Rainer Goebel is driven by the question how the human brain works, how it creates our mind and how gained knowledge can be applied to the benefit of society. He has continuously transformed three fields: brain imaging of perception and cognition, neuroimaging analysis methods, and hemodynamic brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In order to gain increasingly fine-grained insights on the neural basis of the human mind, he constantly develops new methods and pushes the limits of the achievable spatial resolution using ultra-high field (7 and 9.4 Tesla) fMRI scanners. He uses his gained insights and methodological expertise to develop innovative BCIs. His software enables, for example, letter spelling in motor-impaired patients using only brain activity data and he has co-established a novel therapeutic approach that enables patients suffering from depression or Parkinson's disease to treat themselves using feedback of fMRI data from their own brains.
During his career, Goebel acquired expertise in brain anatomy and function, fMRI scanning and data analysis, fNIRS data analysis, combined EEG/MEG/fMRI modelling, structural and functional connectivity modelling, TMS neuronavigation, neural network modeling, psychophysics and (clinical) brain-computer interfaces. He trained more than 60 PhD students contributing to the early career of many excellent researchers.