- Beauty
- In June 2011 the Mind and Brain research theme organised a workshop examing the concept of beauty.
The event aimed to bring together faculty from Humanities, Neuroscience and Informatics. Professor Michael Morris from the Philosophy Department gave a presentation on 'Beauty and Representation'. Michael presented an account of what it is to judge that something is beautiful. The central idea is that to judge that something is beautiful is to relate it in a certain way to artistic representation. The theory is consciously Kantian in spirit, and while it does not explicitly describe the judgement of beauty as disinterested, it is committed to the Kantian view that judgements of beauty are, in a certain sense, disinterested. - Neuroscience Away Day
- A Neuroscience Away Day was held in January 2011 at Wiston House which brought together neuroscience faculty from across campus who are focused on translational research. Colleagues from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust and the NHS Trust also participated.
In the morning, delegates listened to presentations from the following speakers:
- Sarah King, Lecturer in Behavioural Neuroscience, School of Psychology;
- Dennis Chan, Senior Lecturer in Neurology, BSMS;
- Keith Caldecott, Professor in the Centre for Genome Damage & Stability, School of Life Sciences;
- Pietro Ghezzi, RM Phillips Chair in Experimental Medicine, BSMS;
- Nigel Leigh, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, BSMS;
- Simon Ward, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Life Sciences; and
- Mark Hayward, Director of Research, Sussex Partnership Trust.
This was followed by round table discussion on the following areas: molecular biology and neurodegeneration, biomarkers, and functional imaging.
- Digital Ways of Knowing
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A workshop on the role of digital systems in research practice was held in June 2012. During the workshop, researchers from across campus discussed a range of conceptual and practical questions regarding the place of digital systems in their research. If the digital is the language of our time, how does this shape the conditions of contemporary perception, knowledge, creativity and expertise in different disciplines or fields? How do digital ways of knowing help and hinder researchers in different areas? How do digital systems, technologies or languages shape academic disciplines or research areas? What are the advantages and opportunities offered by this and what are the difficulties? This event was also supported by the Digital and Social Media and Environment and Health themes as well as ACCA.
- CCNR
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In conjunction with the Mind and Brain theme, the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics hosted a one-day workshop in May 2012 on computational neuroethology. Computational neuroscience and neuroethology are Sussex strengths, with cutting-edge research across 4 Schools. The workshop’s program reflected the inclusive nature of CCNR research over its 15 year history, and featured talks from both internal and external speakers. Keynote speeches were presented by Mark van Rossum (Edinburgh), Kevin Gurney (Sheffield) and Seth Bullock (Southampton). - Human Creativity and Culture
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As part of the 50th anniversary, we celebrated our academic rigour with a series of six Sussex Conversations featuring leading thinkers of our age.
The Mind and Brain conversation was held in April 2012. The discussion looked at how creativity and creative language are uniquely human, how we hold creativity in high esteem and it is equated with individual genius and achievement. It also looked into how the creativity of a society is essential to our evaluation of other cultures, and to the future of our own.The conversation explored creativity and human identity, examining the creativity of people affected by mental illness, neurological disease and unusual experiences and asked what we know-or can know of the brain mechanisms that produce creative behaviour.
Some of the key questions included:
- Creativity, art and computers: what do we mean by creativity, can machines be creative?
- Creativity and consciousness: Does creativity depend on conscious processes, unconsciousness processes or their interaction?
- Creativity and synaesthesia: does seeing the world differently lead to creative insights?
You can watch the discussion on the Sussex Conversations webpage.
- Sussex Neuroscience Awayday
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On the 22nd March 2013 Sussex Neuroscience had its inaugural away-day at the Jury’s Inn, Brighton, supported by the Mind and Brain Research Theme. Sussex Neuroscience is a new initiative to support and promote Neuroscience at Sussex, bringing together over 60 Labs from the Schools of Engineering & Informatics, Life Sciences, Psychology and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Major themes are; Ageing, dementia & neurodegeneration; Learning, memory, reward & addictions; and Sensation, perception & consciousness.
The morning of the away-day featured talks showcasing research by academics from each School. The afternoon included focussed discussion groups followed by a round table discussion on ‘The Future of Sussex Neuroscience’. Professor Leon Lagnado, the new director of Sussex Neuroscience commented "This is an exciting time for a Neuroscientist to be joining Sussex, and I look forward to playing my part in developing this field of research on campus. Sussex has always had a particular strength in Neuroscience, and the refurbishment of a research building and establishment of a 4-year Ph.D program demonstrates our commitment to grow as a centre of excellence."For further information visit the Sussex Neuroscience webpage
Mind and Brain
