Key questions in the neuroscience field are to discover how the complex nervous system coordinate during behaviors, and whether abnormal in the neuronal communication are linked with diseases. Neurotransmitters are the bridging molecules that mediate the chemical communication between neurons. The first identified neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh) has been widely accepted to be critically involved in the regulation of multiple physiological processes, ranging from development, sensation, motor control, cardiovascular function and higher brain cognitive function like learning and memory [1-3]. Due to the complex nature of the nervous system and the functional diversity of ACh, it will be important to further dissect when the ACh will be released during behaviors, where are they released, and how they are sensed by different cells.

On September 28th, 2020, in close collaboration with Dr. Yulong Li’s lab at Peking University, Miao JING Lab at CIBR published a research paper entitled An optimized acetylcholine sensor for monitoring in vivo cholinergic activity on Nature Methods, which reports the development of next-generation ACh sensor and its application in tracking cholinergic signals in various model organisms in vivo. This ACh sensor is engineered based on the G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) as the backbone, which could covert the ACh-induced conformational change of GPCR into a sensitive fluorescent signal through coupling with a circular permutated GFP. In previous work from the author, they have successfully engineered the first version of ACh sensor that could specifically report ACh dynamics [4]. Based on their initial success, the author further optimized the performance of ACh sensors by site-directed random mutagenesis, and reached to the new version (ACh3.0) that achieved more than 3-fold improvement in the signal sensitivity. More importantly, through rational engineer, the author removed the downstream signal coupling of the new ACh sensor, making it as an isolated ACh detector without interfering with cellular physiology. New ACh sensor also maintains the fast response kinetics, physiological relevant affinity and precise molecular specificity in detecting ACh, suitable for probing the cholinergic signals in vivo.

Figure 1. Optimization and in vitro characterization of next-generation GRABACh sensors.

After the optimization and characterization of ACh3.0 in vitro, the author applied ACh3.0 in multiple model organisms and successfully detected the ACh release and dynamics in vivo. In Drosophila, the sensitive ACh3.0 sensor enabled the detection of compartment-specific releases of ACh in the olfactory mushroom body, when treating the living fly with various stimuli, suggesting that the cholinergic signals in different regions may have distinct physiological functions. In mice, the ACh3.0 sensor also made it possible to detect the ACh dynamics and its precise spatiotemporal distribution during behaviors. The improved ACh3.0 sensor has the sensitivity to track fast ACh transient evoked by brief foot-shock stimulation, and also have the stability to report the long-term ACh dynamics during the whole sleep-awake cycles, making it an ideal tool for exploring the ACh function in the future.

Figure 2. Successful application of the improved sensor in Drosophila and mice

Dr. Miao JING from CIBR serves as the first author, Dr. Miao Jing and Dr. Yulong Li are co-corresponding authors of this paper. Other collaborators include Min XU Lab from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Science, Chinese Academy of Science; Haohong LI Lab from Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Liangyi CHEN Lab and Heping CHENG Lab from Institute of Molecular Medicine at Peking University; Marco Prado, Lisa Saksida, Vania Prado and Tim Bussey Lab from Western University in Canada; and Andrew Hires Lab from University of Southern California in the US. This work is supported by State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology at Peking University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, US BRAIN Initiative, and scientific research programs of CIBR.

Reference

1. Dale, H.H., Feldberg, W. & Vogt, M. Release of acetylcholine at voluntary motor nerve endings. The Journal of Physiology 86, 353-380 (1936).

2. Winkler, J., Suhr, S.T., Gage, F.H., Thal, L.J. & Fisher, L.J. Essential role of neocortical acetylcholine in spatial memory. Nature 375, 484-487 (1995).

3. Brezenoff, H.E. in Federation proceedings, Vol. 43 17 (1984).

4. Jing, M. et al. A genetically encoded fluorescent acetylcholine indicator for in vitro and in vivo studies. Nature biotechnology 36, 726-737 (2018).

