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Support the next generation of neuroscientists: Help TENSS change minds and understand the brain
Together, we can light up the world of Neuroscience.
Join us in shaping the minds of Neuroscience researchers by supporting TENSS (Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer school, https://tenss.ro). Your generosity will provide a unique, life-changing experience to our students and propel forward the field of brain research, to ultimately understand the underpinnings of human mind and find novel treatments for debilitating brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, autism, schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson’s, ALS, epilepsy, Huntington’s disease, etc.
Our Mission
Imagine a place where bright young minds in Neuroscience gather from across the world, not in the hallowed halls of academia’s ivory towers, but in the heart of nature, where innovation meets inspiration.
The aim is to empower the next generations of brain researchers to understand how top-notch discovery tools work, and how they can access them in inexpensive and flexible ways. Building these tools from scratch in a place lacking the standard laboratory infrastructure, in the company of experts in the field, aching to share their knowledge in a friendly and open manner, drives innovation and fosters the enterprising spirit. Not being limited by the tools, but rather embracing and using them at their full potential, enables researchers to focus their creative energy on answering fundamental open questions about how the brain works. In time, this enables understanding of the human mind and finding treatments for disease. This is not just a dream; it’s the reality of the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School (TENSS) happening annually since 2012 in June in a remote village between green hills, by the shores of Pike Lake, close to Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The Challenge
Bringing this transformative experience to life requires resources. The Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience (TINS), the organizer of TENSS is a non-profit research entity. Every year, all the wonderful teaching assistants and invited lecturers donate their time and energy for free to the course. This year, we are encouraging the lecturers to support their travel expenses themselves. Even so, for 2024, the estimated costs to host TENSS exceed $125,000. In light of funding agencies increasingly retracting financial support for initiatives like ours, we’ve managed to secure $80,000 through the generosity of our private funding partners. Our current goal is to raise the remaining $45,000 to ensure TENSS 2024 can proceed as planned, maintaining the comprehensive and immersive format of the previous years. This crucial funding will support:
- Covering participation costs and travel scholarships for our applicants, ensuring diversity and inclusion.
- Securing the necessary cutting-edge equipment and materials.
- Maintaining a sustainable, eco-friendly learning environment in our idyllic location.
- Providing full board accommodation, trips and transfers for students and faculty through the intensive program.
Compared to the costs of running even individual projects in one single research laboratory, the $45,000 we are in search of does not represent a large sum. Yet, our struggle is telling as it reflects the current lackluster attitude of funding agencies in supporting educational pursuits, even for those that have wider global impact such as TENSS.
Failure in securing this funding would impose constraints on the duration of the school and quality of the educational program distilled across iterations over the past 12 years, and would seriously jeopardize the feasibility of future editions of TENSS.
Why Your Support Matters
By supporting TENSS, you’re not just funding a summer school; you’re investing in the next generations of brain researchers who will discover innovative treatments for brain disorders. Your contribution will help:
- Educate the Next Generations of Neuroscientists: Support the training of young researchers from around the world, including those from underrepresented or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
- Foster Innovation: Enable hands-on experience with the latest lab equipment and research methodologies.
- Build Community: Encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing among students, lectures, and teaching assistants from various cultures and disciplines.
- Promote Open Science: Contribute to our commitment to open-source solutions and the democratization of scientific knowledge.
How You Can Help
Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to our goal. Here’s how you can help make TENSS 2024 a reality:
Donate: Every dollar counts! Your donation directly supports our mission. A donation of $50 or more would certainly be very helpful!
Share: Help us spread the word! Share our campaign on social media, with colleagues, family, and friends who are passionate about education and scientific advancement.
Sponsor: If you’re a company or organization, consider becoming a sponsor. Your support is much appreciated and will be recognized in our materials and communications.
Donate now and be a part of this journey of discovery, learning, and innovation.
Testimonials:
“The course was a pure delight. The science was hands‐on and cutting edge ‐ despite the need to improvise extensively; the TAs where superb, the organization professional and the visiting lecturers amongst the best in the world. However, the specific reason why I believe the course ranks supremely amongst its peers and is the best choice for any aspiring graduate student or postdoc in the neurosciences is the unusual setting in the rural parts of Transylvania an the ‐ possibly correlated ‐ quality of the students who are absolutely delightful and highly intelligent without exception. All of these elements in combination produced a summer school that has no equal in the world”.
Florian Engert, Invited lecturer
Professor, Harvard University, USA
“...an amazing experience and an opportunity to meet people who were not only extremely bright, dedicated, contagiously enthusiastic and very much on top of their field, but also very open and approachable, starting with the students and all the way to the lecturers. The organizers proved an uncanny ability to bring together a heterogeneous group and make it blend together so easily and naturally that from the first couple of days it felt like being around people you’ve known forever. What they could pull off in terms of organization, equipment and techniques in a rural and somewhat remote area of Transylvania has been for everyone attending a constant source of awe. The lab sessions would bring some incredible source of thrill (such as, well after midnight when you’re finally done aligning and adjusting mirrors and lenses, realizing that you’ve just built your own two‐photon microscope from scratch) ... attending this summer school has been a real boost and an eye‐opening experience in more ways than I could have ever expected. Hopefully many more students will have the opportunity to a similar experience in the following years”.
