Community

In this section you find ways in which our lab contributes to a thriving science community.

Beers, Brains & Backpropagation - The Jena NeuroML Meetup

Every last Thursday of the month, we meet after work around 6:00 pm or a bit later, in one of the bars in Jena (location TBA). The idea is simple: a relaxed, informal get-together for anyone interested in neuroscience, machine learning, mental- and/or brain health. No talks, no slides, no agenda - just good conversations about work or not. Feel free to join, bring friends, and come as you are. Looking forward to seeing you.

In Jena, Germany

Funded by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, the Professorship for Artificial Intelligence for Neural Systems Imaging at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena bridges research environments between the University and the University Hospital Jena. Our group is part of German Center for Mental Health (DZPG) at the Halle-Jena-Magdeburg site, contributing to the national research network on translational mental-health research, where Thomas Wolfers serves as Principal Investigator. Our work builds interdisciplinary bridges across Jena’s communities in machine learning, neuroscience, clinical, cognitive and psychological research.

In Tübingen, Germany

We are a part of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Tübingen, which is one of the locations of the German Centre for Mental Health. Our group is an associated with the IMPRS for intelligent systems and the IMPRS for mechanisms of mental function and dysfunction.

Talks, courses, workshops and conferences

Talks, courses, workshops and conferences are an important aspect for a thriving scientific community. Therefore, we regularily contribute to the organization of Workshop on Machine Learning in Clinical Neuroimaging at MICCAI, taught at the Computational Psychiatry Course at the ETH, Machine Learning for Neuroimaging at the University of Stanford, LMU’s computational psychiatry course and were invited speaker at Biological Psychiatry in the USA and at various machine learning conferences. We were in the local organisation commmitee for the Computational Psychiatry Conference in 2025, are part of the Scientific Programme Commitee for ECNP 2026 in Munich and are currently helping to establish a research network on machine learning for mental health at the same conference. Reach out for questions or requests by email.

Education

The goal of our lab is to provide an environment where education is joy. While science is often an endeavour one must work on in solitude, we will provide opportunities for collaborative education whenever possible. We aim to educate competent and confident students who can complete difficult tasks for society. In our lab you will be encouraged to learn the skills and personal qualities necessary to achieve whatever goal you put your mind to. We welcome people from any background to sign up for this journey.

Mentorship

Finding the right mentor for a given task is an important step towards its execution and eventual completion. Competences change with time and topic. Thus, the mentor-student relationship is a dynamic process and not fixed. The ego, ideally, stays outside.