The Best Neuroscience PhD Programs
Neuroscience is a specialty within the biological sciences dealing with the study of the nervous system. A Ph.D. in neuroscience generally qualifies those holding it to teach in universities and work for various research institutions specializing in neuroscience and other forms of biological science. Various approaches and emphases exist within the field such as evolutionary studies, computational studies and molecular neuroscience. "U.S. News & World Report" ranked the top neuroscience programs in the United States in 2010. Three programs emerged as the clear leaders.
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Harvard University
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The top ranked neuroscience department in the nation is located at Harvard University. Harvard's neuroscience program is an inter-departmental program leading to the Ph.D. During the first two years of study, students begin to narrow their potential dissertation topic and work with an advisory committee toward that end. The first year of the program involves in-depth study of subjects such as systems neurophysiology, cellular electrophysiology, developmental neuroscience and molecular neurophysiology. Students also receive hands-on experience with weekly laboratory rotations. The entire program takes about 5.5 years to complete. Students have the benefit of performing research in one of four different Harvard research campuses in Longwood or Cambridge or at the Massachusetts General or McLean hospitals. At each of these four locations, students have multiple research facilities from which they can conduct studies.
Harvard University
Programs in Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Gordon Hall, Room 005
Boston, MA 02115
617-432-0884
hms.harvard.edu
Stanford University
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The second highest rated neuroscience program, according to the "U.S. News & World Report" rankings, is Stanford University. Stanford, like Harvard, is internationally renowned for its interdisciplinary research programs. Its neuroscience program is no different. Areas of research covered by the Stanford program include epilepsy, nervous system development, machine-brain interfaces, synapse assembly, sleep, cognitive processing, neurodegeneration, neuroplasticity and pain perception. Like the Harvard program, students spend much of the first year taking foundational courses and completing laboratory rotations to receive hands-on experience. Courses of study include translational neuroscience, molecular, cellular and developmental neuroscience; and computational, systems, cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.
Stanford University
Neurosciences Program
CCSR 4235c
269 Campus Drive
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA 94305
650-723-9855
neuroscience.stanford.edu -
University of California--San Francisco
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The Ph.D. program at the University of California in San Francisco is the No. 3 rated program in the nation. Like the programs at both Stanford and Harvard, the UCSF program benefits from conducting its research alongside one of the top-rated medical schools in the nation. It also resembles the other programs in its interdisciplinary nature. The primary research emphases of the program include neurological disorders, degenerative disease, pain, psychiatric disorders and addictions, among others. Lab rotations and coursework make up the majority of the first year of the program followed by research in the subsequent years. Courses of study include topics such as cellular and molecular neuroscience, neural and behavioral data analysis, neurobiology of vision, signaling in neurobiology and genetics, development and cell biology of the nervous system.
University of California--San Francisco
Graduate Division
1675 Owens St.
San Francisco, CA 94143
415-476-2310
keck.ucsf.edu
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References
- Photo Credit blue brain image by John Sfondilias from Fotolia.com
