9th Summerschool of Genetic Neuroimaging
Berlin, August 23th -28th, 2009

As in former years, the 9th Berlin Summerschool “Psychiatry as a Science – Genetic Neuroimaging”, which took place in Berlin August 23rd -28th 2009, was closely linked to the Emotional Neurosciences Conference at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Charité Campus Mitte.
9 Summerschool participants also actively participated in Emotional Neurosciences, giving talks or presenting posters.
Key speakers of the conference were Christian Büchel, Gunter Schumann, John O'Doherty, Peter Kalivas, Jürgen Gallinat and Andreas Heinz.

The Summerschool itself, which started on Sunday 23rd, was again divided into two parts:
In the morning sessions, the skills training part taking place at the Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften under the guidance of Hanfried Helmchen, Norman Sartorius, Andreas Ströhle and Andreas Heinz aimed at the development of general skills necessary in research, such as reading and writing a scientific paper, writing reports, presenting data, and chairing sessions.
Each participant had to give a presentation on past or current projects. One of the IMAGEN research assistants attending the Summerschool, Carla Palafox (Charité Berlin) received a price for the best presentation held in the course of this week.

The afternoon sessions that took place at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Charité Campus Mitte focused on the application of specific research methods in psychiatric research. Participants chose one of four workshops (fMRI Data Analysis, Genetics, Animal Models, or Neuropsychology) for a four-days intensive hands-on training. All trainers (Imke Puls, Torsten Wüstenberg, Michael Rapp, Sandra Dick, Joachim Behr, and Julia Klein) concentrated on a demonstrative and interactive way to disseminate practical skills, which was much appreciated by the participants.
Additionally, lectures were given on selected topics related to genetic or neuroimaging research in the context of mental disorders.

This year, 32 applications were sent to us, out of which 16 participants from 11 countries were chosen. Unlike in previous years, the participants had to separately apply for IMAGEN funded travel and accommodation support, and 9 participants received this grant based on their application.

The evaluation of the classes and lectures were positive throughout. Particularly the skills training and the opportunity to exchange research experiences with colleagues from different countries were experienced as very inspiring. In order to deepen and  intensify the contact and scientific collaboration between the young researchers who participated in this Summerschool, a joint research project was initiated. This project will presumably deal with the multinational comparison of patients' perceptions concerning psychiatric treatment.

The Imagen Europe - 6th Framework Project  therefore considerably contributed to initiating scientific exchange and ccoperation between these young researchers from all over Europe by funding the 9th Berlin Summerschool.

For further information please contact
Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Ströhle
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Campus Charité Mitte
Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49- 30 - 450 - 517034; mail: mailto:andras.stroehle@charite.de