The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
The Technology Centers
The Berkeley Campus
The University of California, Berkeley is one of the world’s leading academic institutions. Widely known as "Cal," the campus is renowned for the size and quality of its libraries and laboratories, the scope of its research and publications, and the distinction of its faculty and students. National rankings consistently place Berkeley’s undergraduate and graduate programs among the very best in a wide variety of disciplines.Our highly acclaimed faculty includes 6 active Nobel Laureates, 230 members of the Academy of Arts & Sciences, 132 members of the National Academy of Science, 87 members of the National Academy of Engineering, 87 Sloan Young Investigators, 28 MacArthur Fellows, 14 National Medal of Science winner, and 390 Guggenheim Fellows. It was at Berkeley that two professors discovered plutonium in 1941. Other elements discovered by Berkeley faculty include berkelium and californium.
Berkeley is also about extraordinary students. Every state in the Union and more than 100 foreign countries are represented on campus. Approximately 9,900 graduate students from around the globe are enrolled in more than 125 degree programs. The student body is best characterized by its talent and diversity: Berkeley students represent all age groups, economic, cultural, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. This dynamic mix produces the uniquely wide range of opinion and perspective found on the Berkeley campus.
UC Berkeley is a lush and tranquil campus overlooking the San Francisco Bay. It is bordered by rolling, wooded hills and the City of Berkeley, one of America’s liveliest, culturally diverse, and politically adventurous municipalities. Berkeley’s central location offers easy access to the cultural and recreational offerings of northern California. San Francisco is a short commute across the Bay Bridge or a quick trip on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which has a station one block from campus. The scenic coastline of Carmel and Big Sur, the vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties, and the lakes and forests of the Sierra Nevada are just a few hours away. The hills above campus are threaded with popular trails for hikers, runners, and cyclists. Berkeley is home to many parks, including Tilden Park, a greenbelt extending 21 miles through the East Bay Hills.
The Bay Area climate is moderate year-round, with temperatures seldom dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) during winter and rarely exceeding 70 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) in summer. The warmest months are September and October, when temperatures can soar into the 90's (30's Celsius). Annual rainfall, occurring primarily between November and March, averages 23 inches.
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The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley was established in 1997 to integrate neuroscience faculty across campus and utilize the power of diverse research approaches to address central questions in neuroscience.Led by Professor Robert T. Knight, the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute is playing a unique role in brain science by bringing together physical- and neuro-scientists to drive technological advances through four Technology Centers. Institute faculty include over 50 researchers with state-of-the-art laboratories from the Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology, Psychology, Physics, Integrative Biology, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, the School of Public Health, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and the Vision Science Program.
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The Technology Centers
The Henry H. "Sam" Wheeler, Jr. Brain Imaging Center (BIC), led by Professor Mark T. D'Esposito, is one of the most innovative and powerful imaging facilities in the world, solely dedicated to basic research on human and animal brain function. The BIC houses a 4 Tesla fMRI, and forms the nucleus for active collaboration amongst cognitive neuroscientists, physicists, chemists, and computer scientists. Our physical scientists and neuroscientists work together to enhance the temporal and spatial resolution of brain imaging technologies, allowing us to probe deeply and more precisely into the dynamic functioning of the living brain.The Judy & John Webb Neuroimaging Computational Facility, located within the BIC, enables the analysis of data generated by the Wheeler Brain Imaging Center.
The Neurogenomics Center, led by Professor John J. Ngai, creates and utilizes advanced gene chip and gene microarray technologies to dissect brain function. As we enter the post-genomics era, with sequence data available from the human genome and the genomes of model organisms (e.g., worm, fly, and mouse), the Neurogenomics Center allows Berkeley neuroscientists to capitalize on this wealth of molecular information.
The Molecular Imaging Center, led by Professor Ehud Y. Isacoff, uses recent advances in molecular genetics and the physics of imaging to visualize the dynamic properties of nerve cells in the living brain. The Center also collaborates with Berkeley faculty Rich Kramer and Dirk Trauner studying optical reporters of brain activity and function.
The Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience (RCTN), directed by Professor Bruno A. Olshausen, is dedicated to studying and promoting biologically accurate mathematical models of memory and cognition.
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