About Us

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (HWNI) is the nexus for campus-wide multidisciplinary neuroscience research at UC Berkeley. We are a research unit within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, with over 70 faculty members from over a dozen different academic departments. This unique cross-departmental structure brings together experts from a variety of fields to use the power of interdisciplinary research to achieve breakthroughs in the study of the brain and the rest of the nervous system, and to drive the development of novel treatments and technologies. We support our faculty and their labs in their research aims, foster opportunities for collaboration, sponsor major research initiatives, and run innovative neurotechnology and research centers. We also help train the next generation of neuroscientists through our support of the Neuroscience Department’s PhD program(link is external).

Our research mission is to deepen our understanding of the nervous system — from single molecules to human behavior — through original research and paradigm-shifting neurotechnology innovation, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches and use-inspired research. Our scientists investigate how the nervous system functions, develops, changes, and ages, including the mechanisms underlying sensation, perception, behavior, learning, cognition, and neurological disease. We are building next-generation experimental, analytical, and theoretical approaches to probe the nervous system and develop new ways to diagnose and treat neurological diseases and disorders.

To achieve this mission, we bring together brilliant researchers from Berkeley’s world-leading programs in biology, psychology, engineering, chemistry, physics, statistics, computation, and more. Our faculty members come from the departments and schools of:

Credit: Foster Lab, 2019 

Image from David Schaffer's lab, showing a culture of midbrain dopaminergic neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to serve as cell replacement therapies for Parkinson's disease. Credit: Tandi Vazin

History of Neuroscience at UC Berkeley

HWNI works closely with the Neuroscience Department, which is home to the undergraduate and graduate neuroscience academic programs, to support neuroscience broadly on campus. Our community is highly collaborative, innovative, and dedicated to answering important questions and solving pressing issues in neuroscience.

We also support our faculty and foster advances in neuroscience by sponsoring major research initiatives and leading-edge research and technology centers. Advances in understanding brain function and brain disorders are often enabled by cutting-edge technology and the focus of the brightest scientific minds from various disciplines around a common goal. Our research initiatives provide funding for cutting-edge research and encourage interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches. Our research and technology centers bring together interdisciplinary groups of researchers to support new areas of research, develop tools for neuroscience research, and apply the new knowledge and tools to advance our understanding of the brain.

HWNI’s mission is also to serve society by disseminating the knowledge and technology we generate to further scientific and clinical advances, and by helping to train the next generation of leaders in the field of neuroscience. We are deeply committed to creating a welcoming environment where all members of our community can thrive personally and professionally and achieve their highest potential. As a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary institute, we know that bringing together researchers with varied perspectives and experiences fuels scientific breakthroughs, strengthens our research programs, supports talented individuals, and benefits society at large.