retreat

The annual Neuroscience Graduate Program Retreat brings the entire campus neuroscience community together for a 2-day gathering of research talks, poster presentations, informal discussions, and social activities at the Granlibbaken Conference Center on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe.

Neuroscience Seminar Series

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Neurobiology division of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology jointly host a biweekly Neuroscience seminar series, with notable speakers from across the world. Check out this year’s schedule and previous years' past speakers. In addition, the Neuroscience Graduate Program runs a separate Neuroscience Graduate Student Seminar Series, in which graduate students select, invite, and host speakers (2-4 speakers per year). Visits include group discussions, presentations, and social events, in addition to the seminar. Check out past speakers here.

Other Seminar Series

Neuroscience seminars are also hosted by a variety of other programs, including The Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, Department of Psychology, Vision Science Graduate Program, and Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience. See this year’s seminar schedule.

Special Interest Groups and Journal Clubs

A variety of specialized, multi-laboratory interest groups and journal clubs meet regularly, including Synaptic Physiology Journal Club, Cal Cortex Club, Fly Club, MCB Development Club, Oxyopia (vision), Ear Club, Redwood Neural Computation Journal Club, Townsend Center Working Group in Neuroscience and Philosophy, and more. These groups provide opportunity to hear about the latest research from within and outside Berkeley, to gain experience giving research talks, and critically evaluating cutting-edge science.

Distinguished lectures

The Neuroscience Graduate Program and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute host a distinguished lecture series, with past speakers including Nobel Laureates Eric Kandel (Columbia University), Bert Sakmann (Max Plank Institute) and Susumu Tonegawa (MIT); Marcus Reichle (Washington University, St. Louis), Corey Goodman (President of Pfizer’s Biotherapeutics and Bioinnovation Center), and Carla Shatz (Director, Stanford University BIO-X). Similar series exist in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, Psychology, and more.