Synapsium 2026: Into The Dark
We are pleased to invite students from NeurotechEU partner universities to participate in a NeurotechEU‑supported, student‑led initiative hosted at Radboud University this April. As part of Synapsium 2026, we are opening opportunities for student talks and poster presentations from all partner universities within the alliance.
What is Synapsium?
Synapsium is an annual neuroscience symposium organised at Radboud University, now in its 14th edition. The event is student‑led and provides a platform for early‑career researchers to present their work, attend talks and workshops, and engage in cross‑institutional exchange. Each edition features a keynote lecture by an established researcher, student presentations, and a panel discussion on current topics within Cognitive Neuroscience.
This year, the opening keynote, titled Consciousness during sleep, will be given by Prof. Martin Dresler, head of the Donders Sleep & Memory Lab and Associate Professor at Radboud University Medical Center. He trained in Biological Psychology, Philosophy, and Mathematics at Bochum University, completed his PhD at Marburg University and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, and conducted postdoctoral research in Oxford and Stanford. With over 20 years of experience in sleep research, his work focuses on the role of sleep in mental health, its biological functions, cognitive aspects, and research methodology.
In this keynote, Dresler explores how conscious experience fluctuates throughout the day, from full wakefulness to drowsiness and deep sleep. He will examine the nature of the mind during sleep, ranging from dreamless states and common dream experiences to the fascinating phenomenon of lucid dreaming, in which individuals become aware that they are dreaming while still asleep.
The keynote can be watched online via livestream, in the morning from 9:45-10:30. Sign up here for the link.
Moreover, this year’s edition goes beyond borders with NeurotechEU, welcoming Philine Baumert, final-year PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bonn, who will host a workshop and join a panel discussion on Saturday, 18 April. Philine studied psychology in Bonn and is working in the Section for Cognitive Psychology and Experimental Clinical Psychology. Her work focuses on psychopharmacology, oculomotor behaviour, and cognitive neuroscience. Her main PhD project utilises ketamine’s effects to modulate NMDA-receptor functioning mimicking hypo-functioning thought to play a role in schizophrenia in healthy participants.
About the workshop
Philine Baumert will host a workshop during the Synapsium titled Introduction to Conducting Psychopharmacological Experiment. This workshop will give you an introduction to psychopharmacological experiment planning with human participants. Psychopharmacology concerns investigating interactions between pharmacological compounds, the nervous system, and their impact on experience and behaviour. For many drugs, it is known how they act neurochemically. Therefore, observing drug-related changes to cognition, perception, and behaviour may provide insights to parts of their neurochemical basis. It can also allow for inferences concerning the aetiology and biological basis of psychiatric disorders as well as open up new treatment approaches. For example, psychotomimetic effects of phencyclidine and its derivate ketamine observed in healthy participants have informed the glutamate-hypothesis of schizophrenia.
The workshop will primarily focus on the processes, preparations,and precautions necessary before the first participant enters the lab,although we will also talk about appropriate investigator behaviour during these kinds of experiments. At the end of the workshop, you should have gained insights in how to actually conduct psychopharmacological experiments yourself, especially what practical steps need to be considered before assessments start.
When?
On Friday, 17 April, students will have the opportunity to visit the labs at the Donders Institute, connect with the local NeurotechEU Synapse and discover the city of Nijmegen – the oldest city in the Netherlands.
The Synapisum takes place on Saturday, 18 April. For the latest programme, check the Synapsium website.
Who?
This event is open is Bachelor, Master and PhD students. There is one spot available per partner university, so interested students should send in their applications timely. Speaker and poster slots will be assigned on a rolling basis.
Please contact your local NeurotechEU project office with your application.
Deadline to apply: 10 April