The Brain Network Dynamics Unit is exceptional in placing research on the temporal dynamics of brain network activity at the hub of discovery and translation.
The Unit is part of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences but also hosts researchers from other departments at the University of Oxford and elsewhere.
Many Unit members also make key contributions to the Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence in Restorative Neural Dynamics, which was established in November 2025.
The Brain Network Dynamics Unit of today builds on the many successes of the Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit, which operated at the University of Oxford from April 2015 to March 2026.
We aim to train, develop and empower the interdisciplinary workforce and leaders of the future. The Unit provides an exceptional training and career development environment for students, staff and visiting researchers from all over the world. The Unit fosters training, career development, and capacity building through a work culture founded on:
- Leadership by example.
- Embracing collaboration and Team Science.
- Small, interactive research Groups.
- ‘Hands on’ training by senior staff.
- Provision of bespoke mentoring.
- An emphasis on bold, creative and critical thinking.
- Access to advanced research facilities.
- Clear and informal communication.
- Transparent assessment and feedback processes.
- Appropriate recognition and reward.
- Consultation with and buy-in from Unit members across career types/stages.
Promoting the Unit’s ability to recruit and progress individuals of outstanding talent is a key priority for us. We take care to ensure the Unit’s training and development environment is inclusive, accessible, and equitable, supporting a community where individuals with diverse educational/career backgrounds can flourish. We support Unit members of all career stages, pathways and types, empowering them to skill-up, pursue their chosen career paths during and after their time in the Unit, and contribute to the broader research and innovation ecosystem. Training includes work-based learning ‘on-the-job’, formal training courses, and a wide variety of professional activities that can be individually tailored to equip Unit members with the experience they need to achieve their ambitions.
The Unit is particularly well placed to offer specialised research training in empirical neuroscience, computational neuroscience, biomedical engineering, and experimental medicine. In leveraging the Unit’s unique positioning, we aim to increases skills, expertise and (inter)national capability in important areas of need. These include: whole-organism physiology; data science at the interfaces of neurobiology, neurotechnology and human health; advanced therapeutics for brain conditions; and experimental medicine aligned to neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery. We offer special opportunities for the training of medical students and qualified clinicians in fundamental ‘discovery’ research methods and concepts, as well as clinical lab placements for non-clinical researchers. The Unit’s research environment is further strengthened by our collaborative links with the medical devices and pharmaceuticals industries. To find out more about the staff positions currently on offer at the Unit, please visit our Vacancies webpage.
The Unit hosts about 10-15 graduate students at any time, and we welcome enquiries from prospective students wishing to pursue research in areas covered by the Unit. To find out more about the Unit’s current research, please visit our Groups webpage. The Unit’s PhD (DPhil) students are registered as members of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences or other departments at the University of Oxford. They are also members of an Oxford college. To find out more about PhD studentships at the Unit, please visit our Studentships webpage. The Unit regularly hosts undergraduate students, including those enrolled in one of the University of Oxford’s Final Honours School programmes, as well as visiting students from other institutions. We also welcome enquiries from A-Level students wishing to gain work experience in one of the Unit’s Groups (please note that we can only host students for work experience when the student is 16 years of age or older at the start of the work experience period; please see our Outreach webpage). Feel free to email any of the Group Leaders to learn more about student research opportunities at the Unit.
The Unit is committed to “translating” its research discoveries and technological advancements in ways that can be used by industry, policy makers, and healthcare professionals to improve human health and grow the economy. The core objectives of the Unit’s knowledge transfer and exchange activities are to:
- Be a trusted source of information about brain network dynamics in health and disease.
- Translate Unit research into policy and practice.
- Pass on Unit know-how to industry and healthcare sectors.
- Develop innovative ways through digital technology to communicate and disseminate Unit research.
The Unit is committed to developing and implementing best practice in open research, with a view to increasing the use and understanding of our research by all our stakeholders. This facilitates the discovery process and the translation of research for wider societal benefits. Where possible, the Unit’s research papers are published in an Open Access format, and deposited on a freely-accessible public database (Europe PMC), so that the products of our research are made freely accessible to all in a timely manner. Our research papers are also available on our Publications webpage. The Unit generates research data and novel analytical frameworks that hold significant long-term value for the wider research and innovation community. We recognise that the sharing and reproducibility of research are of key importance, and Unit researchers are encouraged to maximise opportunities for this. The Unit has its own bespoke data sharing platform ("Cambium"), which hosts a range of primary data, metadata and related resources that can be readily downloaded by external users. Data recorded from human research participants are always anonymised prior to sharing. Written requests for data, metadata and code not already hosted on Cambium can be addressed to the Unit’s Data Access Committee (c/o Ben Micklem). The University of Oxford has signed up to the Concordat on Open Research Data
The Unit is committed to the effective and timely communication of its research and other activities, as well as to engaging and involving our diverse stakeholders, such as the public (including local schools, community groups, and people with lived experience of brain conditions), research charities, research funders, the wider research and innovation communities (both national and international), the University of Oxford, local and national government, industry (including pharma and medical devices), and the Media. If you would like to learn more about the Unit’s communications, engagement and involvement activities, please visit the Outreach webpage.