neuroscience phd personal statement

Free PDF: The 4 questions every SOP must answer → Master’s or PhD

How to Write Your Neuroscience SOP: A PhD Success Story

• By Jordan Dotson
• Updated: March 1, 2023

I fully admit, editing a neuroscience statement of purpose is a daunting task. When working with a PhD applicant, it’s even more intimidating. The research nuances are mindboggling. (Literally?) Molecular assays and signaling pathways – the  jargon is dense, and the details are important. It takes a great deal of work to make sure the SOP portrays the applicant in the clearest and most compelling way.

Luckily however, some students are so awesome they make this job a breeze.

As a former professional ballerina with a 4.0 GPA, two years of neuroscience research, and publications in TWO different majors, Martina is the type of student who makes the rest of us feel lazy. Yet, like most STEM students, Martina didn’t feel 100% confident about portraying her candidacy in writing.

I’m telling you, this task is hard for everyone.

This was especially true during the super-competitive 2020-21 admissions cycle, when lots of amazing PhD applicants received surprisingly unfortunate results.

Yet, coming from a small regional college, and with only two weeks of revision, Martina wrote, edited, and perfected one of the most amazing SOPs I’ve ever read. And her success speaks for itself.

The Results

Martina applied to 12 top-ranked R1 programs . She received interview offers from 10. She interviewed at 7, was accepted at 5, and ultimately enrolled at her top-choice school.

“I feel really lucky to have done so well during this crazy application season,” she said.

But in my opinion, luck had little to do with it. Instead, Martina’s success was born in her incredible work ethic, her research accomplishments, and her willingness to write the strongest SOP possible.

What’s great about this SOP?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more perfect utilization of the Structure is Magic SOP template , and this is something that should inspire every applicant in every type of degree program or academic field.

• Two paragraphs in the Introductory Frame Narrative
• Two paragraphs for Why This Program
• Two paragraphs for Why I’m (Overly) Qualified
• One resounding frame narrative conclusion paragraph

The frame narrative starts with a highly memorable story. (She was a professional ballerina!) But like all great SOPs, it quickly moves into an intellectual journey. This journey concludes with a beautifully specific “academic goal.” It relates her research proposal to a larger humanistic issue, but lists the specific problems she hopes to explore in her PhD: “ I hope to continue elucidating hypothalamic metabolic circuits, and exploring how obesogenic diets affect long-term developmental outcomes in relation to the normal functioning of the satiety hormone leptin. ”

TIP: If you don’t know how to write a hyper-specific academic goal, the SOP Starter Kit will tell you exactly how.

Really, I love how Martina took great pains to elaborate her research proposal (just as I described in this previous article ). It’s a symphony of intellectual depth and research competence. As she describes her potential PIs’ work, she constantly links it to her own experience (and her future goals).

She doesn’t just say: “Dr. So-and-So’s work is fascinating, and I hope to contribute.”

Instead, she says: “[Dr. So-and-So’s work] has been critical to my understanding of sensitive periods for the trophic actions of leptin in the brain…[and] my experience with quantitative immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR make me well qualified to contribute to such research…[and this is why] I am interested in studying the role LepRb and its developmental actions might play in leptin resistance and obesity in adulthood.”

Notice that 3-point argument? That’s the SOP in a nutshell.

• The professor’s work on X intrigues me…
• Because it correlates to my past experience in Y…
• And this is why I’m confident about studying the related topic Z at this university.

With every word, Martina crafts a persuasive intellectual argument. It’s not about her . It’s about the research . It shows that she has a solid understanding of how she might fit into these professors’ labs, and what they might accomplish together .

When Martina finally presents her credentials, it’s almost an afterthought. She’s written with such nuance and depth that the reader already knows she’s an incredible neuroscience researcher. Her successes as an undergraduate are icing on the cake.

