NeuroCure - Cluster of Excellence
NeuroCure is a Cluster of Excellence in the neurosciences at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The primary aim of this interdisciplinary network is to explore and understand the mechanisms of diseases of the central nervous system in order to find potential new therapies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
The SPARK-BIH program supports early-stage academic inventions with education, mentorship and funding.
For the third time, in 2026, NeuroCure and SPARK-BIH joined forces to find the best teams from the NeuroCure network to be part of the translational program of SPARK-BIH.
Previously funded projects
In 2020, NeuroCure and SPARK-BIH joined forces to find the best teams from the neuroscience community to be part in the translational program of SPARK-BIH. This call enabled a further focus on neuroscience projects and a widening of the SPARK-BIH network by also including NeuroCure affiliated teams that are not associated with the Charité. The four selected teams received funding from NeuroCure and mentoring as well as support from the SPARK-BIH program to accelerate their translational projects into outstanding medical solutions.
The funding of these four teams has been renewed for a second funding period in 2022. After the successful implementation of the SPARK-BIH/NeuroCure program, NeuroCure and SPARK-BIH prolonged their collaboration and organized a second call for projects in 2022.
These five teams have been selected for funding:
NeuroCure Innovation program
Besides the funding-program, NeuroCure and SPARK-BIH have developed and established a medical Design thinking workshop series, which takes place approximately once a year.
Building on the experience from the Inventors for Health Program (I4H, supported by Stiftung Charité), NeuroCure and SPARK-BIH further developed the concept of medical design thinking and organized a condensed Design Thinking workshop in order to identify and develop promising innovative project ideas.
Together, more than 20 project ideas were presented and more than 50 participants with various backgrounds joined the workshops. In each round, the participants voted for the three best projects and grouped themselves in interdisciplinary teams to go through a Design Thinking journey in order to look at the medical problems from different perspectives.
“Design Thinking can show you ideas, you never would have thought of. The user is in the center of everything!” (participant from NCI 2023)
Based on the experience of the previous workshops and the feedback from participants, we expanded our support and offered additional online lectures and information on product development after the workshop.
More information of upcoming NeuroCure Innovation programs will come soon!
Impressions from the Workshops:
NeuroCure Idea night
In 2024, Neurocure and SPARK-BIH initiated a new format, aiming to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and the development of translational project ideas: Idea Night. During the event, participants present their project ideas and medical needs, varying from brain stimulation to nutrition. Participants at different career stages and from different scientific and medical disciplines are welcome to discuss new innovative ideas.
We are looking forward to more meetings in the near future.
