In 2000, she returned to Basel as a Professor of Neurobiology and Cell Biology continuing her research work and teaching at the Biozentrum as well as at the FMI.

Arber's research investigates the mechanisms involved in the function and assembly of neuronal circuits controlling motor behavior.

She has shown that premotor interneuron groups differ from each other in their functionality and distribution in the spinal cord and that this property depends on the timing of their generation during development.

This provided insight into the neuronal networks that transmit instructions for various body movements from the brain to the spinal cord.

This work showed that very specific neurons are connected into circuit modules that control different aspects of body movements.