis
  
  • Note that the start date is at the END of this process, not when you first request to register your thesis!
• the due date for your thesis
• Instructions on how to submit your master thesis

 

 

Master Thesis as Extension of Lab Rotation

Note that it is possible to perform your thesis in the same lab where you completed a lab rotation. In this situation, you must submit a proposal detailing how the master thesis differs from, or extends, upon the work completed during your rotation.

We suggest that you contact the Teaching Coordinator beforehand to ensure that the two projects differ sufficiently.

 

External Master Thesis

Similar to a Lab Rotation, it is possible to conduct your master thesis with an external group.

Moreover, similar to a lab rotation, your 2nd supervisor MUST be a member of the BCCN Berlin.

For external theses, you will have to submit a project proposal detailing the goals of the master thesis. We recommend that you do this BEFORE beginning the registration process with the TU to ensure that the CNS MSc Examination Board will accept your project.

Please note the guidelines regarding who is allowed to supervisor a master thesis, these are detailed in the TU Regulations.

The relevant sections are IV. Examinations - Part 1 - Authorized and responsible persons / Section 51 - Examiners, observers:

(1) 1 As a rule, module examiners are the course instructors within the module. 2 Other instructors whose main occupation and employment is at TU Berlin and who are authorized to teach independently (hauptberufliche Lehrende) as well as contract teachers (Lehrbeauftragte) may serve as examiners if insufficient instructors are available.

(3) 1 Final theses are assessed by two examiners; further examiners may be appointed for group work pursuant to Section 60 (7). 2 As a rule, the instructor who issues the topic and supervises the thesis is appointed first examiner. 3 As a rule, the second examiner is an instructor or, subject to the study and examination regulations, a person with experience of professional practice and training; Subsection 1 sentence 2 applies accordingly, including for the appointment of a third examiner according to Section 72 (3)

 

Practically, this means that only Professors & Postdocs are able to supervisor master theses.

If you want to do your master thesis in a company, please contact the Teaching Coordinator to discuss the specific circumstances.

 

Submitting your Thesis

You can submit after 50% of the allocated time has passed. If you want to submit early / won't make the deadline, contact the Teaching Coordinator to determine what is possible!

You don't have to include a German abstract for your thesis.

You can submit your thesis electronically or as a print-out, please see here for the latest submission regulations from the TU Berlin.

If you miss the deadline it will count as a fail and you may have to start with a new topic!

>>> Note that when submitted your thesis, you need to sign and include the Statutory Declaration page <<<

Note that you can not change the title of your master thesis - you will require an official letter accepting the change from your supervisor and the CNS MSc Examination Board.

 

Formatting Guidelines

There are no formatting guidelines or BCCN standards for the master thesis other than the document should not exceed 80 pages.

Please contact graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de if you want to see examples of previous master theses.

 

Master Thesis as a Manuscript

It is possible to submit your master thesis as a manuscript

• Accepted peer-reviewed manuscript
• Under review manuscript - if only minor reviews are required before acceptance

In both cases, you must include:

1. The manuscript
2. General Introduction to the manuscript
   • You need to write a short introduction, no more than 10 pages, which provides a general introduction to the topic of the manuscript.
3. A page detailing who wrote what in the manuscript
   • This page needs to be signed by the co-authors of the manuscript
4. Proof that the manuscript has been accepted / in revision with minor revisions

For questions, please contact the Teaching Coordinator.

 

Defense

After submission, the master thesis must be defended publicly. Note that you must submit your thesis before you defend!

You, together with your 1st and 2nd supervisors, should find a date and time for your defense. Ideally the defense will take place at the BCCN Berlin - please contact graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de to determine if the lecture hall is available.

The defense consists of a 15 minute presentation + 5-10 minute discussion.

After the defense, the supervisors must submit their evaluation of the thesis to graduateprograms (at) bccn-berlin.de & IB5 within 2 months.

The Teaching Coordinator will remind the supervisors to submit their evaluations.