“My personal field of research is neurobiology. At present, we are focusing on using mouse and rat models to study the underlying neural circuits that mediate the social behaviors and emotions.

Social behavior represents one of the most important behaviors of higher animals include human beings, playing significant role in increasing reproduction and survival. On the contrary, social behavior disorder is regarded as a prominent feature of various neuropsychiatric disorders like autism, schizophrenia, and social phobia, etc. Therefore, learning how human brain generates social behaviors is of great significance for understanding the behavior itself and curing some psychiatric diseases. Across the animal kingdom, most mammals respond to sensory cues emitted by conspecifics, and a repertoire of social behaviors such as mating, fighting, prey capture, and predator avoidance.. From that perspective, learning how brain encodes social information and triggers corresponding social behaviors is necessary in the field of neuroscience.

Generally, mammals can generate complex social behaviors only in the natural state, especially when moving freely. But for a long time, how the brain encodes social information under natural conditions are largely unknown, since electrical activities of neural ensemble in free-moving mammals are not able to be recorded simultaneously by traditional methods, which has become a major obstacle to further study. To solve this problem, we first used microendoscope-based calcium imaging in free-moving mice to record the calcium signals of the medial amygdala that is  an essential encephalic region in charge of the instinctive social behaviors. So as to reveal its encoding features correspond to different social information. In addition, we also found that oxytocin, as a kind of neuropeptide, plays a key role for male mouse in distinguishing the gender of its species, but has little effect on females. It further reveals the neurobiological basis of social behavioral differences between genders, and provides a new mechanism for understanding brain plasticity changes.

In our recent research, we apply and develop interdisciplinary methods (including dual-color microendoscope-based calcium imaging, single-cell sequencing, in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiology approaches, etc.) to learn the generation and adaptation mechanism of social information encoding, as well as of social cognition and emotion. My main interests include: 1. the encoding mechanisms in the brain of different kinds of social information; 2. the role of neuromodulation system in social information encoding and social behavior generation; 3. the neurobiological basis of social cognitive and affective disorders; 4. differences and similarities  between young and adult individuals in social information processing. I hope that our research will facilitate further understanding of the social behaviors and emotions of human beings, so as to lead new therapeutic directions of some affective disorders.” 

Dr. Ying LI, born in 1987, got the Bachelor of Biology at Nanjing University in 2007, and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013 with Wu Rui Scholarship and the President Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the same year, she joined in the laboratory of Prof. Catherine Dulac, the faculty of Molecular and Cellular Biology Department of Harvard University, winner of Breakthrough Prize and academician of American NAS, for postdoctoral research. She was financially supported by Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and Long-term Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2014, and won Harvard Chinese Life Science Annual Distinguished Research Award in 2018. Dr. LI joined CIBR in 2019, and is currently working as the investigator and Ph.D. supervisor.

Focusing on the research of animal social behaviors and emotions, she has 5 publications on SCI journals include Cell, Developmental Cell and Current Opinion in Neurobiology (cover), etc., with over 400 citations. In addition, several ongoing projects of her group have won supports from European HFSP Career Development Award, General Program of NSFC and Beijing Science and Technology Rising Star Program.

Reference

http://www.qiushi.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=215&id=3527

We share the common recognition of the importance of neuroscience research in unravelling mysteries of the human brain and improving human health remain.

In the spirit of open communications, the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR) will organize the biennial Beijing Brain Conference to provide a platform for neuroscientists across the world to discuss basic research, clinical translation, and technological development. 

The inaugural conference this year is scheduled to be held online from October 24th to 26th, 2020. The conference includes a main forum and 12 sub-forums, with topics covering the circuit basis of cognition, brain diseases, neural computation, neural development, neurotechniques, and resource centers. The conference will be held in the form of keynote lectures, reports, and discussions. Nobel laureates such as Thomas C. Sudhof , Edvard I. Moser and Michael W. Young, as well as well-known experts in the field of brain science both at home and abroad are invited to the conference to give lecturers, which makes the conference a high-level platform for extensive academic communication among Chinese and international researchers, clinicians and young scholars in the field of brain science and brain-like research.

