Neuroscience – (M.Sc.)

The MSc is a full one-year course (from the end of September to mid September the following year), carried out within the Division of Medical Sciences, which provides a broad interdisciplinary training in Neuroscience. Students must study within the three main branches (molecular, cellular and systems), learning both theory and practical research techniques.

Doctoral training in the United Kingdom has traditionally followed an apprenticeship model. However, many areas of biomedical research now depend for their success on technical and theoretical developments that cannot be found in a single traditional Life Science Department, let alone a single laboratory. Graduate students in these areas would benefit enormously from formal training that includes training in techniques and ideas which arise outside their own narrow area of specialisation.

This would both improve the doctoral training for students who have graduated in Life Sciences who are typically exposed only to narrow sectors of Neuroscience, and also provide a conversion programme for those wishing to move into Neuroscience from a non-biological background (e.g. in physics or computation). The bulk of the training should be completed before students settle down to their own major doctoral research project: it should contribute not only to their selection of research tools but also to their evaluation of research goals.