Mental Health and Neuroscience

About this programme

The PhD program "Mental Health and Neuroscience: Disease Mechanisms - Diagnostics and Therapy - Clinical Neuroscience" at the klu Krems is an excellence-oriented doctoral program with an interdisciplinary focus in the field of mental health, basic neurobiological research, and clinical and applied neuroscience: It enables PhD students to develop and conduct experimental and empirical research projects in these highly relevant bridging disciplines in health science. The aim is to enable future scientists to take a coherent view of the different subject areas and at the same time carry out specialized research work. The term mental health refers to a person's emotional, psychological and social well-being. When mental health is impaired, our thinking and mood are affected, which ultimately has an impact on our behavior. Illnesses, especially brain diseases, have a direct impact on mental health. Neuroscience uses physiology and pathophysiology as well as clinical diagnostics and therapy to explore the fundamental properties of the normal and diseased nervous system and its impact on mental health. In recent years, international health institutions have become increasingly aware of the global importance of mental health (e.g. https://www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health, www.mentalhealth.gov). Therefore, the PhD programme follows international recommendations to support the greater integration of global mental health and neuroscience into research on psychiatric diagnosis, pathogenesis, nervous system disorders and their treatment.