Közérdekű információk

The Institute supports the international mobility of researchers, hosting several foreign
scientists per year, and a similar number of IEM researchers visit leading laboratories in
the world. Our aim is to raise the number of foreign researchers working in our research
groups. The IEM encourages the involvement of university students in research. The IEM
has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate training as part of a close col-
laboration with universities. In most cases these students already have publications by
the time of graduation, and are thereby accepted into Ph.D. programmes. Our links with
universities ensure a continuous supply of the best students to our undergraduate and
postgraduate research programmes, while providing top quality lecturers for the uni-
versities from among our staff.
Funding and operations
IEM’s commitment to best-in-class neuroscience research remains unwavering, even
in  the  face  of  a  challenging  funding  environment.  Drawing  upon  its  own  endow-
ment, the support of the Hungarian government, as well as national, European and
foreign public or private research grants, the Institute has been able to keep pace
with the rapidly escalating costs associated with maintaining — and defining — the
state of the art. The Institute administration is permanently focusing on streamlining
operations, helping to ensure that a larger proportion of our income will directly sup-
port research and science in general.
The future for IEM’s research is promising, firmly supported by the Institute’s solid fi-
nancial foundation and disciplined management. Going forward, major efforts, such
as the steady development of the research infrastructure, the recently launched new
laboratories as of behavioral and metabolic studies, the enlargement of the virus lab-
oratory and the NIKON Imaging Center at IEM, the implementation of a cutting edge
electron microscope, traditional and new partnerships, has long been a hallmark of
IEM.
Several fora have been established to facilitate the exchange of ideas and informa-
tion among researchers. “Laboratory Progress Reports” take place monthly, in which
the research groups present and discuss their results and plans in the presence of the
entire scientific community of the Institute. A two-day science workshop (“IEM Days”)
is organized annually at lake Balaton in the presence of members of the Scientific
Advisory Board, in which the active participation of young scientists is particularly
encouraged. The IEM hosts several scientific workshops, invited lectures and semi-
nars by visiting scientists each year.Research infrastructure, core facilities, methods and technologies in the Institute
The  major  equipment  and  facilities  of  the  Institute  represent  state-of-the-art,  recent
technologies, and resulted from a watchful development in the last 20 years. The core
facilities are accessible to every researcher, including undergraduate and Ph.D. students.
Major equipment and technologies in the Institute in 2014 include the followings:
-  Neurolucida: workstation for the evaluation of morphological experiments
-  An integrated instrumental system for complex behavioral analysis of laboratory
rodents
- In vivo metabolic phenotyping
- Confocal laser-scanning microscopes, one of them for live-cell imaging
- 2-photon microscopes
-  Patch clamp electrophysiology setups for examination of in vitro slice prepara-
tions
- Patch clamp electrophysiology setup with C1 confocal head
- Chemiluminescent gel documentation system
- Mulitplex gene and protein analyzers
-  Imaging microscope systems, TIRF and STORM super-resolution microscope (as
parts of the NIKON-IEM Microscopy centre, from Autumn, 2010)
- Bacterium incubator
-  High-pressure  freezer  and  freeze-fracture  machines  for  SDS-digested  freeze-
fracture replica labeling
- In vitro electrophysiological setups with two-photon imaging facility
-  Electron microscopy with 3 electron microscopes (one of them for tomography)
and 4 ultramicrotomes
-  Real-time microelectrode biosensor set up for neurotransmitters and metabo-
lites
- HPLC technologies
-  Medical Gene Technological Unit: Transgenic and Animal Technology Units and
Animal Facility
-  In  vivo  electrophysiology  setups  for  measuring  neuronal  activity  in  the  intact
brain of anesthetized animals
-  Cell and Tissue Unit (with 3 sterile hoods and cell-analytical equipment and FACS)
- Fluorescence-aided Cell Sorter and Flow Cytometer
- Videomicroscopic Workstation for live cell monitoring
- Virus technologies for optogenetics and tracing