About
The Centre for Transdisciplinary Neurosciences Rostock (CTNR) of the University Medical Centre Rostock at the University of Rostock and the Strategic Research Area "Multidisciplinary research focused on Parkinson's disease" (MultiPark) at the Lund University initiated the United Neuroscience Campus (UNC) Lund - Rostock.
The idea is the institutional networking of two internationally excellent neuroscientific locations with a large translational focus in order to establish a virtual campus beyond the Lund and Rostock locations on key neuroscience topics. The overall goal is to increase the scientific excellence through:
- formal international cooperation beyond borders and standards
- bilateral mobility and teaching programs for staff and young scientists
- innovative collaborative projects
- the use of novel synergy effects
The overarching strategic goals of the UNC are:
- the promotion of young researchers
- internationalisation
- increasing the visibility of the community
- stimulating international collaborative research projects and publications
The added values of the UNC, which strongly demands and promotes international relations, lies in the:
- increase of critical mass for new interdisciplinary and innovative collaborative proposals to create better starting conditions for national highly competitive procedures
- increased number of host institutions for research stays of young scientists
- promotion of opportunities for scientific and staff mobility
- additional range of modules in the qualification, training and continuing education programs of the respective locations
The United Neuroscience Campus was founded on the basis of a formal cooperation (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Centre for Transdisciplinary Neurosciences Rostock (CTNR) and the partner institutions of the Swedish Lund University. Scientific relationships already exist between partners on both sides, e.g. in neurology and clinical memory research. The future cooperation in the United Neuroscience Campus has already been mutually declared.
The United Neuroscience Campus is organisationally managed by an international UNC Board consisting of representatives of the respective collaborations and is supported and administered by UNC Coordinators. The leadership is provided alternately from both locations by election. UNC bylaws serve as the formal basis of the UNC Board and Members Assembly.
Speaker
Alexander Storch
Professor, Director, CTNR Speaker
Department of Neurology, University Medicine Rostock, Germany
Research areas: basic mechanisms of novel therapeutic approaches in Parkinson’s disease
Deputy Speaker
Per Odin
Professor, Consultant, Head of Division, Principal Investigator MultiPark
Restorative Parkinson Unit, Dept of Clinical Sciences, Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, Sweden
Research areas: Parkinson´s disease (PD), Monitoring of PD, Continuous dopaminergic stimulation, Pump-based therapies, Non-motor symptoms, Late stage PD, Work and PD
Board Members
Angela Cenci-Nilsson
Professor, Coordinator, Principal Investigator MultiPark
Experimental Medical Science, Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, Sweden
Research areas: symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments for disorders of basal ganglia origin, particularly Parkinson´s Disease (PD)
Angela Kuhla
Apl. Professor, CTNR Board member, Group Leader
Metabolic Syndrome and Neurodegeneration Group, Rudolf-Zenker-Institute for Experimental Surgery, University Medicine Rostock
Research areas: Obesity-associated neurodegeneration and the role of FGF21 in it, preclinical research of AD pathology and use of various intervention strategies therein
Kevin Peikert
Clinician Scientist, CTNR member
Neurology, University Medicine Rostock, Germany
Research areas: Hyperkinetic movement disorders, neuroacanthocytosis syndromes, VPS13-related disorders, VPS13/XK proteins, "bulk lipid transfer" in health and disease
Lund and Rostock establish the Neuroscience Campus
Based on more than 15 years of joint individual projects in the field of neurology and clinical memory research, the research area neurosciences of the University Medical Center Rostock (Centre for Transdisciplinary Neurosciences Rostock, CTNR) together with the research area "Multidisciplinary research focused on Parkinson's disease" (MultiPark) of the Faculty of Medicine of the Lund University (Sweden) developed the joint concept for a "United Neuroscience Campus Lund-Rostock" (UNC). Within the UNC, the research field is expanded to include general research into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's diseases, Parkinson's diseases and stroke. The overarching strategic goals of the initiative are the support of young scientists through exchange programs, internationalization, increasing the visibility of the neuroscientific community and the encouragement of international research cooperation and publications at both locations.
On May 5, 2022, after more than a year of working together on the UNC concept using virtual meetings, the first personal visit to Lund took place. Welcomed with a city tour through the attractive student city of Lund, representatives of both locations then presented the existing organizational and research infrastructures as well as exchange, training and funding programs. On the following day, strategic issues, measures and necessities for the initiation and long-term implementation of the United Neuroscience Campus were explained. The first agreed activities within the UNC include the use of ERASMUS modules (staff mobility, traineeship), the co-supervision of doctoral projects, the mutual announcement and invitation to scientific courses and a scientific conference next autumn in Rostock.
At the end of the two-day visit, the Vice Dean for Budget, Planning and Structure of the University Medical Center Rostock, Prof. Bernd Krause, and the Vice Dean for Internationalization and Recruitment of the Medical Faculty of the University of Lund, Prof. David Gisselsson Nord, as well as the Principal Investigators of the UNC, Prof. Alexander Storch (Neurology, Rostock) and Prof. Per Odin (Neurology, Lund) signed a “Memorandum of Understanding”. This agreement seals the future cooperation between the two locations in the field of neuroscience and sets the starting point for future exciting joint projects and exchange programs that promote young talent within the United Neuroscience Campus Lund-Rostock.
1st Virtual Neuroscience Workshop Lund – Rostock
The initiative of a United Neuroscience Campus Lund - Rostock (UNC) was starting with the first virtual scientific workshop on “Key questions and methods in the field of neurodegenerative diseases in Lund and Rostock”, on October 20, 2021, 2 pm – 7 pm.
The goals were to get in contact with researchers from Rostock and Lund, to present and get to know the scientific key questions and methods of both scientific locations. The information will lay the basis for future collaborations and projects.
The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Lund, Prof. Kristina Åkesson and the Dean of the University Medical Centre Rostock, Prof. Emil Reisinger welcomed the participants. The project leader Prof. Alexander Storch (CTNR Speaker) and Prof. Per Odin (Neurology Lund) introduced the initiative. The workshop programme consisted of experimental and clinical key speakers who presented their scientific questions in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. 62 participants from both countries took part online, with six lectures from Rostock and eight from Lund.