Seriously, this essay makes me giddy. But enough of my rambling. Let’s take a look at the SOP that helped Martina achieve such awesome results:

A Brilliant Neuroscience Statement of Purpose

When I ended my career with the California Ballet in 2016, I looked forward to an academic experience studying the metabolic and neurological systems which had silently governed my physical reality as a performer for so long. Surprisingly, the opportunity proved more rewarding than I could have imagined. The perseverance I cultivated as a ballerina proved essential as I immediately dove into the Psychology, Biology, and Philosophy curricula at Stark University, and I soon developed an interest in the neural regulation of metabolic development. After joining Dr. Jean Grey’s research lab in my sophomore year (a position I have maintained ever since), I had the great fortune of studying the effects of obesogenic diets on conserved signaling pathways governing metabolic regulation in Drosophila melanogaster. Through this work, I have become singularly fascinated with the myriad factors that contribute to the growing obesity epidemic, and its developmental origins in particular.

The questions that underpin our work in the Grey Lab are compelling. How do critical or sensitive periods of neuroendocrine development contribute to long-term functioning in animals and humans at the behavioral and cellular levels? Interestingly, current research at Gotham University seeks answers to these very questions, and that is precisely why I apply as a PhD candidate to the interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience.

At GU, I hope to continue elucidating hypothalamic metabolic circuits, and exploring how obesogenic diets affect long-term developmental outcomes in relation to the normal functioning of the satiety hormone leptin. I am quite interested in the work of Dr. Jonathan Crane, whose research on the development of hypothalamic circuits, and how they regulate feeding behavior, has been critical to my understanding of sensitive periods for the trophic actions of leptin in the brain. I believe my experience with quantitative immunohistochemistry and RT-qPCR make me well qualified to contribute to such research. In fact, Dr. Crane’s continuing work on the molecular signals connecting postnatal overnutrition to abnormal development of hypothalamic circuits represents questions similar to those that drew me to studying the neurobiological aspects of feeding and development. It also defines the kind of work I hope to accomplish as a doctoral candidate. While Dr. Crane’s investigation into the necessity of LepRb for typical hypothalamic development is fascinating, I am interested in studying the role LepRb and its developmental actions might play in leptin resistance and obesity in adulthood.

Additionally, Dr. Otto Octavius’s research on the effects of high developmental sugar consumption on memory circuits is fascinating to me; it dovetails nicely with my experience using high-fructose corn syrup diets to mimic obesogenic conditions, while using both behavioral and molecular assays such as weight, food intake, and RNA sequencing to investigate physiological and neural changes. For these reasons, I believe I would be a great fit in either the Crane Lab or the Octavius Lab, given my experience researching metabolic development at both the behavioral and cellular level.

Having averaged 25 research hours per week during the last few academic years, and up to 50 during the summers, I believe I have acquired all the necessary tools to succeed as a graduate student at GU. I lead the developmental subdivision at the Grey Lab, a project investigating how the timing of a high-fructose diet during development affects cellular and behavioral outcomes in adult Drosophila as it relates to unpaired 1 – the Drosophila analog of leptin – and its downstream JAK/STAT signaling pathway. In investigating this evolutionarily conserved circuit, I created a new experimental protocol for carrying out developmental feeding experiments with Drosophila larvae, as well as performing behavioral assays related to feeding such as weight, two-choice feeding preference, and capillary feeding assays. Additionally, I have performed dissections and imaging with destabilized transgenic fly lines to quantify neuropeptide-f and STAT92E expression at both the cellular and terminal levels, hoping to elucidate the potential role of SOCS36E in receptor functioning. This work has lead to me identifying a unique obese phenotype related to early dysregulation of unpaired 1, of which I was slated to perform RNA sequencing prior to COVID-19 related disruptions.

Pursuing these research projects as an undergraduate has been a monumental task, I admit, so I am proud to have maintained a 4.0 GPA, all while achieving numerous successes in my second major, Philosophy. Having coauthored a paper in the American Journal of Bioethics, as well as winning the California Philosophical Association’s undergraduate award and presenting at their annual conference, I am all the more confident in my readiness to succeed at GU.