The 2020 CIBR opening ceremony was held on September 10, the date of the 36th Chinese Teacher's Day. Both Directors of the CIBR, Professor Yi RAO and Professor Minmin LUO, and over 200 students and faculties attended the meeting. Mr. Junwen MAO, Director of Research, host the event.

Professor Yi RAO delivered a speech to welcome and encouraged all students of the CIBR.

Prof. RAO welcomed all students and expressed his wishes to them in the brief speech. “I hope 20 years later, when you recall the day you come here, you would all agree that it is the right right to join the right platform for a right research direction,” he said.

Professor Minmin LUO introduced recent development and future plan of CIBR.

Prof. LUO introduced the upward trend of CIBR in recent years in terms of research team, infrastructure construction, and external cooperation. He mentioned that CIBR had recently recruited 14 PIs and 7 core facilities directors, and would increase the student number from 57 this year to 107 next year, to balance the research requirements of both sides. Moreover, the 50,000 square meters new buildings of CIBR will also come into service next year, and the external cooperation will be continuously enhanced in the future. Optimistic to the development of CIBR, he added, “You will never regret choosing CIBR after graduating from here five or six years later”.

Following speeches were delivered by  Professor Chen ZHANG, Dean of School of Basic Medical Science, Capital Medical University, and Dr. Tongfei WANG, CIBR PI, both of them welcome d students and share their experiences in study and research.

 The debut of new students recruited in 2020.

The number of new students in CIBR has skyrocketed in 2020 compared with that of the previous two years. This year we have jointly recruited 39 outstanding graduate students with domestic universities and colleges, including 10 PhD students with Peking University, 3 with Peking Union Medical College, 4 with Beijing Normal University, 3 with Nankai University, 4 with China Agricultural University, and 15 (5 for Master's Degree Programs) with Capital Medical University. The representatives of new students, seniors, and new postdocs also expressed their expectations and ambitions in future researches respectively in their speeches. 

Student representatives delivered speeches on the ceremony.

ZOU Haiyue, representative of new students, praised the innovative potential of this newly established institute, enclosed her resolution to make “miraculous achievement” here with all fellows.

XIA Bingxin, represented senior students of the CIBR, encouraged all to explore and engage in the interdisciplinary researches based on one's major as well as interest, so as to make contribution to human's health. Besides, she also exhorted the new comers to balance their work and health by making sustainable efforts.

As the representative of postdocs, GAO Kai emphasized the significance of perseverance as well as the awareness of cooperation when facing difficulties in future researches, and encouraged his peers to explore the charm of scientific researches.

Seminar Type

Lecture Series on Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Preferred Location

Online Zoom Meeting Link:  https://zoom.com.cn/j/85328263314?pwd=MWhhb3BQM1QxY0wyK1pmY1ZlVlBaUT09

Meeting ID:  853 2826 3314

Password:  091314

Time

10:00-11:30, Friday, August 7th, 2020

Speaker

Huali Wang, MD, PhD

Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry

Chair, Clinical Research Division

Director, Dementia Care & Research Center

Associate Director, Beijing Dementia Key Lab

Peking University Institute of Mental Health

Host

Dr. Dai Zhang

Topic

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease: research advance and translational implications

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease has emerged as a global public health concern. Among the seven themes of the WHO global action plan, early diagnosis and treatment is the key to secure the support for the persons with dementia. However, the etiology of Alzheimer's disease has not been fully elucidated. There are no specific ways of making an early diagnosis. The talk will review the current progress of establishing valid neuropsychological tests, discovering novel biomarkers, and developing optimal algorithms for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease. Besides, how the newly developed approaches might fit the clinical application will be discussed with case demonstration.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Wang obtained Bachelor of Medicine from Peking University (formerly, Beijing Medical University) in 1994, and MD/PhD from Peking University in 2001. She was trained on International Mental Health Research at Harvard Medical School, neuropsychology and neuroimaging of dementia at University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Wang is one of the national pioneers to manage memory clinic and build service capacity for dementia care. She set up the first dementia caregiver support group in China in 2000, developed and tested a community-based family caregiver support program in Beijing. Now she directs a training program for community doctors and service providers, and a train-the-trainer program for dementia caregivers support in China. The care model has been partly adopted by WHO West Pacific Regional Office to develop the toolkit for community-based dementia care in low- and middle-income countries.

