Neuroscience
Academy Denmark

Advanced Neuroscience PhD Course: Motor and Pain

What
PhD course
When
23–27 March 2026
Where
Hotel Svendborg

Register

Enrolment:

The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD Students from NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.

Organizers:
Professor Ole Kiehn and Professor Thomas Graven-Nielsen

Theme: Motor and Pain

Venue:
Svendborg Hotel, located in the beautiful city of Svendborg in southern Funen.

Course Aim

This course is designed to provide Nordic neuroscience PhD students with a comprehensive and state-of-the-art understanding of key topics in motor and pain neuroscience.

Each day combines lectures, workshops, and group presentations to consolidate learning. Keynote lectures will be delivered online by leading experts.

Program Overview

  • Monday: Motor circuits
  • Tuesday: Motor control
  • Wednesday: Sensorimotor control
  • Thursday: Pain circuits
  • Friday: Pain mechanisms

Topics Covered

Motor Circuit Neuroscience

  • Fundamentals of motor circuit complexity across the nervous system
  • Development and organization of spinal motor circuits
  • Insights into basal ganglia function in motor control
  • Diversity of brainstem circuits involved in movement regulation
  • Mechanisms of learning and adaptation in motor circuits
  • Treatment of Parkinson’s disease using deep brain stimulation
  • Advanced methods for investigating brain circuit function

Pain Neuroscience

  • Fundamentals of the peripheral and spinal nociceptive systems
  • Fundamentals of the supra-spinal nociceptive system
  • Mechanisms relevant for pain chronification
  • Human experimental pain neuroscience
  • Assessment of pain mechanisms in humans
  • Neuromodulatory mechanisms for pain

Group Work:
Collaborative projects on strategies for investigating unanswered scientific questions.

Practical Information

  • ECTS: 5 points
  • Seats: 40 participants
  • Registration: Official registration has closed. If you are interested in the course, please contact the NAD office by e-mail (office [at] neuroscienceacademydenmark.dk) and we will advise you about the possibility for late registration.