Word from the director

We care about the brain

We care about the brain. 'Care' is the context of being curious and being worried. 'Care' as in wanting to cherish something beautiful. 'Care' as in being passionate about the brain. Because it is the most fascinating and challenging organ of the human body, from various points of view and for investigators with many different backgrounds and interests. The brain with its' many dimensions and time frames to look at. The organ that is unique for each and every individual and yet holds many common denominators, challenges to meet and puzzles to solve.



Clinic
We care about the brains of humans. The human beings in our Netherlands Twin Register. Their psychology and their genetics. And we care about the brains our patients. Diseased individuals, both young and old, that suffer from sometimes devastating and chronic brain disorders which reduce the quality of their lives and the ones that surround them. The Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam is set up to lend significant support to the in-house patient-clinics of the VU University campus. In this sense the Neuroscience Campus functions as a 'cabinet' where patient-centers, such as the Alzheimer Center, the MS Center and the GGZ in Geest clinic for Anxiety and Depression are the 'sliding drawers' in this cabinet.


Students
We care about the brains of our students. The mix of generations in our clinics and laboratories which creates a perfect 'community of learners'. The connection between high research ambition and solid track record in graduate training of young professionals goes back to the early 1990s when PhD student Neuroscience-training in Amsterdam was professionalized and later on with establishment of an accredited Master of Neurosciences at our campus.

Investigators
We care about the brains of our professionals, that contribute to the world wide efforts to shed light on the nature and physiology of human beings. We hope that they will deliver new methods of treatment and prevention of brain disease. We hope that they will further clarify the principles of brain development and learning, thereby yielding guiding principles for raising and educating children.

Over the last three decades neuroscience has become a truly integrative science, from the molecule to the systems level and beyond, encompassing normal human brain function as well as the biological mechanisms underlying brain diseases. In the coming 20 years, our efforts are expected to gather widespread interest, evolving into a new translational neuroscience, which further integrates basic and applied research, and may hold the key to solving many of society's problems.

Neurosciences in the 21st Century