Dr. Wang is leading the National Platform on Clinical Dataset and Biobank of Major Mental Disorders. Her research interest included: (1) exploring neuropsychological profiles, blood-based biomarkers and imaging features for early diagnosis of dementia; (2) developing culturally sensitive care for persons with dementia and their caregivers.

Besides, she has joined the panel  of the WHO priority setting exercise on dementia research, participated in the advisory board of WHO West Pacific Regional Office to develop the toolkit for community-based dementia care in low and middle-income countries, and has been designated by the National Health Commission as the WHO Global Dementia Observatory Focal Point for China. In addition, Prof. Wang is one of the technical advisers for dementia care and service in National Health Committee. She drafted the National Geriatric Mental Health Plan which was one the key elements of the 13th Five-Year Plan for Health Aging.

https://virtual-forum2020.kenes.com/en/hall

The Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR) was established in March, 2018 by the Beijing Municipal Government and seven institutions in Beijing. Founded to be a pillar of the China Brain Initiative, CIBR aims to support a vibrant interdisciplinary program in neuroscience and its related disciplines, with both basic and applied research focused ultimately on improving human health. CIBR will also take responsibility for coordinating research institutes and managing research programs under the guidance of the China Brain Initiative and Beijing Brain Initiative and making Beijing the world epicenter for neuroscience and brain-inspired computation.

CIBR is now recruiting scientists to lead individual labs and recruiting independent postdoctoral fellows to further their research in a highly innovative and cooperative environment. You are expected to conduct outstanding research in any area of neuroscience or in brain-inspired computing. Applications for positions at multiple levels are welcome.

We are organizing interactive communication meeting in 12th FENS Virtual Forum of Neuroscience on July 11-15th, 2020, which is hosted by the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and organized by the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) at Glasgow (UK).

You can find us by clicking the logo hung in the lobby, or by searching our name by Chinese Institute for Brain Research or CIBR. If you have any question about CIBR and CIBR recruitment, we will be here and waiting for you visit. The link is followed:

https://virtual-forum2020.kenes.com/en/hall

Welcome to join in CIBR and create history here. 

Website: http://en.cibr.ac.cn/

Contact: Lubin Tan, PhD (The Assistant to Directors )  

Email: PI_recruit@cibr.ac.cn 

Cellphone: +86 188 0101 3744

Seminar Type

Lecture Series on Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Preferred Location

Online Zoom Meeting Link: https://zoom.com.cn/j/84603647228?pwd=WG1mcDlQSTBraG85MEsyblFVditvZz09

Meeting ID: 846 0364 7228

Password: 681620

Time

10:00-11:30, Friday, July 17th, 2020

Speaker

Piu Chan, MD, PhD

Professor 

Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University

Host

Dr. Dai Zhang

Topic

Parkinson's Disease: Critical Issues on Clinical and Translational Research

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorders and has become a significant burden to the fast aging society due to its higher prevalence, higher rate of disability and long disease duration. It’s known that PD has a multifactorial etiology and is pathologically characterized by the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra due to alpha-synuclein aggregation which also exists in the nerve terminals of multiple body systems.  Motor and non-motor symptoms are the cardinal signs presented cross the pre-clinical and clinical stages of the disease.  There is no cure so far for PD but many drugs can improve the motor symptoms and quality of life through dopamine replacement therapy. By now, there is no subjective marker for early diagnosis and monitoring disease progression. Current focuses of research mainly include: (1) mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, (2) biomarkers for early diagnosis and disease progression, (3) neuroplasticity involved in levodopa induced motor fluctuations and deep brain stimulation, and (4) neuron repair and regeneration.

