ASOCIATIA TRANSYLVANIAN INSTITUTE OF NEUROSCIENCE

Their core work

The Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience (TINS) is a Romanian research association focused on systems neuroscience, studying how neural circuits in the brain process sensory information and control behavior. They operate advanced imaging and electrophysiology labs, using techniques like 2-photon imaging and optogenetics to map brain activity. More recently, they have built zebrafish-based screening platforms for neurological diseases such as epilepsy and ALS, bridging basic neuroscience toward drug discovery and therapeutic target identification.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

TINS began as a participant in a large health consortium (SyBil-AA, 2016) studying systems biology of alcohol addiction — a computational and modeling-heavy effort. By 2020-2022, they shifted decisively toward applied neuroscience, building their own zebrafish screening platform for neurological disorders (PhenoTECH), and simultaneously investing in institutional capacity building through the NEUROTWIN twinning project. The trajectory shows a clear move from being a junior partner in addiction research to becoming a self-directed lab with translational ambitions in neurological disease screening.

TINS is transitioning from fundamental neuroscience toward translational drug screening using zebrafish models, positioning itself as a preclinical screening partner for neurological disorders.

How they like to work

TINS predominantly leads its projects — coordinating 2 out of 3 H2020 grants, including a Widening Participation twinning project with 18 consortium partners across 10 countries. This is notable for a small Romanian research association and signals institutional ambition. Their one participant role was in a large multi-partner health consortium, suggesting they can operate both as consortium leaders in capacity-building contexts and as specialist contributors in larger research programs.

Despite only 3 projects, TINS has built a wide network of 18 unique partners across 10 countries, largely driven by the NEUROTWIN twinning project which was explicitly designed to connect them with established European neuroscience labs.

What sets them apart

TINS is one of very few dedicated neuroscience research institutes in Romania, operating at a level that earned them an ERC Proof of Concept grant — a competitive marker of research quality. Their combination of fundamental brain circuit expertise with a purpose-built zebrafish phenotyping platform is unusual in the Widening countries, making them a strong partner for consortia needing Eastern European neuroscience capacity with genuine technical depth.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PhenoTECH
  An ERC Proof of Concept grant — highly competitive and signals that their basic research has genuine translational potential for neurological disease screening.
• NEUROTWIN
  Their largest project (EUR 668K) and a twinning grant designed to elevate TINS to the level of top European neuroscience institutes, indicating serious institutional growth ambitions.