The Master program has two pillars:
- the neuroscience courses with compulsory in methodology, neurobiology and affective and cognitive neurosciences and various optional courses for 30 ECTS
- a long-term research project in a laboratory (at least 3 semesters) for 60 ECTS
Cellular and moleclular neurobiology
Methodology and statistics
Cognitive and affective neuroscience
(among a choice of about 30 courses)
Study Duration : 3 to 5 semesters Start Date : Fall term Important : Students are doing in the same time both the research project and courses. Student are expected to be at full-time in their laboratory outside class hours, so at least 2 full days a week for the first two semesters.
Show the detailed study plan
Courses are jointly proposed by the faculty of Medicine, the faculty of Psychology and Educational sciences (FPSE), the faculty of Science, and the faculty of economics (GSEM).
* Course given once every two years (24N07 and 751035 given in 2023/24, 751003 not given in 2023/24)
** Limited number of students
*** Under conditions of relevant knowledge in statistics
Mandatory courses : Neurobiology
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N01 | Principles of neurobiology | Daniel Huber | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 6 | Fall, Tu and We 16:00-18:00 |
| Total |
Mandatory courses : Methodology
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N18 | Introduction to applied statistics for health data analysis | Delphine Courvoisier | FacMed | English | 3 | Fall, Mo 14:15-17:00 |
| 24N05 | Techniques for investigating brain functions | Christoph Michel | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | Fall, Th 16:00-18:00 |
| Total |
Mandatory courses : Affective and cognitive neuroscience
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N03 | Introduction to cognitive and affective neuroscience | Patrik Vuilleumier | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | Spring, Fr 10:00-12:00 |
| 24N10 | Clinical and experimental neuropsychology | Radek Ptak | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | Spring, We 16:00-18:00 |
| Total |
Optional courses : Affective and social neurosciences
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 751035 | Neuropsychologie des émotions et neuroscience affectives | Didier Grandjean and Leonardo Ceravolo | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, We 14:00-16:00 |
| 751036 | Neurosciences affectives (TP) | Didier Grandjean | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, Tu 12:00-14:00 |
| 751037 | Approches cognitives de l’émotion | David Sander | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Tu 14:00-16:00 |
| 751042 | Emotions positives et recherche de récompenses | Eva Pool | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, Mo 8:00-10:00 |
| 751343 | How emotion affects memory over the lifespan | Ulrike Rimmele | FPSE | English | 3 | Fall, Th 8:00-10:00 |
| 751610 | Affect et prise de décision | Tobias Brosch | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, Mo 10:00-12:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Artificial intelligence
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13X005 | Intelligence artificielle: Principes et méthodes | Stéphane Marchand-Maillet | Sciences | French | 4 | Fall, We, 8:00-10:00 (theory) and Th, 15:00-17:00 (exercices) |
| S403011 | Machine learning*** | Sebastian Engelke | GSEM (Economie) | English | 6 | Spring, Tu, 8:00-10:00, We, 10:00-12:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Attention and cognition
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 751200 | Habitudes et systèmes de mémoire | Julie Péron | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Sp Mo 8:00-10:00 |
| 751202 | Attention et fonctions exécutives | Dirk Kerzel | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, We 16:00-18:00 |
| 24N07 | Neurobiology of vigilance states* | Virginie Sterpenich | Médecine | English | 3 | Spring, Th 16:00-18:00 |
| 751044 | Emotions animales | Thibaut Gruber | Psychologie | French | 3 | Fall, We 14:00-16:00 |
| 751204 | Neuropsychologie cognitive | Virginie Descloux | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 6 | Fall, Fr 14:00-18:00 |
| 14B043 | Introduction à la biologie du comportement | André Langaney | Science | French | 3 | Annual, Th 10:15-11:50 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Bioethics
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13B003 | Bioéthique (version 1) | Christine Clavien, Samia Hurst | Sciences | French | 6 | Annual, Th 12:30-14:00 |
| 13B003 | Bioéthique (version 2) | Christine Clavien, Samia Hurst | Sciences | French | 3 | Fall, Th 12:30-14:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses: Clinical neurosciences and brain dysfunctions
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75113E | Troubles du sommeil et fonctionnement psychologique | Ralph Erich Schmidt | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Tu 18:00-20:00 |
| 751110 | Neuropsychologie clinique de l'adulte | Andrea Brioschi, Nadezhda Guevara | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Fr 8:00-10.00 |
| 751136 | Neuropsychologie clinique intégrative des affections démentielles | Anne Claude Juillerat Van der Linden | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, Tu 16:00-18:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses: Development and plasticity
