The Institutes of Brain Science (IOBS) was established in 2006 with support from the “985” Program of the Ministry of Education. Professor Xiong-Li Yang, a prominent neuroscientist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, served as the founding director. The current IOBS director is Professor Lan Ma.

The IOBS is devoted to cutting-edge neuroscience research and graduate student training. Benefiting from Fudan University’s status as a comprehensive university and close cooperation with the State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, the IOBS is committed to integrating on-going neuroscience research projects within the university, promoting collaborations between scientists and clinicians, and building advanced technical platforms for brain research. The goal of these activities is to produce innovative research that will deepen our understanding of brain functions and speed the development of novel therapies for major nervous system disorders.
The major components of IOBS are its research laboratories and core facilities. The IOBS currently has 28 Principal Investigators (PIs), including one academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, the IOBS provides extramural support for neuroscience projects to 15 - 20 additional research groups in affiliated hospitals and the Schools of Life Science, Medicine, and Pharmacy.
The research fields of the IOBS include: (1) the basic neurobiology, (2) higher-order cognitive functions; and (3) major brain disorders. During 2005-2017, IOBS investigators published more than 500 research papers and reviews in peer-reviewed international journals, including Nature, Nature Genetics, Cell, Neuron, Cell Stem Cell, Progress in Neurobiology, Annals of Neurology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and the Journal of Neuroscience .
More than one-hundred graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are currently receiving research training in IOBS laboratories. Most students are in the Ph.D. or combined M.S./Ph.D. programs and are carrying out studies in the areas of neurobiology, pharmacology, biophysics, and neurology.  The IOBS makes every effort to provide high-quality teaching and research training to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
The IOBS is devoted to creating an open, stimulating academic environment for its faculty and graduate students. Since its founding, the IOBS has held several international and regional academic conferences, and hosted many scholars from foreign countries, including the United States, England, Italy, France, and Japan. The IOBS and the State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology jointly sponsor a weekly neuroscience seminar and 30-40 scientists are invited annually to give lectures at Fudan University. The members of IOBS are also often invited to give lectures in other countries and carry out cooperative research.
The IOBS has established excellent common instrument facilities, including a live cell work station, a confocal imaging system, a zebrafish facility, and a technical platform for behavioral neuroscience. The IOBS core facilities make great efforts to provide the best technical support and services to research groups in the IOBS and the the biomedical community of Fudan University and affiliated hospitals.