We are happy to announce the next Cambridge Open Lab Workshop, organised with support from FENS!

Basic knowledge in electronics is a necessary prerequisite for every neuroscientist. You will need it to understand how your electrophysiological setup works and to appreciate what is happening inside a cell during an action potential. But it is also indispensable in the process of developing your experimental setups – from the selection of components, through the synchronization of data streams, up to closed-loop control of innumerable devices.

This workshop is intended to provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge of electronics. Starting from absolute basics – voltages and currents – trough inner working of electronic components such as capacitors, transistors and amplifiers – up to application of microcontrollers in neuroscientific experiments!

List of topics:

• Basics – voltage, resistance and current, Ohm’s and Kirchoff’s laws
• Tools in electronics – multimeters, oscilloscopes
• Basic elements: resistors, capacitors, diodes
• Transistors and logic gates
• Basics of computer computations
• Filters and amplifiers
• Sensors, motors, servos
• Basics of microcontrollers
• Synchronization of data streams with microcontrollers
• Controlling devices in experimental setups
• Closed-loop experiments

TAs: Mateusz Kostecki (Heidelberg University), Ceren Arslan (King’s College London), Chloe Guillaume (Cambridge University)

The workshop will be organized in the scenic town of Sheringham, Norfolk, f May 4th – 8th. The fee is GBP 375; it covers the cost of accommodation and food. Thanks to the generous support of FENS, we provide travel grants and fee waivers – please let us know in the application form if you need one! Please find the form HERE. The application deadline is April 1st.