Welcome to the Department of Fundamental Neurosciences (DNF)
INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE FROM MOLECULES TO HUMANS
We are a dynamic and international team who work on and teach multidisciplinary neuroscience and our missions are to:
- Support open creative science, meeting society’s needs
- Provide an outstanding research environment with first-rate career opportunities for talented young scientists
- Do excellent research, teaching and training
Develop state-of-the-art research and teaching core facilities
The department conducts cutting edge, curiosity-driven basic and clinical research to study brain function and dysfunction at multiple levels, from molecules, systems to behavior.
The department hosts 13 research groups. Our approaches use molecular, cellular and imaging tools to ask questions about the genes and pathways underlying:
- Neurodevelopmental disorders (autism spectrum disorders, fragile X syndrome)
- Behavioural disorders (sleep disorders, anxiety, depression and obesity)
- Late-onset neurological disorders (schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease)
- Glial cell functions
- Pain, stroke and cell death
The proximity of the CHUV, CNP, BMI of EPFL, the NCCR-Synapsy program and the wider Lemanic Neuroscience community drives the interdisciplinary interaction between basic scientists and clinicians and is a pillar of the DNF.