When my career in ballet drew to a close, I looked forward to fully devoting my time to the study of the human brain’s infinitely curious adaptive processes. Now, I find myself in a similar situation, once again eager to devote myself to the study of the developing brain and how it governs metabolic regulation. The rigorous standards of The Grey Lab, along with Dr. Grey’s strict belief in personal responsibility, have shown me that (like dance) true intellectual contributions are only possible through perseverance, determination, and a ruthless eye for weakness in both experimental design and execution. Balancing laboratory workloads with a full schedule of undergraduate classes has been a taxing endeavor, but this too has been essential to my growth as a researcher. Today, I look forward to the new intellectual challenges that Gotham University will provide, and I am sure that I will discover new passions, curiosities, and questions as I prepare for my hopeful career in academia, as a professor.

The SOP Symbolizes and Summarizes Your Entire Candidacy

Again, I admit that Martina is a rock star. Not all of us can mimic her remarkable undergraduate experience. But we CAN learn from the thoughtfulness of her writing.

Martina didn’t cobble together an essay and expect her credentials to win the day. Instead, she understood that this piece of writing, these 900 words, represent everything about who she is and what she aims to be. Her statement of purpose wasn’t just a part of her application, one more sheet of paper in the pile. It represents her entire application. It integrates all of her strengths and intelligence. It presents her research goals fully, and convinced no small number of readers that she is a clear communicator too.

Everything we NEED to know about Martina is in this SOP. There’s no fluff. No out-of-place material better left to the CV. It’s just 100% airtight writing about a talented scholar and her specific goals.

I’m incredibly grateful to Martina for allowing me to publish this (pseudonymized) SOP. Students like her inspire me every day, and I hope her example inspires you as well.

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How to Write a PhD Personal Statement for Neuroscience

23/02/2023 Emily Watson

If you’re applying to study Neuroscience at PhD level, you may be required to submit a personal statement. Crafting an excellent personal statement is more than simply relaying a list of your qualifications and skills – it involves careful planning and putting thought into your motivations, interests, commitment to the subject area, and more. This guide contains ten tips on how to write a stand-out personal statement for a Neuroscience PhD programme. You’ll also find top tips from The Profs’ expert postgraduate admissions tutors as well as Profs Co-Founder, Dr Leo Evans , who has personally helped students develop successful applications for top universities.

1. Check what is required of you

Before you begin writing your personal statement, make sure you check what is required of you. Some universities do require you to write a personal statement for PhD Neuroscience, while others do not (instead, they may ask for other documents along with a research proposal). It’s important to note that a PhD personal statement may not always be called a personal statement. For example, you may see it referred to as a ‘Statement of Purpose’ or ‘Reasons for Applying’, both of which are in essence a personal statement. Each university that does require a personal statement for PhD Neuroscience specifies slightly different guidelines. For example, Oxford asks for a statement of a maximum of 500 words, plus an extended statement of a maximum of 1,000 words (both mandatory), while Bristol asks for a statement that is no more than one side of A4 in length. Whether you are required to submit a personal statement, and what you include in that statement, may also depend on whether you are applying for a defined PhD opportunity (e.g. a funded studentship) that is on a topic chosen by the university, or an open PhD programme that asks you to submit a research proposal on a topic of your choice. There may also be some taught elements to your PhD, such as compulsory research methods and research integrity modules – if this is the case, think about how you can prove that you are prepared to develop these advanced research skills and succeed at this element of the programme in your personal statement.

2. Consider what appeals to you specifically about the course

It is important to research the specific PhD programme you’re applying for and discuss exactly why it appeals to you in your personal statement. University-specific research is often the most overlooked part of a postgraduate application and so it is a great way to stand out to universities. Consider why you have chosen to apply for this PhD Neuroscience programme over another – perhaps it is the strong links the university has to your desired industry, maybe the Neuroscience department is particularly highly regarded, or perhaps they have published a piece of landmark research that inspired you to apply there. Whatever the reasons why your specific course appeals to you, make sure to include them in your personal statement.

