Host a Digital Neuroscience thesis

Twelve months, one student, your research question. Our students analyse and model brain data, from intracranial recordings to wearable sensors, and build systems that adapt to the person. The master's thesis is where they apply it, and it can be carried out in your lab, clinic or company.

Propose a thesis topic → How it works

What your lab gets

A full-time thesis student

The thesis (58 ECTS) is completed within twelve months of registration, on your question, in your lab.

Skills you don't have to teach

Students arrive trained in the methods below, after a year of coursework in neuroscience, machine learning and human-computer interaction.

Open, reusable output

Code and analyses in a public repository, a public defence, and a summary of the work written for a general audience.

Methods our students bring

Signals

iEEG, EEG, eye tracking, physiology, behaviour in VR and driving simulators

Analysis

Signal processing, neural networks, decoding, computational models

Systems

Real-time pipelines, closed-loop experiments, brain-computer interfaces, adaptive interfaces

How it works

You propose a topic. One paragraph is enough: the question, the data or equipment, what the student would build. Use the five-minute form below or email us.
We match a student. We circulate the topic to the current cohort. You can also send us one of your own bachelor students, who applies to the programme and comes back to your lab for the thesis.
Co-supervision is set up. A University of Fribourg professor is the main director of the thesis; you supervise the work day to day in your lab. For a non-academic host, the Study Advisor approves the project and a host agreement sets out the rights of each party.
Public defence. The student presents the work in a public defence (20 minutes of talk, 10 of questions) and publishes the code.

Practical details

Duration	Within 12 months of thesis registration; 58 ECTS (plus 2 ECTS for the public repository and public communication)
Language	English (manuscript and defence)
Supervision	Main director: a University of Fribourg professor. Co-supervisor: you, in your lab, clinic or company
Hosts	Academic labs, hospitals, companies and start-ups, in Switzerland or abroad
Agreement	Non-academic hosts sign a host agreement (in English) with the student and the University
Ethics and data	The project follows the practice of the supervisor's research field for human data, consent and data protection
Data	Projects can use existing datasets or collect new data; the theoretical framework, hypothesis, methods and benchmark are defined at the start

Propose a topic

Fill in a five-minute form and we come back to you within a week. We ask for your lab and contact, the research question, the data, whether the code can be public, and your preferred start.

Propose a thesis topic → or write to msc-dn@unifr.ch. Contact: Dr. Samy Rima, Programme Coordinator

For your bachelor students

Online info session on Tuesday 24 November 2026, 17:30 CET (45 minutes, Microsoft Teams). Applications for autumn 2027 are open from 1 February to 30 April 2027.