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 751116 | Neuropsychologie de l’enfant et de l’adolescent | Claire Mayor | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Tu 10:00-12:00 |
| 751337 | Vieillissement cognitif et différences individuelles | Alexandra Hering | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, 2 saturdays, 9:15-17:00 |
| 751339 | Brain and plasticity | Daphné Bavelier, Marjolaine Cohen | Faculty of Psychology | English | 3 | Fr, 12:00-14:00 |
| 751338 | Développement cognitif dans une perspective de Life-Span | Mathias Kliegel | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, 2 Saturdays 9:15-16:30 |
| 13B010 | Advanced topics in molecular genetics | Robert Maeda | FPSE (Psycho) | French and English | 6 | Fall, Fr 8:15-10:00 |
| 751344 | Développement des réserves et de la vulnérabilité dans une perspective interdisciplinaire lifespan | Andreas Ihle | Faculty of Psychology | French | 3 | Fr 10:00-12:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses: Functional neuroanatomy
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N02 | Introducing the human brain: from structures to function** | Joszef Kiss, Charles Quairiaux | Medicine | English | 3 | Spring, Tu 16:00-18:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses: Language and communication
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75400 | Neuropsychologie du langage chez l'adulte | Marina Laganaro | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, We 10:00-12:00 |
| 751201 | Langage | Julie Franck | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Spring, We 14:00-16:00 |
| 751243 | Cognitive Neuroscience of Language | Valentina Borghesani | FPSE (Psycho) | En | 3 | Sp, Fr 8:00-10:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses: Methodology
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N21 | Lab Work: Introduction to EEG analysis | Nicolas Burra | Faculty of Medicine | English | 3 | tba |
| 751513 | Introduction à la programmation d’expériences | Dirk Kerzel, Andres Posada | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Tu 10:00-12:00 |
| 751500 | Analyse de données multivariées | Julien Chanal | FPSE (Psycho) | French | 3 | Fall, Tu 8:00-10:00 |
| 24N04 | PET and MRI Imaging in Neuroscience | Philippe Millet, François Lazeyras, Nathalie Ginovart | Medicine | English | 4 | Spring, Th 14:00-16:00 |
| 24N17 | Scientific 3D applications | Emmanuel Badier | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | tba |
| 24N19 | Current topics in applied statistics for health data | Delphine Courvoisier | Faculty of Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | Sp, Tu 14:00-17:00 |
| 24N20 | Introduction to programing for neuroscientists | Guillaume Chanel | Faculty of Medicine | English | 3 | Sp |
| 13X004 | Imagerie numérique | Svyatoslav Voloshynovskyy | Science | French | 8 | Annual, Fall Fr 10:00-12:00 and Spring Th 10:00-12:00 |
| 14B012 | Scientific writing and communication** | Michael Hothorn, Andreas Boland | Science | English | 4 | Fall, Tu 8:00-11:00 |
| 14F001 | Elements of bioinformatics | Amos Marc Bairoch, Marie-Claude Blatter | Science | English | 5 | Fall, Mo 8:00-12:00 |
| 14F012 | Elements of proteomics and metabolomics: translation to human diseases | Serge Rudaz, Jean-Charles Sanchez | Science | English | 3 | Fall, Th 14:00-16:00 |
| 24N22 | Introduction to biophotonics | Ronan Chéreau | Neurocenter (FacMed) | EN | 3 | Sp, We 13:00-16:00 |
| 24N23 | Advances MRI techniques in neuroimaging | Frédéric Grouiller | Neurocenter (FacMed) | EN | 3 | tba |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Neuroeconomics
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S403052 | Psychology of finance | Kerstin Preuschoff | GSEM (Economics) | English | 6 | Fall, We 14:00-16:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Perception
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14C031 | Perfume and flavour chemistry | Christian Chapuis, Christian Margot | Science | English | 6 | Fall, Tu 13:00-15:00 |
| Total | 12 |
Optional courses : Computational neuroscience
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24N13 | Trends in Computational Neuroscience | Alexandre Pouget, Timothée Proix | Medicine (Neurocenter) | English | 3 | Spring, We 14:00-16:00 |
| Total |
Optional courses : B2B
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MGT-642 | Innosuisse Business Concept | Iohannès Bry | EPFL | English | 4 | Spring, Tu 17:00-21:00 |
| i-teams | i-teams Program | Vincent Wagner | UNIGE | English | 3 | tba |
| Total |
Optional courses outside UNIGE (non exhaustive list)
| Course number | Course name | Organizing lecturer | Institution/Faculty | Language | ECTS | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2_RESAL_A (FAll) and 2_RESAL_P (Spring) | Introductory course in Laboratory Animal Science | UNIL | EN | 2 | Fall and Spring | |
| Total |
Language
No French exam is required for the master in neuroscience admission. Official results to an English test (IELTS, Toefl, Toeic, Cambridge etc.) are required with a minimum B2 level in English as all of the compulsary courses and about one third of the optional courses are given in English.
