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What degree is best for preparing to go into Neuroscience?

What can I do to get into college for neuroscience?

  • About me: I work full time often more than 60 hours a week but I want to go to college to be a neuroscientist. I live in the US and have bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering. My goal is to get a PhD in neuroscience. I work in the IT department in a corporate but do mostly documentation. My plan is to begin by doing the following - Preparing for Bio, Psyc and Math GRE subject tests Subscribed to Scientific Weekly and Scientific Mind to get current research news Read a college level Biology textbook to get some background on Biology. Can you please help me with the following - Offer some advice if I am headed in the right direction. What else will help me get into school/neuroscience research. Any pointers on getting scholarship/aid. 4. Will I be able to get into a Masters program (with some pre-requisites) or do I need to start from undergrad?

  • Answer:

    To start off with, if you do get into a neuroscience PhD program you will not need financial aid.  Almost all PhD programs give you full rides in return for you doing research and often working as a TA. As for getting into the program, as far as I know, the psych GRE is the only one they care much about and most PhD programs don't even require that.  I know several posdocs (finished their PhD's in neuroscience) that did not have a background in neuroscience before they started their PhD's.  I even know a couple that had no biological background.  One postdoc in my lab had a bachelors in Electrical Engineering and applied for a neuroscience PhD program and got it.  While this is not the norm it does happen on a very regular basis. The most important things you can do are: Figure out what specific kind of neuroscience research you are interested in and start reading up on it.  Find labs you would want to do you PhD at and start reading the labs papers. When writing essays and interviewing for PhD programs discuss how your background as a chemical engineer gives you a unique view on neuroscience. Reach out to professors at labs you are interested in and ask them what you would need to do to get a PhD position in one of their labs.  Professors are often happy to talk to people that take the initiative to reach out to them and are excited about their field. As for your last question you do not need to start from undergrad.  There are masters in neuroscience programs out there that are structured as a precursor to a PhD program but just because you don't have an undergrad degree in neuroscience does not mean you can't get into a PhD neuroscience program.

Colin Gerber at Quora Visit the source

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Just wanted to let you know there is hope for such a change in field. I came from a BS (Chemistry) background with no human or animal biology experience. After graduating I joined a small neuroscience research group as a research assistant/technician prepared to do the basics in making chemicals/buffers and cleaning up for the rest of the lab. Within a few months I was doing behavioural experiments with rodents and learning surgical techniques. This was because I followed the post-doc doing this work around the lab and offered to step in if she needed a hand. After 2 years I got a scholarship from a local charity interested in my area of work to complete my PhD. I think it will be very hard to get straight into a PhD in neuroscience if you are from a vastly different background, since you will have to do a lot of reading to develop your topic etc, and the techniques will be a big learning curve. However I know in the US things are different, and it normally takes a few years to sort out your project. From personal experience I would advocate joining a group you are interested in as a research assistant, even on a voluntary basis if necessary. Volunteering would still look good on your CV.

Holly Yeatman

Find a prominent neuroscientist nearest you and ask if you can be a research assistant in his/her lab. Generally such labs are associated with a major university. If you get the spot you'll get first hand experience of what it's like to be in the field. If you work hard and show real interest there's also the possibility of getting a recommendation that will serve you well when you apply to programs.

Robert Pakter

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