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About the Kavli Foundation

The Challenge

During the past decade, exciting technological developments have led to dramatic advancements in the brain and cognitive sciences. For the first time, understanding how the human brain works has become a scientifically achievable goal. Profound opportunities lie beyond that goal, but to continue to yield important advances, we must also create new approaches and begin to bridge the fundamental gaps that remain.

One of the critical challenges is relating mechanism to behavior, understanding precisely what the relationship is between the cellular machinery that collectively makes up the brain and the resulting behaviors that we call "the mind". How does the human brain endow us with our minds? Such a profound and complex question must be addressed from many different levels of analysis. How can we integrate these levels in order to understand, for example, how activity at one level affects behavior at another?

The Mission

The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) is a virtual environment unhampered by disciplinary boundaries, providing scientists with opportunities for effective interdisciplinary integration of research and knowledge. KIBM will transcend traditional disciplinary barriers to foster new discourse among top scientists, accelerating discoveries about the connections between mechanism and behavior.

KIBM's mission is to support research that furthers our understanding of the origins, evolution and mechanisms of human cognition, from the brain's physical and biochemical machinery to the experiences and behaviors called the mind. KIBM will leverage UC San Diego's and The Salk Institute's preeminence in such fields as neuroscience, biology, cognitive science, psychology and medicine, along with the extensive resources of the broader La Jolla scientific community, to extend its position as the pacesetter in brain-mind research and education, and as a vibrant hub for dissemination of its discoveries to advance science and benefit humankind.

Kavli Foundation

KIBM is supported by the Kavli Foundation, an international program dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity, promoting public understanding of scientific research, and supporting scientists and their work. The Foundation's mission is implemented through an international program of research institutes, professorships, and symposia in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics, as well as prizes in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The Kavli Foundation's neuroscience institutes, of which KIBM is one, deepen our understanding of the brain, seeking fundamental answers about who we are, how we behave, and what is consciousness, as well as providing the knowledge for addressing debilitating diseases and conditions.

KIBM at Salk

In 2004, the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) was established as one of the Kavli Foundation Neuroscience Institutes. KIBM’s governance structure was designed to include researchers with broad interdisciplinary representation from UC San Diego and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Distinguished faculty from both institutions serve on KIBM’s Advisory Board, and scientists from UC San Diego and Salk participate in KIBM’s programs and events.

To learn more about KIBM members at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, please visit https://www.salk.edu/kavli-institute-for-brain-and-mind.

History of KIBM

Through a generous endowment from Fred Kavli and the Kavli Foundation, the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind (KIBM) was established at UC San Diego in 2004 with Nick Spitzer, Professor of Neurobiology, and Jeff Elman, Professor of Cognitive Science, named as the founding co-directors of KIBM. In 2012, KIBM expanded to include a partnership and shared governance with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Jeff Elman stepped down as co-director in 2013. Rusty Gage, Salk President and Professor, joined KIBM as co-director in 2015.

Nick Spitzer
KIBM Co-Director
2004-2020

Jeff Elman
KIBM Co-Director
2004-2013

Rusty Gage
KIBM Co-Director
2015-2020