Thus, ECM and its enzymatic modifications have emerged as a highly topical research area, also because their extracellular localization makes the development of enzymatic inhibitors more feasible, with better access for novel drugs. In brief, it can be expected that a better understanding of the newly emerging field of ECM and its proteolysis in the brain physiology as well as major diseases shall advance our understanding of the brain as well as change the way its disorders are diagnosed and treated.

The focus of EXTRABRAIN training program is on expanding knowledge and on developing new treatments to the most costly brain disorders. The program will focus on anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, mental retardation and Alzheimer’s. A unifying neurobiological concept in the consorted effort to tackle these conditions is the involvement of abnormal synaptic plasticity.

The PhD positions are available in the laboratories of: L. Kaczmarek (Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland); A. Dityatev (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany); J. Herms (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Munich, Germany); R. Pawlak (University of Exeter, UK); P. Caroni (Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland); H. Ehrenreich (Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany); A. Triller (École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France); O. Flores (STAB VIDA, Portugal)

Description of the projects, application requirements and forms are available at: http://www.extrabrainitn.eu/

Application deadline: November 15, 2013

The projects are supposed to be completed within 3 years and the starting date for the each of the project is February 1, 2014

Salary depends on the country in which the project is carried out and is in the range of 20 000 – 40 000 EUR/year