Nencki Open Lab

We believe that neuroscience needs new ideas.

But new ideas do not appear in a vacuum: they require a vivid and engaging scientific environment that is open to discussion and confrontation of different views; the ability to conceive and develop theories is also a skill that has to be mastered. At the same time, they require access to experimental tools to be scrutinously tested, tools that enable scientists to ask more challenging questions.

Nencki Open Lab is an initiative of young neuroscientists from Nencki Institute, Warsaw. Our goal is to create a creative environment, in which researchers can discuss their ideas, exchange thoughts with people coming from different subfields of neuroscience and learn to use open tools that allow them to develop their experimental setups and analyze their data. Our initiative is composed of two parts: the School of Tools and the School of Ideas.

In the School of Tools, we provide young neuroscientists with high-quality training in tools used in neuroscience: from electronics and Arduino, through programming in Python and Bonsai, data analysis, and statistics, to microscopy and optics. We organize workshops, courses, and summer schools, where participants can learn under the supervision of highly qualified teaching assistants. Our project targets especially students from unprivileged countries and institutions. We have organized more than 30 workshops and two summer schools and our syllabus is still growing!

The goal of the School of Ideas is to create a platform where neuroscientists can exchange and confront their ideas, learn how to think theoretically, and orient themselves in the theoretical landscape of neuroscience. We organize seminars, journal clubs, and symposia. Our flagship event is Nencki School of Ideas in Neuroscience.