Speaker Biography

Professor Piu Chan graduated from Hunan Medical College in Changsha in 1983 and became a neurologist after the fellowship training. He later acquired his Doctor of Philosophy in neurosciences from Sun Yan-Sen University of Medical Sciences in Guangzhou in 1990 followed by postdoctoral training at the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California of USA, where he spent more than 10 years as senior scientist before returning to Beijing in 1998. After return, Dr. Chan had established the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Clinic for Parkinson’s disease which later became part of the Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education on Neurodegenerative Disorders, Research and Clinical Center for Parkinson’s disease of Capital Medical University, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders and Key Laboratory on Parkinson’s Disease of Beijing. Now this center serves more than 40,000 visits of patients with Parkinson’s disease annually.  

Dr. Chan is well known for his translational research on neurodegenerative disorders. Collaborating with Dr. Carlie Tanner on several unique cohorts, they were the first reporting that environmental exposures are the major risk factors for Parkinson’s disease in 1980’s. He has worked with Dr. J William Langston on developing non-human primate models of Parkinson’s disease and dyskinesia. By using microwave technology, he first demonstrated that MPTP causes selective energy impairment in the striatum leading to neurodegeneration. He has been studying familial and susceptibility genes and a variety of biomarkers for Parkinson's diseases in a few unique cohorts in China aimed for prediction and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases. He has found the China Parkinson Alliance with more than 550 medical centers and 2000+ neurologists, and the first Virtual Hospital on Parkinson’s disease. He has participated in drafting “MDS Diagnostic Criteria for Parkinson’s Disease” and “MDS Research Diagnostic Criteria for Prodromal Parkinson’s disease”. Dr. Chan’s team has participated in the International LRRK2 Consortium and Apple’s mPower projects. He has been awarded by the China Ministry of Sciences and Technology to establish the National Consortium and Big Data Platform for Parkinson and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Dr. Chan also found the Faculty of Geriatrics of Capital Medical University, the first in China in 2004, and established the Beijing Longitudinal Study on Aging II cohort for investigating Frailty and Neurodegenerative disorders. He has initiated projects investigating the role of polyphenols (funded by M. J. Fox foundation) and Traditional Chinese Medicine in two multi-center trials. He has been the Principal investigator for about 20 Phase I-IV clinical trials. He is an ad hoc consultant for the State Food and Drug Administration of China.

Dr. Chan is currently a Professor and the department head of Neurobiology and Geriatrics and vice director of Neurology in the Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University. He also serves as the Director of National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders.   He has published more than 300 SCI peer-reviewed papers with a citation of 14,770 and h-index 57 in Google Scholar, and about 250 peer-reviewed Chinese papers with a citation of ~10,000 and served as editorial members of more than 15 international journals.

Gliomas are the most common brain tumors in adults and the most lethal solid cancer in children younger than 12 years old. Malignant gliomas remain incurable and present unique challenges for clinicians, radiologists, and translational investigators aiming to improve both diagnosis and prognosis. Targeting tumor metabolism has re-emerged over the last decade as a potential source of new cancer therapies. There are several means by which human gliomas metabolism has been assessed: through the metabolome of plasma collected from the cubital vein, through metabolomics analysis of blood collected from resected cancer tissue or cerebral spinal fluid, through imaging with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and through assessment of isotope enrichment in glioma tissue after intraoperative infusion with 13C-labeled nutrients. To date, however, direct measurement of metabolites consumption and production by gliomas in patients is extremely technically difficult.

In a recent study published on Nature Communications, Woo-ping Ge group (woopinglab.org) from Chinese Institute for Brain Research (CIBR) and NanxiangXiong group from Tongji Medical College at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, developed a novel method, named CARVE, paired analysis of Cancer ARterial-VEnous metabolome, to study tumor metabolism directly from patient.

