EEG Research - Fundamentals: From recording to interpretation

Target audience

PhD students conducting or planning
EEG research at Ghent University and partner institutions. In addition, a limited number of postdoctoral
researchers and advanced Master’s students with a strong interest in EEG methodology may be
admitted. Priority will be given to doctoral students whose research involves or will involve EEG.

Organizing and scientific committee

Riet Vergauwe (Ghent University, Department of Head & Skin, Ghent Experimental
Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab
Dr. Stefanie De Smet (Ghent University, Department of Head & Skin, Ghent Experimental
Psychiatry (GHEP) Lab)
Dr. Jolien Braet (Ghent University, Department of developmental, personality, and social
psychology)
Dr. Joske Rijmen (Ghent University, Department of experimental Clinical and Health
Psychology / Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology)
Dr. Sybren Van Hoornweder (UHasselt, REVAL)
Dr. Sarah De Pue (KU Leuven, Brain and Cognition)

Content

The doctoral school consists of four full days of 8 contact hours each, complemented by an additional outreach day of 6 hours, resulting in a total of 38 contact hours. This duration provides sufficient time to meaningfully combine theoretical background with supervised practical exercises. At the same time, the schedule is designed to remain manageable for participants and to avoid cognitive overload, ensuring sustained engagement and effective learning throughout the programme.

The course consists of two core lectures, who are experts in the field of EEG and will teach theoretical lessons. Additionally, two supporting practice lectures with a more junior profile are included.

Core lecturers: internationally recognised experts

Dr. Leo Tomasevic

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany
Dr. Tomasevic is an internationally recognised expert in EEG methodology and analysis, with a strong focus on sensorimotor EEG, oscillatory dynamics, and combined TMS–EEG approaches. He has published extensively in leading international journals such as NeuroImage, Brain Stimulation, and Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Tomasevic has extensive experience in teaching both introductory and advanced EEG courses. For more than a decade, he served as lecturer in EEG methods courses at the DRCMR in Denmark, where he was also the EEG group leader. Between 2022 and 2024, he acted as Course Coordinator and Lecturer for ECTS-accredited MSc modules at the Sino-Danish Center (SDC) in Beijing—a partnership between all eight Danish universities and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). Most recently, in July 2025, he delivered advanced doctoral lectures at the University of Naples Federico II on the methodological challenges and translational outlook of TMS/EEG. He is well known for his clear and rigorous methodological approach, making him particularly well suited to contribute to a foundational EEG Seasonal School.

Dr. Saman Seifpour

Neuroimaging Center (NIC), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Dr. Seifpour has a unique dual background in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, which positions him as one of the few experts capable of bridging hardware-driven signal properties, algorithmic data processing, and applied EEG methodology. He is actively involved in interdisciplinary neuroimaging research at the Neuroimaging Center in Mainz, a well‑established centre for multimodal neuroimaging. He is an expert in EEG signal processing and data-driven analysis methods, with a particular focus on neural oscillations, sleep EEG, and advanced decomposition techniques. He has published methodological EEG research in international peer-reviewed journals, including Expert Systems with Applications and Brain Sciences. His expertise provides a strong methodological and computational complement to the course, particularly in the context of preprocessing and analysis pipelines.

Methodological and practical support lecturers

Dr. Joske Rijmen
Ghent University, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology and Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology

Dr. Rijmen is a clinical psychologist with expertise in EEG data collection in both children and adults from general and clinical populations. Her research focuses on arousal regulation in ADHD and the neurophysiological correlates of attention and behaviour. She has extensive experience in providing hands-on training in EEG data acquisition and preprocessing to master’s and PhD students, ensuring high-quality practical supervision during the Seasonal School.

Dr. Sybren Van Hoornweder
Hasselt University, REVAL

Dr. Van Hoornweder has a background in rehabilitation sciences and is an expert in EEG methodology, time–frequency and oscillatory analyses, and non-invasive brain stimulation, with a strong quantitative and modelling-oriented background. He has published in leading international journals, including Trends in Neurosciences, Brain Stimulation, NeuroImage, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Journal of Neural Engineering. He he has designed, established, and taught a course closely aligned with the proposed curriculum on two occasions, within the framework of an international summer school on non-invasive brain stimulation and neurophysiological recording.

Dates and venue

07-10 September: leslokaal 5.1 (Campus Heymans/UZ B3, 5de verdieping/floor)

Programme

Day 1 (07-09-2026) - Understanding EEG: Neurophysiology & Hardware

08:30 - 12:00 Theoretical lectures
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 16:30 Practical session
16:30 - 17:00 Q&A & preparation for presentation

Day 2 (08-09-2026) - Data acquisition & data quality

08:30 - 09:00 Student presentations about the previous day take home message
09:00 - 12:00 Theoretical lectures
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 16:30 Practical session
16:30 - 17:00 Q&A & preparation for presentation

Day 3 (09-09-2026) - Preprocessing EEG data in Matlab

Day 4 (10-09-2026) - Analysis of EEG data in Matlab: ERP, Frequency & Time‑Frequency
Applications
08:30 - 09:00 Student presentations about the previous day take home message
09:00 - 12:00 Theoretical lectures
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
13:00 - 16:30 Practical session
16:30 - 17:00 Q&A & brief quiz about the course contents

10/09/2026 (17:00 -19:00) - Outreach event: keynote about intracranial EEG recordings'

Registration

Follow this link for the registration and waiting list.
Cancellation of your registration can only be performed by sending an email to doctoralschools@ugent.be.
The no show policy applies.

Registration fee

Free of charge for Doctoral School members.

Number of participants

Maximum 20

Language

English

Evaluation method

Recognition of the course within the doctoral training programme requires full attendance and active participation throughout the Seasonal School. Participants are expected to attend all sessions, actively engage in discussions, and complete all practical exercises. To ensure a common baseline of technical skills, participants are required to complete a preparatory assignment prior to the course, aimed at establishing basic familiarity with MATLAB coding, which will be used during the training. At the end of the Seasonal School, a final quiz will assess the knowledge and skills acquired during the course.

After successful participation, the Doctoral School Office will add this course to your curriculum of the Doctoral Training Programme in Oasis. Please note that this can take up to one to two months after completion of the course.