"I must say that my time at the Summer Institute was perhaps the best time in my life!  The staff involved were absolutely wonderful and I thought that the town of Xylocastro was incredibly welcoming. It was nice to be a real part of such a rich community, everywhere we went the people were very friendly and the banners welcoming us in the town were very special.  The welcoming dinner and the speeches/gifts from the mayor were really lovely.  The hotel (Miramare) was also wonderful and I would recommend it to any of next years students.  So yes, thank you to the Vivian Smith Institute for this wonderful experience, it is certainly something I will never forget (providing I do not get amnesia of course!)." - New Zealand


"I really enjoyed the Summer Institute and am thoroughly grateful for such an opportunity.  It was fantastic to meet my peers from around the world and to be able to spend such a long time with such esteemed professors." 
 - United Kingdom


"I enjoyed the institute enormously. I found the level of teaching and participation very high and I equally enjoyed the social occasions following the teaching (Ok maybe I enjoyed these a bit more!). I am back in cloudy UK full of ideas and wonderful impressions. Special thanks to the organizers for taking such good care of us and accommodating all our different tastes and needs (parallel to teaching staff's needs and cancellations!). Lastly I hope you all enjoyed Greece and the truly warm welcome Xylokastro showed to us." - United Kingdom


"The lectures were very inspiring indeed, and I truly feel I learned a lot.  I'd like to thank Mary and Christina for taking care of practically everything and for their concern. Marius and Jorgos were of great help as well, especially in Athens.
Anyway, thanks for a well arranged seminar and lovely two weeks. I'm sure that next year you'll have many more applications from Israel, at least from anybody I know in the field." - Israel


"Let me begin with a thank-you. Thank you for your efforts to make the summer institute as organized and pleasurable as possible. It was a lovely experience which none of the participants will ever forget.
First, as I already mentioned it was a great experience, both academically and socially. Meeting young neuroscientists from all over the world, making new friends, meeting a new culture (especially its cuisine...) were but a few of the good things the institute provided us with. The town's hospitality was very impressive and the excursions were of great value. I enjoyed them greatly.
The opportunity to meet world-known scientists and taking their courses was also priceless." - Israel


"I enjoyed the time in Xylocastro very much and made a lot of new experiences. Especially to talk to students from different countries and to hear about the different study systems was very interesting. Moreover, the hospitality of the town was impressive. All people in the shops and restaurants were very helpful and friendly. Especially, I would like to mention the owner and staff of the hotel Miramare who were so pleasant and helped us with any kind of question." - Germany


"I enjoyed the 2003 Summer Institute. The overall academic experience was great and I really appreciated and enjoyed being included." - USA 


"Overall, I had an excellent time, I think it's a fantastic and valuable opportunity and I hope that it continues for years to come.  I found it a wonderful and enriching learning experience and I very much appreciate being offered the opportunity to attend. Good luck with everything in the future." - Australia


"The 2003 Summer Institute was fantastic! I enjoyed it immensely and found it an invaluable opportunity to learn and to meet and connect with others in the same field. Thank you for all the effort that has gone into making it happen, the generosity that enabled us to attend, and for doing so many extra things that went so far above and beyond, for example the fantastic trips to Mycenae, Olympia, Napflio and Epidaurus.  It really was an amazing opportunity. Thanks again." - New Zealand


"I did enjoy my time in Greece and the institute." - USA


"It’s taken me a while to write this feedback letter. First I went to Berlin, and thereafter I suffered from hard-core post-Xylocastritis for a good long while. Buried in work since, the time to thank you did not come before.

But THANK YOU ! For giving me the opportunity to spend another summer in heaven. I was a bit worried about returning to Xylocastro, thinking last years experience could not be overdone. And maybe it couldn’t, but being
back this year brought me lot’s of new valuable experiences, and was equally amazing, just in a slightly different way. For one, the classrooms, computer fascilities and copying opportunities were on quite another level !

The students, of course, were wonderful. I believe we had a more similar level of knowledge and experiences this year,  which made most discussions more interesting (and on a slightly higher level), and some more boring given our similarities. The courses I attended varied in their degree of: living up to their descriptions, allowing student discussions to influence their content, teaching me something new.  And the way being there for so long enabled us to meet both students and lectureres informally is quite unique. This is maybe the best part of the Institute: being able to discuss science, politics and greek food over the same meal, with old academic heroes and new friends.

Allow me to mention one course in particular: Dr Wood’s: I did not have the opportunity to attend his first lectures, but managed to listen in on three or four towards the end: and they were brilliant ! It was an academic kick every time: the way he seemed to talk off the top of his head, no powerpoints, no notes, and yet managed to build up to his conclusions so elegantly, knitting everything so neatly together at the end of each session: evolution, history, psychopathology, developmental disorders, brain damage; he covered it all, and made a lot of sense of it. In my part of the world, not many classic scholars of his calibre are left (or they’re not in
neuroscience ?), and it was an immense pleasure to attend his course. (Do let him know !) The Plato-Aristotle session, of course,  was exellent. I just dug up Artistoteles’ De Anima from the bottom of my shelf !" - Denmark


"The Summer Institute has been an amazing experience from every perspective. The courses were of a very high level and have been very useful for my personal studies and research projects. The people that I met in the school were wonderful and we had a really good and funny time together; between them I met a few people that I can really consider potential good friends. The venue was just beautiful: the sea, the beaches, the restaurants along the seaside... I would absolutely repeat the experience, and actually I will try to do so next year! Thank you for this enriching experience." - United Kingdom