This method is based on the prediction that gliomas consume metabolites from the arterial blood in appreciable quantities, and that these metabolites are present at significantly lower concentrations in venous blood downstream of the glioma. Conversely, metabolites produced and secreted by gliomas accumulate in venous blood downstream of the glioma relative to the arterial supply. Through the comparison of plasma metabolomes between the arterial supply and venous drainage, they could use CARVE to exclude the interpatient variation and characterized multiple metabolites that are consumed and produced by gliomas in vivo from patients.

This is the first time that blood has been successfully collected from an artery and vein specifically upstream and downstream of a tumor in patients for the purpose of performing metabolomic analysis to characterize the uptake and consumption of metabolites from the tumor. Identification of the metabolites or other molecules consumed by gliomas in vivo is beneficial for the understanding of glioma metabolism.  It will greatly encourage the scientific community to use a similar strategy to perform metabolomic analysis of other cancers in patients or animal models.

SEMINAR TYPE


Lecture Series on Neuropsychiatric Disorders




TIME

14:00-15:30,Friday,June 5th,2020




PREFERRED LOCATION

Online Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81009084149?pwd=MHJOZGF4MTJ1MHlVemNFSDVwY2pydz09

Meeting ID: 810 0908 4149

Password: 564192




SPEAKER

Xunming Ji,  

MD, PhD, EMBA

Vice-president，

Capital Medical University，

Director，

Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders




TOPIC

Translation from Science to Clinic, Remote Ischemic Conditioning




HOST

Dr. Dai Zhang




ABSTRACT

Sublethal hypoxic or ischemic events can improve the tolerance of tissues, organs, and even organisms from subsequent lethal injury caused by hypoxia or ischemia. This phenomenon has been termed hypoxic or ischemic preconditioning (HPC or IPC) and is well established in the heart and the brain. This lecture is about HPC and IPC with respect to their translation from science to clinic remote ischemic conditioning, especially for the treatment of stroke.




SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Xun-ming Ji (MD, PhD, EMBA), as a Chief Physician and Doctorial tutor in neurosurgery, is the Vice-president of Capital Medical University and the Director of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders. He has been elected as the ‘China National Funds for Distinguished Youth Scientist’, the ‘Distinguished Professor of Cheung Kong Scholars Program’ and State Council Expert for Special Allowance.

Prof.Ji engages in the research of stroke screening and prevention, including the thrombolysis for acute cerebral infarction, neuroprotective therapy, chronic cerebral ischemia of adaptive protection treatment and the diagnosis and treatment of cerebral venous disease. He has published more than 500 papers and one book - “Endovascular Intervention for Acute Stroke”. He received seven Provincial-level scientific and technological progress awards, including the First Prize of Medical Science of Chinese Medical Association, First Prize of Science and Technology Progress Award of Ministry of Education. 

Dear Colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Carlos Ibáñez has been appointed as the Acting Associate Director for Academic Affairs at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR), effective on May 1st 2020. 

Dr. Ibáñez has started the process of setting up a research laboratory in Beijing. His key responsibilities as the associate director will be to assist us with developing strategies for operations and future growth, to help coordinate scientific researches among research groups and core facilities, and to promote international collaboration.

Please join us in welcoming Carlos to this exciting new role at CIBR. 

Yi Rao, Ph.D.

Minmin Luo, Ph.D.

CIBR Co-Directors

Job Title:

Principal Investigator in Neuroscience and Brain-inspired Computing

ABOUT CIBR

The Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR)was established in March, 2018 by the Beijing Municipal Government and seven institutions in Beijing. Founded to be a pillarof the China Brain Initiative, CIBR aims tosupport a vibrant interdisciplinary program in neuroscience and its related disciplines, with both basic and applied research focused ultimately on improving human health.CIBRwill also take responsibility for coordinating research institutes and managing research programs under the guidance of the China Brain Initiative and Beijing Brain Initiative and making Beijing the world epicenter for neuroscience and brain-inspired computation.

CIBR is now recruiting scientists to lead individual labs and recruiting independentpostdoctoral fellows to further their research in a highly innovative and cooperativeenvironment.

