Exceptional opportunities

Neuroscience Graduate Program
The NSP at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an interdisciplinary program of study and research leading to the doctoral degree.

We offer a rigorous yet flexible program designed to foster the growth of the student through research activities, close interactions with faculty, and exposure to top neuroscientists through our seminar series and attendance at professional meetings.

Neuroscience Program Events Calendar

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Neuroscience News

Read article: Scientists identify the earliest biomarker of Alzheimer's disease
Scientists identify the earliest biomarker of Alzheimer's disease
From earth.com Alzheimer’s earliest biomarker: The role of PSD-95 Lead researcher, Professor Nien-Pei Tsai of the ...
Read article: Why do poison frogs love to 'tap dance'?
Why do poison frogs love to 'tap dance'?
BIOLOGY BBC News (London, March 5) – Poison dart frogs appear to make a dancing movement with their back toes, not unlike tap dancing. Illinois researchers discovered the frogs tapped far more when food was present and that the number of taps depended on what type of surface the frog was sitting on...
Read article: 3D Molecular Maps of the Brain: Unveiling Complexity with Spatial Omics
3D Molecular Maps of the Brain: Unveiling Complexity with Spatial Omics
LabRoots (Yorba Linda, Calif., March 5) – Illinois researchers have developed a novel approach to mapping brain behavior when someone is sick or healthy. “If you look at the brain chemically, it’s like a soup with a bunch of ingredients,” says Fan Lam, a professor of bioengineering at the U....
Read article: Nanoscale device allows brain chemistry observation at smallest level
Nanoscale device allows brain chemistry observation at smallest level
Published in Interesting Engineering  To address a longstanding hurdle in biomedical research, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a new nanoscale sensor.  This innovative technology can monitor areas 1,000 times smaller than current...
Read article: Hands-free wheelchair prototype achieves major milestone
Hands-free wheelchair prototype achieves major milestone
Posted on News by Mechanical Science & Engineering In 2020, collaborators from across the University of Illinois campus received a...
Read article: WormAtlas expanding beyond C. elegans with support from NIH
WormAtlas expanding beyond C. elegans with support from NIH
from ACES News, by Lauren Quinn, March 7, 2023 URBANA, Ill. – The National Institutes of Health recently pledged $2.6 million towards the Center for C. elegans Anatomy, also known...
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Recent Award Winners

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Auerbach lab members photo

Faculty Spotlight: Benjamin D Auerbach, Assistant Professor

Benjamin D. Auerbach, Assistant Professor by Virginia Wright Benjamin D. Auerbach is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, and he studies how experience-dependent plasticity influences perception and behavior. Auerbach comes from what he describes as “a family of scientists”. “Both my mom and my dad were academic researchers in biology, so I got exposed to science and research in a lab setting at an early age,” he shared. While he now jokes that he is “just continuing the family business,” he initially pursued an undergraduate degree in history. “...

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Stephanie Matt, Research Assistant Professor, Drexel University

Alumni Spotlight: Stephanie Matt

Stephanie Matt, Class of 2018 by Virginia Wright As of July 2023, Stephanie Matt is a Research Assistant Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After five years of working as a postdoctoral researcher for Drexel, she recently won an NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) to investigate the role of antidepressants in HIV infection and inflammation in myeloid cells such as macrophages and microglia. Receiving this grant provided not only mentored support for her research career but also a place within Drexel University faculty. “It...

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Honey Bee Brain Slice

Recently Published: Intracellular Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis Toolkit (InSTAnT)

Abstract Imaging-based spatial transcriptomics technologies such as MERFISH offer snapshots of cellular processes in unprecedented detail, but new analytic tools are needed to realize their full potential. We present InSTAnT, a computational toolkit for extracting molecular relationships from spatial transcriptomics data at the intra-cellular resolution. InSTAnT detects gene pairs and modules with interesting patterns of mutual co-localization within and across cells, using specialized statistical tests and graph mining. We showcase the toolkit on datasets profiling a human cancer cell line...

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Land Acknowledgement

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As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a responsibility to acknowledge the historical context in which it exists. We are currently on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Peankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. It is necessary for us to acknowledge these Native Nations and for us to work with them as we move forward as an institution with Native peoples at the core of our efforts.

More about the practice of land acknowledgements at the University of Illinois.