The Institute of Neurosciences (IN) is a joint UMH and CSIC research centre which is devoted to the study of the structure, function and development of the nervous system in normal and pathological conditions. The IN is organized into three Research Units which include Developmental Neurobiology, Molecular Neurobiology and Cellular and Systems Neurobiology. There is a second level of organization based on research lines. These lines constitute a horizontal organisation grouping members of different research units, around more specific research subjects and facilitates greater interactions between institute members.
The research groups at the IN use a wide variety of techniques covering the fields of molecular and cellular biology, genetics and physiology. Among the technical resources at the IN are fully equipped laboratories for cell culture, experimental embryology, which includes technologies such as Optical Projection Tomography(OPT), confocal and two-photon microscopy, besides special areas for animal behavioural experiments. The Institute has recently incorporated non-invasive image techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging.
The IN and its researchers maintain active exchange programs with universities, research centres and neurobiology laboratories around the world. The IN encompasses a staff of 40 researchers (21 belonging to the UMH, 19 from CSIC), 6 tenure track researchers, 144 pre- and postdoctoral researchers and more than 100 technical and administrative staff; 60% of the personnel are female and 40% male. The IN undertakes an important training activity through its International PhD Programme in Neuroscience, which has been awarded with a mention as “Programme of Excellence” by the Ministry of Education. It also strives to be a centre of reference in terms of both national and international collaborations between clinical and basic research groups from a wide range of disciplines. Currently 30% of the postdoctoral staff come from other countries.
In 2010, the budget for the Institute of Neurosciences was more than 13 million €, 6 million of which corresponded to external resources obtained by researchers competitively. The Institute of Neurosciences published 252 articles in the four-year period 2007-2010, with an impact factor of 1,506, and an average factor of 6,01, and a total of 2224 citations. The comparison between the four-year periods of 2000-03 and 2007-10 shows the evolution of the scientific impact of the Institute: the number of articles has increased by more than 60%, and impact, measured as citations received in both periods has more than doubled.