Stem cell MEA course picture 2026 version

Hands-on course: Human Stem Cell-Derived Neuronal Networks in Health & Disease

Explore the formation of human neuronal networks and the roots of complex neurological disorders! This course teaches in theory & by hands-on training cutting-edge 'human brain on a chip' techniques, differentiation of human stem cell-derived neuronal cultures and assessing genotype-phenotype correlations in models for neurodevelopmental disorders.

General

From generating to assessing human neuronal networks on the chip

How to investigate key aspects of human neuronal network formation and how to reveal the mechanisms underlying complex mental disorders? Through a multidisciplinary lens, the course introduces best practice for so called “human brain on a chip” approaches which allow new ways for investigating gene-cellular phenotype correlation.

The “Hands-on course on human stem cell-derived neuronal networks in health and disease” integrates knowledge from genetics, neurobiology, molecular assays, biophysics, and statistics to equip students with the skills necessary for designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, and interpreting findings.

This course aims at senior master and PhD students with a strong background and interest in neurosciences. The course will be particularly valuable for early career scientists who have recently started and or intend to start studies with human stem cell-derived models for neurological disorders. Conceptually, the course will focus on neurodevelopmental disorders as example cases for understanding the clinical needs as well as the experimental possibilities in the related translational human stem cell research.

During the course the participants will learn how to reliably generate and use in vitro human neurons for neuronal network development in health and disease. Following up on a very successful first edition of a similar summer school in 2025, we established lab facilities that now allow participants wet-lab hands-on training on generating their “own” human stem cell-derived neuronal network cultures, maintaining and assessing these cultures, e.g. by using culture-on-a-chip low- and high-density Micro Electrode Array (MEA) recordings. The extensive hands-on training is framed by theoretical training on relevant basic neurobiological and methodological concepts, best practice approaches for data analyses and interpretation as well as by presentations given by expert researchers in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders. During the course, flash talks on own projects, master classes, social activities and group project work on designing and defending research ideas will allow for extensive networking opportunities.

Learning objectives

Our intensive course combines local expertise with insights from world-class clinical and technical guest speakers to give you the tools to master neuronal network studies. Through a blend of cutting-edge theory and immersive hands-on practice, you will learn to:

Master Advanced Cultures: Induce robust differentiation of hIPS cells into viable 2D cultures and 3D assembloids to model complex neurological disorders.
Analyze Functional Networks: Assess and interpret neuronal development using state-of-the-art low and high density multi-electrode arrays (MEAs).
Evaluate Model Design: Learn to critically assess the design and usefulness of human stem cell derived neuronal in vitro models for specific neurodevelopmental disorders.
Innovate with Organ-on-Chip: Apply "network-on-a-chip" methodologies (eg. MEAseq, MEA-LINK) to uncover molecular and functional insights within the human genetic background.
Drive Translational Science: In team design, formulate, and defend sophisticated research projects that address the most urgent needs in the field of translational neuroscience

Starting date

21 August 2026, 10 am

Location

Trigon

City

Nijmegen

21-08-2026

Costs

€1,500

VAT-free

Yes

for the 8 day course including the laboratory consumables, all course material, lunch and social program.

Educational method

On-site

Main Language

English

Deadline registration

20 April 2026, 11:59 pm

Maximum number of participants

Show more information

Factsheet

Type of education

Course

Entry requirements

Completed BA or MA in (Medical) Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Molecular Life Sciences, Psychology or equivalent. A solid background in cellular and molecular neurobiology is required.

Study load (ECTS)

Result

Certificate

Organisation

Donders Centre for Neuroscience

Contact information

Dr. Dirk Schubert

Medical Neuroscience Department
Radboudumc Nijmegen
Postbus 9101
6500 HB Nijmegen

Programme

Start date: Friday 21st of August 10.00 AM

End date: Friday 28th of August 02.00 PM

Topic 1. Human neuronal networks on the chip

Through an interactive lecture and case studies of example disorders, students will be introduced to various hIPS cell-derived neuronal cultures and organoids. Following this and over the course of the following days, participants will gain hands-on experience with the necessary laboratory infrastructure, with plating and differentiating hIPS cell-derived neuronal networks and with performing functional phenotyping of IPS cell-derived 2D neuronal networks using advanced (low and high density) micro-electrode array (MEA) systems. They will also learn and engage in data analysis and interpretation related to these techniques.

Topic 2. Modelling neurodevelopmental disorders on the chip

How to investigate complex mental disorders and treatment strategies e.g. in animal models if the genetic etiology is often hardly comparable with the individual patient. Using selected neurodevelopmental disorders as example cases and illustrating the relevance of related research for clinics, the participants will learn about the research strategies that allow assessing the molecular, structural and functional distortions associated with identified genetic mutations.

Topic 3. E/I balance: the building and interaction in Inhibitory/Excitatory networks

Current research implies that distorted balance between excitation and inhibition is playing a key role in most neurological disorders. After first introducing the wealth of different classes of excitatory and inhibitory neurons and their specific network integration, during a workgroup the students will work on simple model circuits in order to understand synaptic integration in basic excitatory/inhibitory networks.

Topic 4: Assessed student research project

During the course, in small groups of three the students will use the theoretical and practical knowledge they acquire during the course to design their own research project. Assisted by tutors and with educative feedback rounds they will work towards answering a fundamental and/or translational research question by combining different techniques in the field of stem cell-derived neuronal network models. The study aims will be assessed by means of final students’ presentations and graphical abstracts. All students need to present and the presentation as well as graphical abstract will be graded, including an individual grade for the performance during the project work.

