Dynamics in Brain-inspired Neural Networks // 2-6 November 2026

Prerequisites for participation:

A Master in Physics or Mathematics or equivalent. Previous exposure to Computational Neuroscience. Ideally, participants should be beyond the first year of PhD in theoretical or computational neuroscience. Previous knowledge in neuroscience is not required, except that there are many neurons in the brain.

The class is taught at a level where teachers assume that students know standard material in computational and theoretical neuroscience. Standard material is available from  text books on Theoretical Neuroscience and Neuronal Dynamics or from video lectures. In this class we go beyond and study important research papers, most of these with a mathematical slant, presented by the authors of the research.

For physicists and mathematician who would like to participate but  who are not certain about their background in computational  neuroscience, we recommend to take a look at the textbook on neuronal dynamics and prepare for the class by  reading all of Chapter 1 as well as the first few sections of each of the following chapters:

• Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,  (models of single neurons and stochasticity)
• Chapter 12,13,14,15 (networks and population equations)

The main topic of the doctoral class builds on networks, population equations, differential equations and mean-field techniques,  but a bit of background in the description of  single neurons and stochasticity helps.

Additional Requirements for EPFL doctoral students who want to obtain 2 ECTS credits of doctoral education:

1.  Participate in all lectures during the workshop.
2.  During the three days of lectures, ask a total of three questions (or more).
3.  Sign up for at least two tutorials/discussions offered by the speakers on Thursday / Friday
4.  Write a report with the following contents (2 pages total, well structured)
a) What are the three questions that you asked during the lectures and what have been the answers? Do you feel that the answers were satisfactory?
b) Which speaker had the presentation style that you liked best. Which are the aspects of the presentation that you would like to achieve in your own scientific talks?
c) Which speaker had  the presentation style that you found worst?  Which are the elements of the presentation that you would like to avoid in your own scientific talks?
d) Which are the two tutorials/discussions that you signed up?  Do you have the impression that you learned something during the tutorial (e.g., new insight, new mathematical technieque)? How could that learning outcome influence your own research?

We welcome participation of researchers interested in this field. Note that speakers will address a specialized audience. The number of seats in the lecture hall is limited.

Please note that there is a participation fee of 90CHF for participants from outside EPFL.

Signing up for the workshop implies that you are interested enough to attend all talk sessions from  Monday 2pm to Wednesday 6pm.

There is no poster session and no space to hang  posters.

Tutorials on Thursday and Friday are restricted to PhD students.

The workshop will take place at the Bernoulli Center at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Phase 1

Phase 2

This workshop is hosted by Professor Wulfram Gerstner (Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience, EPFL) and Professor Eva Löcherbach (CMAP, Ecole Polytechnique).

PhD Students – please register here

Other participants – please register here

Please note that there is a participation fee of 90CHF for participants from outside EPFL. Accepted participants will be contacted for payment.

EPFL PhD students will receive 2 ECTS credit points for participation in the class – please also register on ISA! Course name : BIOENG-612

PhD students from other universities will receive a certificate of attendance.

The class is listed in the Doctoral Program of Neuroscience at EPFL.