Research
Research Excellence
LMU München is one of the few German universities with a comprehensive academic profile. Attesting to the excellence of its research, LMU has been one of the most successful German universities in the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Council (DFG) right from the initiative’s start in 2006. Aided (in part) by the Excellence funding, LMU has fostered outstanding conditions for top-level research, the promotion of the next generation of academics (ensuring equal opportunities), and the advancement of interdisciplinary and international collaborations. Currently, LMU Munich ranks 32nd in the THE 2020 World University Ranking; it is the top university in Germany and ranks 8th in Europe.
In line with the inherently interdisciplinary nature of cognitive-neuroscience research, Munich is uniquely placed to bring together the critical mass required for larger-scale multidisciplinary research initiatives, in our case: a research-oriented master program. The M.Sc. in „Neuro-Cognitive Psychology“ greatly benefits from being embedded within the wider Munich neuroscience network, offering cutting-edge techniques, such as a recently established research-dedicated 3T MRT laboratory (jointly organized by the Department of Psychology, with the Institute of Psychiatry, and the Munich Center for NeuroSciences – Brain & Mind). One particularly relevant hub in this context is the Munich Center for NeuroSciences – Brain & Mind of LMU Munich (MCNLMU). The MCNLMU provides a forum for the broader neurosciences in the Munich area (most NCP lecturers are members; H.J. Müller and T. Geyer are board members), organizing a high-level neuroscience colloquium series and, importantly, running the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSNLMU), the first (Excellence- funded) graduate school at LMU Munich.
Given these established structures, NCP can draw on a broad network of internationally competitive research units, from both LMU and TU München, linked within common DFG funded research initiatives (such as the Psychology-led research group „Active Perception“), with specific research foci, areas of expertise, and state-of-the-art technical facilities, psychophysics, eye-tracking, motion-tracking, animal research, EEG, TMS, tACS, and fMRI, as well as virtual environments.
NCP Research Project
To acquire hands-on research experience our NCP students are required to carry out one supervised research project on their own during the course of their study program and prior to writing the Master thesis. This project consists of a supervised experimental study which is designed to provide students with the opportunity to gather methodoligical experience in the field of Neuro-Cognitive Psychology while working on an original research question. The results are then documented by a project report in the format of a scientific publication. The research project is supposed to to be completed during the summer semester break.