Teacher(s)

Dirk Schubert
Dr. Dirk Schubert, coordinator of the summer school, is associate professor for Translational Neuroscience, senior lecturer and leading his research group for “Cellular Neurophysiology” in the Medical Neuroscience Department at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen. His background is in Biology with a particular expertise in electrophysiology and cellular neuroanatomy. His research focuses on understanding neuronal network formation and maturation in health and neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder, with a particular focus on the neuronal circuitries maintaining excitatory/inhibitory balance in rodent ex vivo models as well as human IPSC derived neuronal networks (“human neurological disorders in a dish”).

Nael Nadif Kasri
Prof. Dr. Nael Nadif Kasri is a professor and scientist at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen, specializing in neuroscience and genetics. His research focuses on uncovering the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying neurological developmental disorders, with particular attention to conditions such as autism and epilepsy. By exploring these areas, he aims to advance our understanding of these disorders and contribute to the development of new therapeutic approaches. With a strong background in interdisciplinary research, Kasri plays an active role in the field of biomedical sciences, bridging scientific insights to clinical applications.

Ilse van der Werf
Dr. Ilse van der Werf is a staff scientist at the Medical Neuroscience department of the Radboudumc in Nijmegen. Her background is in molecular mechanisms of disease, in particular the genetics and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders such as intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. After several years of research in this field, she is currently focusing on the development of teaching and training opportunities focused on the application of stem-cell derived neuronal models.

Marina Hommersom
Dr. Marina Hommersom is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. dr. Nael Nadif Kasri at the department of Human Genetics at the Radboudumc in Nijmegen. Her background is in Molecular Life Sciences with a specialization in Neuroscience, with a particular expertise in network and single-cell electrophysiology in stem-cell derived neurons. Currently, she is leading a project aimed at identifying targetable molecular pathways in patient-derived CACNA1A neuronal models. This work integrates micro-electrode array-based phenotyping with multi-omics profiling and AI-driven drug screening, with the goal of translating mechanistic insights into personalized therapeutic strategies.

Guest speaker

Prof. Jürgen Knoblich
IMBA - Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Science, Vienna, Austria
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Knoblich may be best known for his work on cerebral organoids. These achievements, which made the textbooks, laid the groundwork for the organoid breakthroughs that became both textbook material and springboard for international fame.

Guest speaker

Alessandro Prigione
University Children’s Hospital at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany

"Pluripotent stem cell-based models to accelerate drug discovery of mitochondrial brain diseases"

Dr. Alessandro Prigione is a tenured Associate Professor of Pediatric Metabolic Medicine in the Department of General Pediatrics at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany. He received a MD from the University of Milan Italy in 2002 and a PhD from the San Raffaele University in Italy in 2008. His lab employs induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and derived neurons and brain organoids for disease modeling and drug discovery of rare mitochondrial neurological disorders, with a specific focus is on Leigh syndrome. Dr. Prigione is a member of the scientific council of AFM Telethon, of the scientific committees of Mitocon and Cure Mito, and the current Editor-in-Chief of the journal Stem Cell Research (Elsevier). He is the coordinator of international consortia focusing on the use of iPSCs for advancing mitochondrial disease treatments (CureMILS from EJPRD, SildeMITO from AFM, SynLeigh from ERDERA). A repurposable drug identified by the Prigione group following an iPSC-based approach has recently received the designation of Orphan Drug from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of Leigh syndrome, and for this a clinical trial is now under development.

Costs and admission

Costs

Regular | € 1500.-

The deadline for our regular application is up and untill the 20th April 23:59, 2026.

Includes

Your course, course material, coffee and tea during breaks, lunch every day and social activities as shown in the program overview.

Excludes

Transport, accommodation and other costs.

Central and affordable accommodation for the participants is offered for an extra fee of € 470.- (shared double room for 8 nights (Thursday Aug. 20 – Aug. 28.2026, including tourist tax). Available upon request. send your request to dirk.schubert [at] radboudumc.nl (dirk[dot]schubert[at]radboudumc[dot]nl)

Travel grant

For this course, FENS/IBRO-PERC scholarships are available for students that are located/studying in Europe (but do not reside or study in the Netherlands).

A total of four travel stipends are available for Master and PhD students located in Europe, excluding Netherlands. The selected students will have the registration fee waived, while the accommodation is covered. Please note that the travel stipend amount will be calculated based on the distance in kilometers from student’s affiliation location to the course location.

Find out more

Admission

Level of participant

Senior Master, PHD, Postdoc.

Admission requirements

Completed BSc or MSc in (Medical) Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Molecular Life Sciences, Psychology or equivalent. A solid background in cellular and molecular neurobiology is required. Having experiences in cell culturing, statistics and in coding (R, Matlab or Python) are of advantage for the educational outcome.

Admission documents

This is an application for registration only and no payment of any tuition fee is required yet. Please note that this hands-on course is limited to up to 20 participants.

After the registration deadline, participants will be selected based on the information provided in this application and will receive further information for enrolment & payment.

Next to personal and work related information, the online application will ask for a short motivation and an outline of the educational/laboratory background.

Application for registration will be open here between 20 March and 20 April:

Link to form