Ioana Gasler, Master’s student, University of Bucharest, TENSS 2013 student participant
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophtalmology Basel, Switzerland
“…a superb equilibrium between hands‐on practical work and intellectual discourse with the faculty. The topics of both covered in a very comprehensive way the most advanced methods and concepts in contemporary neuroscience. I felt myself humbled by the admirable competence of the faculty, the brilliance of the students and the intense working atmosphere of this exceptional School. I have been attending many schools as faculty and can compare. TENSS excels in all aspects ‐ the density of the work packages given to the students, the competence of the instructors, the quality and motivation of the students, the expertise of the faculty, the devotion of all participants to accomplish goals (practical work regularly extended way beyond midnight) and above all the ‘retreat’ atmosphere at the school provided by the calm and idyllic location. This school is a jewel and a precious gift to the community of neuroscience and to Romania.”
Wolf Singer, Invited lecturer
Professor, Director, Ernst Strüngmann Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
“It took us through all mentioned themes, starting from basically zero level all the way to the actual experiment. With good people and good attitude. More so than I expected. It brought a great bunch of people in the middle of nowhere to show them how science is created from scratch. I had a great time while being incredibly useful. This is how science and everyday life should be! And I got such a good insight in some of the fields + look‐around in the world of fundamental research in neuroscience, all compressed in a very short and exciting time.”
Student A, anonymous feedback, TENSS 2013
“It was again a genuine pleasure to attend and witness very bright students being taught by some of the world's experts in neuroscience, including theorists and practitioners of microscopy, microelectrode recordings and molecular tools for neural labeling and manipulation. Having previously taught at many other Neuroscience summer schools, I found TENSS to be more exciting, rounded and accessible for the students, all situated in a wonderful and friendly village in Transylvania. Long may it continue, and I hope to be invited again next year! Many thanks for your hospitality and efforts to maintain this excellent Course!”
Tom Mrsic‐Flögel, Invited Lecturer
Professor, Director Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, UK
“TENSS has been a very enriching experience (the best school I have attended), I have learnt a lot about techniques and how to do good science. The enthusiasm they have for doing science is very contagious! Also, after school, whenever I needed scientific help, they were always available and helpful.”
Azul Silva, PhD student, University of Buenos Aires, TENSS 2019 student participant
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Institut du fer à moulin, Paris, France
“TENSS was an invaluable experience for me, as I'm sure it has been for the continuing cohort of students. Keeping the original spirit of TENSS going as long as possible will continue to serve the young neuroscience community most effectively. Many thanks for all the hard work of the organizers and instructors!”
Gergely Silasi, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, TENSS 2012 student participant
Current position: Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada
“TENSS is a bubble that takes you to other reality. Surviving TENSS was one of the most difficult AND beautiful experiences I ever had in my life. But I am sure it is worth it and if I could I would do it again.”
Student B, anonymous feedback, TENSS 2023
“Hello! I recently co-organised a Comp Neuro and Machine Learning basics school in Ghana, in partnership with the organisation TReND). I took a lot of inspiration from you guys!. We are planning to run more editions of the school (next year will be in Rwanda)...All the best, and I hope you continue running TENSS with so much passion!”
Joana Soldado Magraner, PhD student, Gatsby Computational Unit, UCL, TENSS 2017 student participant
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
”It also teaches the importance of having a community and learning all together. TENSS is probably a life changing experience and I could not be more grateful for having been part of it.”
Student C, anonymous feedback, TENSS 2023
“This was the most inspirational science activity I ever participated in. When things are tough in the lab I look back and think of my time back in tenss. I do hope to continue to see this community grow!”
Salvatore Lacava, PhD student, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, TENSS 2019 student participant
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, USA
“Thanks for the great opportunity, what I gained in TENSS extends far beyond a specific job opportunity or teaching program. It improved my scientific skills in so many ways, that is hard to quantify. Keep on rocking!”
Lea Ankri, PhD student, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, TENSS 2017 student participant
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
“TENSS was my first experience as an experimental neuroscientist and I learned so much! It was the perfect training before my postdoc with Prof. V Murthy at Harvard. Thanks for making this a wonderful, and intellectually stimulating summer school.”
Alexander Mathis, PhD student, Ludwig Maximilians University, Germany, TENSS 2013 student participant
Current position: Assistant Professor, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
If you want to know more about TENSS, please visit:
TENSS website:
Nature journal:
National Geographic: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/27/romanias-science-problem-a-tale-of-two-florins-part-2/
Company of Biologists: https://www.biologists.com/stories/the-transylvanian-experimental-neuroscience-summer-school-celebrates-its-tenth-year/
More videos on Youtube:
Organizer