Website: www.cibr.ac.cn

FEATURES OF CIBR

Ø  A Pillar of the China Brain Initiative

Ø  Outstanding and International Colleagues

( 50 internationally-selected PIs and >1000 researchers )

Ø  Interdisciplinary Programs

( Integration of Basic neuroscience, biotechnology development, diseases and clinical research, computational neuroscience, and artificial intelligence )

Ø  First-class Facilities

( 60,000 m² research space, 11 state-of-the-art core facilities, excellent engineering and technical support teams, and 30k animal cages )

Ø  Extensive Collaboration Opportunities

( Joint research programs with near numerous top universities, research institutes, biotech companies and abundant clinical resource for integrative study with collaborative hospitals)

Ø  Excellent Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs

( Joint programs with Peking University, Tsinghua University, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing Normal University, China Agricultural University, Capital Medical University, Nankai University）

Ø  Internationally Competitive Funding, Salaries/Benefits and Support Systems

( Stable strong support for exploratory research; no need of grant application )

Ø  International Management System

(International Advisory Board, international review, and international administrative support)

Ø  Free and Open Research Culture

THE POSITIONS and BENEFITS

Principal Investigators (PIs)

Applications for PI positions at multiple levels are welcome. PIs are expected to conduct outstanding research in any area of neuroscience or in brain-inspired computing.

Qualified PI candidates should have a doctoral degree with appropriatepostdoctoral training. Successful candidates are being selected based on their scientific qualifications, regardless of age, gender, nationality, orethnicity. CIBR will actively coordinate with PIs to supporttheir access to relevant national programs.

CIBR provides generous start-up packages, internationally competitive salaries/benefits, and six years of stable funding that is renewable upon successful reviews by our highly accomplished international guiding committee. CIBRis establishingtruly state-of-the-art core facilities to enable and support cutting-edge biomedical and computational research and technology development. Moreover, CIBR provides strong administrative support and outstanding graduate and postdoctoral programs. These resources will enable each PI to freely pursue research of long-term major impact.

Research Fellows

CIBR invites applications for Research Fellow positions. Fellows will be expected to undertake outstanding research in any area of neuroscience or in brain-inspired computing.

Qualified Research Fellow candidates should have obtainedtheir doctoral degree within the past two years.Successful candidates will be selected based on their scientific potential. CIBR provides benefits including funding, research space, senior advisors, and an initial appointment period of 5 years.

Postdoctoral Positions

We are seeking highly talented, self-motivated, innovative and enthusiastic postdoctoral researchers with a PhD or has equivalent scientific competencein neuroscience or in a related discipline.The candidate should demonstratea creative, interdisciplinary approach to solving modern problems in neuroscience,the promise of seeding or promoting sustainable, collaborative links between CIBR faculty research programs,anda commitment to promoting diverse, ideas, perspectives, and voices in our research community.

We will flourish your research career and make you worldwide competitive in a highly creative and inspiring environment full of expertise and curiosity, we will also provide you strong support including advanced technique training, tempting salary and abundant welfare.

DOCUMENTS FOR APPLICATION

Applicants for PI andResearch Fellowpositions shouldsubmit a CV, a statement of research interests&future plan (three pages), and have at least three letters of recommendation sent to the CIBR Search Committee, applicants for Postdoctoral Fellow positions can also contact preferred PIs directly.Review of applications is ongoing, and will continue until the available positions are filled.

Additional Enquiry

We will organize interactive communication meetingat exhibition Booth71 in 12thFENS Forum of Neuroscience on July 11-15th, 2020,which is organized by the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies(FENS)and hostedby the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) at Glasgow (UK) Welcome to join in CIBR and create history here.

Contact: Lubin Tan, PhD (The Assistant to Directors )

Email:PI_recruit@cibr.ac.cn

Cellphone:+86 188 0101 3744

Address: The Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing (CIBR), NO.26

Science Park Road, ZGC Life Science Park, Changping District, Beijing, China, 102206