Tuition fee
Tuitions fees are CHF 500.- per semester.
Admission conditions
The student can be accepted to the master if she/he fullfills three conditions:
- The student holds a bachelor of Sciences, Medical Sciences, Psychology or any other degree considered equivalent by the faculties and the Neurocenter committee. Information regarding the equivalence cannot be obtained before the documents submission to the Admission office.
Medical diploma obtained outside EU are not eligible. Paramedical trainings and diploma are not eligible. Swiss HES bachelors are eligible under the condition of validating a 40-ECTS customised study plan (one year) before entering the program.
You can ask for a first notice about the possibilities of equivalence of your diploma by writting to delphine.jochaut@unige.ch
2. The student is merit-based selected (scholastic results and motivation).
3. The student is accepted by a research lab for the master project according to the schedule below.
How to apply
General view of the admission process:
Students finishing their bachelor degree at the University of Geneva should:
Step one : administrative registration
From January 1st to February 28th
Students from the Faculty of Psychology : Inform the secretariat of your faculty by email that you are applying for the Master in Neuroscience and go directly to step 2.
Students from the Faculty of Sciences: Register to the master program directly at your current faculty by filling the required form. Please contact the secretariat of students of your faculty to do so.
Students from the Faculty of Medicine: Register to the master program directly at your current faculty by filling the required form. Please contact the secretariat of students of your faculty to do so.
Step two : application for selection
from January 15th to February 28th
The whole application has to be done via the UNIGE application portal. All the process has to be done online.
You must:
- connect to the UNIGE application portal with your UNIGE login and password
- fill the online form
- add the required documents
- submit
The required documents must be merged in two different files (preferably in PDF):
Required documents:
- Identity document or passeport
- Photography
- Diploma (and final grade transcripts) of upper secondary studies, in the original language
- University transcripts, in the original language
- Diploma (and final grade transcripts) of upper secondary studies, officially translated in French or English
- University transcripts, officially translated in French or English
- Official syllabus of your cursus in French or English
- Curriculum vitae/Resume
- Motivation letter
- Certificate of English language level B2 or above
- award and/or academic recognition (recommendation letter)
The Neurocenter will evaluate your application and directly send your application to the laboratories mentioned in the laboratory choice form between March and September 1st, depending on their availability for a master student project and on their interest in your profile. If you have not been directly contacted by a laboratory for an interview at the end of May, please contact the laboratories your are interested in by yourself (by sending CV and motivation letter). You must have found a laboratory before September 8 to be admitted to the next Fall term. You will be registered in the faculty of affiliation of your supervisor.
The affiliated research groups approved by the Neurocenter committee is listed here.
General view of the admission process:
UNIGE application portal
From January 15th to February 28th for the following Fall semester
The whole application has to be done via the UNIGE application portal. All the process has to be done online.
You must:
- create an account via the UNIGE application portal
- fill the online form
- add the required documents
- submit
Required documents:
- Identity document or passeport
- Photography
- Diploma (and final grade transcripts) of upper secondary studies, in the original language
- University transcripts, in the original language
- Diploma (and final grade transcripts) of upper secondary studies, officially translated in French or English
- University transcripts, officially translated in French or English
- Official syllabus of your cursus in French or English
- Curriculum vitae/Resume
- Motivation letter
- Certificate of English language level B2 or above
- award and/or academic recognition (recommendation letter)
The Neurocenter will evaluate your application and directly send your application to the laboratories mentioned in the laboratory choice form over March/April, depending on their availability for a master student project and on their interest in your profile. You must have found a laboratory before April 30th. If you are admitted to the program, you will receive an admission letter at the beginning of May. You will be registered in the faculty of affiliation of your supervisor.
The affiliated research groups approved by the Neurocenter committee is listed here.
Contact
For administrative questions (immatriculation request), please contact directly the Admission office via their platform: https://admissions.unige.ch/kayako/
For further information about the program, please contact directly Delphine Jochaut: delphine.jochaut@unige.ch
For information regarding living and studying in Geneva, you can contact the Master in neuroscience student association: Site web Email: aeng-gnsa@unige.ch