New center for brain research on the Garching campus
A new connectomics research center will be established on the TUM campus in Garching, which will focus on the comprehensive mapping and analysis of all neuronal connections in the brain. At the Center for Structural and Functional Connectomics (CSFC) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), researchers from various disciplines will collaborate in such areas as state-of-the-art imaging technologies. The Joint Science Conference (GWK) has approved funding of around 69 million euros.
Connectomics research at TUM. Photo: Astrid Eckert / TUM
Bernstein member involved: Julijana Gjorgjieva
The human brain is a highly interconnected system. To understand how it works, as well as its disease mechanisms, it is necessary to decode the totality of neural connections. That will be the mission of the CSFC: Researchers will investigate the structure and function of neural circuits to improve our fundamental understanding of the healthy brain and diseases of the central nervous system. Initially, the CSFC will focus on three disease areas: multiple sclerosis, neuro-oncology and neurological developmental disorders.
These use cases will significantly advance medical imaging. The CSFC will lead the development process from basic research to clinical application by integrating high-resolution microscopy technologies, novel imaging methods, AI-supported data analysis, and computational modeling.
Interdisciplinary expertise combined at a single location
The new center will take shape over the next few years on the Garching research campus. Spanning over 2,000 square meters, it will bring together expertise in natural sciences, engineering, medicine, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and data science. The scientific directors are Prof. Franz Pfeiffer (Biomedical Physics), Prof. Julijana Gjorgjieva (Computational Neurosciences) and Prof. Thomas Misgeld (Neuronal Cell Biology).
TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann says: “Alongside the Center for Organoid Systems, the CSFC is another important bridge for linking our strong medical research in Munich’s city center with the scientific and engineering expertise at the Garching campus. Under the organizational umbrella of the Munich Institute of Biomedical Engineering, the CSFC combines basic medical research in the field of high-performance microscopy and AI-supported imaging. In this way, we aim to advance our understanding of the structure and function of the human brain and create new ways of developing more effective treatments for diseases of the central nervous system.”
Prof. Franz Pfeiffer says: “At CSFC we will integrate light, X-ray and electron microscopy into a novel platform for correlative imaging across multiple scales. With the help of coherent image processing and AI, we are establishing the physical and technological foundation for a precise understanding of neural networks.”
