The MSc B&M links teaching with scientific research in the Nervous System in three main ways: a) Immersing students in primary literature through elective mandatory courses in the second year, b) Engaging students in research labs (laboratory/theoretical exercises) for at least 12 months required for the awarding of a master’s degree, c) Allowing students to undertake a "Diploma Thesis" to complete the required ECTS credits for the master’s degree.

Attendance in the MSc B&M is full-time and exclusive, lasting a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 semesters, starting in the winter semester. Each student must attend courses and specialized laboratory/theoretical exercises to accumulate at least 120 ECTS credits. Students are required to select elective mandatory courses and specialized laboratory/theoretical exercises at the beginning of each semester.

Courses, teaching, research activities, specialized laboratory/theoretical exercises, and other educational and research activities are defined as follows:

a) Postgraduate courses (Title, semester, ECTS credits) listed in the following tables. The assignment of teaching duties for the MSc B&M postgraduate courses is made by the Program Committee upon the recommendation of the Steering Committee, or the Director of the program, as specified by current legislation. Attendance at both the core mandatory course and the elective mandatory courses selected by the students is compulsory, and no makeup is provided. Consistent absence from educational activities leads to the student's expulsion from the MSc B&M after a decision by the Program Committee.

The core mandatory course corresponds to 36 ECTS credits and is organized into 6 modules:

• Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience semester (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Systems Neuroscience I: Perception (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Systems Neuroscience II: Movement and Cognitive Functions (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Introduction to Psychology and the Social Neurosciences (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Philosophy of Science - Philosophy of Mind (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Computational Neurosciences spring (spring) (6 ECTS)

At the end of each module, students' performance is evaluated by the instructor(s) on a scale of 1-10 (5-10: sufficient, 0-4: insufficient). Evaluation is done through exams or other methods determined by the module leader. In case of failure in any module(s) of the core course, students can retake exams in September. If they fail again in even one module, they are expelled from the MSc B&M.

Elective mandatory courses reflect the research interests and scientific specialization of the instructors, aiming to delve into contemporary research questions and methods in Brain and Mind Sciences. Each student must successfully complete elective mandatory courses totaling at least 48 ECTS credits. The maximum number of elective mandatory courses a student can enroll in per semester is five (5). A course must be selected by at least three students to be offered. Undergraduate program courses recommended by the program as elective mandatory are not recognized for graduates of the respective departments. Courses from previous studies that a student may recognize as elective courses cannot exceed 12 ECTS (25% of required elective mandatory course credits).

Elective mandatory courses belong to three general directions:

1. Biological/Systems Neurosciences
2. Computational Neuroscience
3. Social and Cognitive Neurosciences

Biological/Systems Neurosciences 

• Introduction to Neuroanatomy (fall) (3 ECTS)
• Synaptic interactions in the cortex  (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Introduction to experimental methods in neuroscience (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Introduction to Molecular Neurobiology (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Cerebral cortex: Perception and Movement  (fall) (9 ECTS)
• Molecular Cellular Neuroendocrinology spring (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Cellular mechanisms of learning and memory (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Oculomotor Control spring (spring) (9 ECTS)

Computational Neuroscience

• Introduction to Statistics and programming in Matlab (fall) (3 ECTS)
• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (fall) (9 ECTS)
• Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (fall) (12 ECTS)
• Autonomous Robotic Navigation  (fall) (12 ECTS)
• Biomimetic Robotics  (fall) (12 ECTS)
• Neural networks (spring) (12 ECTS)
• Neural networks and learning of hierarchical representation (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Introduction to signal processing with applications in the analysis of discrete and continuous neural signals (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Brain network analysis and modeling (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Principles of computational modeling in neural circuits (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Brain connectivity analysis using EEG/MEG (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Machine Learning (spring) (12 ECTS)
• Computational Vision (spring) (12 ECTS)

Social and Cognitive Neurosciences

• Principles of Functional Imaging of Brain Mechanisms applied to fMRI Data  (fall) (9 ECTS)
• Philosophy of Science (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Foundations of cognitive science and unified theories of cognitive systems (fall) (6 ECTS)
• Introduction to the Philosophy of Perception (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Naturalization and Normativity (spring) (6 ECTS)
• Research in Developmental Psychology (spring) (4 ECTS)

At the end of each module, students' performance is evaluated by the instructor(s) on a scale of 1-10 (5-10: sufficient, 0-4: insufficient). Evaluation is done through exams or other methods determined by the course leader. Students who fail in three or more courses are expelled from the MSc B&M. b) At least 2 specialized laboratory or theoretical rotations [Titles are provided in the following table] during which the student actively participates in the activities (meetings, literature reviews, participation in a research program) of the research groups involved in the MSc B&M. These rotations aim to familiarize the students with the research process and help them choose their future research topic, depending on the available research subjects, their interests, and their inclinations. The selection of rotation is made by the students in consultation with their advisor. Each rotation lasts at least 3 months, and their total duration is at least 12 months. One month (120 hours of work) corresponds to three (3) ECTS. Consequently, each student must accumulate at least 36 ECTS from mandatory attendance (minimum of 12 months) of rotations. The performance of the student in each rotation is graded (on a scale of 0-10) by the rotation supervisors who submit a relevant report to the Program Committee. In case of failure (0-6) in a rotation, the student must choose another one.