Brain Sciences UNSW is a university-wide grouping of leading researchers with interests in neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, neurology and modelling. It represents researchers from the Faculty of Medicine - School of Psychiatry, School of Medical Sciences (Neuroscience group), Prince of Wales Clinical School (neurology and neurosurgery), St Vincent’s Clinical School (neurology), School of Public Health and Community Medicine, School of Women’s and Children’s Health; the Faculty of Science - School of Psychology, School of Mathematics and Statistics, School of Chemistry; the Faculty of Engineering - School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, School of Computer Science and Engineering; Neuroscience Research Australia; the Black Dog Institute; the Garvan Institute of Medical Research (Neurobiology Program) and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

Brain Sciences UNSW was officially launched by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Wainwright on 15 March 2005 during Brain Awareness Week. Brain Sciences research has been formally recognized as one of the leading strategic research programs of both the Faculties of Medicine and Science.

Brain Sciences UNSW functions as a network to facilitate collaborative research and access to relevant technologies and expertise. It encompasses an inter-disciplinary approach drawing together researchers with diverse backgrounds from the various Schools and Institutes with a collective interest in aspects of the function and structure of the brain in both a “normal” healthy state and a state of dysfunction manifesting as mental illness or neurological disorder.

The principal goal of Brain Sciences UNSW is to create a critical mass to enhance synergistic, inter-disciplinary research to further understanding of the brain and nervous system. The establishment of Brain Sciences UNSW provides a platform from which to develop the already excellent interactions between many of the stakeholders who also have extensive collaborations at national and international levels.

Successful international-quality research into the causes and treatments for mental illnesses and neurological conditions is dependent upon the collaborative effort involved in understanding the normal mechanisms of brain function and development and the application to understanding clinical conditions indicative of dysfunction of these normal processes. Brain Sciences UNSW provides the opportunity for UNSW and affiliated Institutes to be at the forefront of brain science research and development.