3. Think about your motivations for applying

Your chosen university will want to know your motivations for applying for a PhD in Neuroscience. It’s all well and good to be interested in the subject area, but having a more specific purpose or goal in mind will show the university that you are an excellent candidate to study the subject at PhD level. For example, perhaps you have a particular career goal and completing a PhD will help you achieve it. If so, how will it help and what specifically do you hope to gain from the course? Maybe you have been inspired by a particular event related to your chosen course and want to enact real-world change. If so, tell the university how pursuing this course will help you do this. Founder of The Profs and Imperial College London graduate, Dr Leo Evans, also recommends making it clear that you are committed to the subject area for the long haul: “Not only will academics be trying to gauge whether you are suitable for a PhD (i.e. that you are intelligent, qualified, a self-starter, driven and committed), they will also be judging whether you are likely to see it out when the going gets hard. Drop off rates are high in PhDs and it is quite expensive for departments to essentially train people who then leave (i.e. they take up departmental resources by having classes and taking up supervisors’ time, etc.).”

4. Go into detail about your past studies

When applying for PhD Neuroscience, you need to outline exactly why and how you are well-suited to the course based on your previous academic experience. Universities will know what you have studied as it will be outlined in your grade transcript, so don’t be too vague. It’s best to talk about specific modules or topics you covered in your Master’s degree (or undergraduate degree, if you are applying without a Master’s) that have prepared you for studying Neuroscience at PhD level. You should focus on discussing any independent work you have completed, both during your studies (such as a dissertation or independent research project), as well as work that has allowed you to develop the necessary skills for studying Neuroscience at an advanced level (particularly strong technical and problem-solving skills). This will help to demonstrate your academic competence, commitment to the subject, and ability to work independently – a highly important skill at postgraduate level. As an example, if you are proposing to research into the effects of physical activity on brain function, cognition, and psychopathology in children with ADHD, you will ideally need to demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of how conditions like ADHD operate, as well as the brain development of children, from the modules you studied at undergraduate level. If you researched a similar topic in your undergraduate or Master’s dissertation and can cite specific findings and academics, even better. You may also need to show an appreciation of the interdisciplinary context of this topic (see tip 8 below).

Top tip: If you have any gaps in your education history, make sure you address these in your PhD personal statement. Your university will be keen to know that your postgraduate degree is not just a ‘back-up’, but that you are serious and committed, and that it is part of your academic or career plan. Similarly, if you are lacking any subject-specific experience (for example, if you studied your undergraduate degree in a subject other than Neuroscience), compensate for this by explaining how you have developed your foundation of relevant knowledge in other ways.

5. Include any relevant work experience

Including any relevant work experience you have completed in your personal statement will help to further demonstrate your genuine interest and real-world understanding of advanced level Neuroscience on an industry-specific level. It is particularly important in a postgraduate personal statement because it shows proactivity and dedication to your future academic or professional career – something that your chosen university will be looking for closely. Relevant work experience for a Neuroscience PhD might include: an internship at a pharmaceutical company (e.g. AstraZeneca ), a placement as a research assistant at a university, a summer research placement with the British Neuroscience Association , and more. Rather than simply listing the relevant work experience you have, make sure you show a degree of introspection. Tell your chosen university not only what you did on any work experience placements, but also what you learnt from it and how you intend to apply that experience in order to excel in your PhD.

Top tip: Though it’s important to include it if you have it, don’t worry if you are lacking in professional work experience. Many people who apply for a PhD have been in education their whole adult lives, so if you are missing experience then simply fill the space with further educational experience and skills that prove you are well-suited to studying at PhD level.

6. How else have you developed your interest in the topic?

Universities won’t just be looking at your past studies and work experience, but also how you have pursued and developed your interest in your chosen research topic in your own time. For example, maybe you led the Neuroscience society at your previous university, or perhaps you have simply explored your interest in the topic through reading relevant academic papers or keeping up to date with the latest news in the discipline/industry. Make sure to include examples and name-drop any significant organisations, news, papers, and academics throughout your personal statement to support your claims. Some resources that will help you do that include the New Scientist , the Neuroscience section of The Guardian , and Nature Journal .

7. Briefly outline your 5-year plan

Universities will be looking for PhD applicants who are driven and committed to their industry. A strong personal statement should outline your goals for the future and explain how studying a PhD in Neuroscience will help you to achieve your 5-year plan. If you don’t have a 5-year plan, you’re not alone! Start by thinking specifically about what you hope to achieve by the end of your PhD, whether educationally or professionally. If you have professional objectives, explain how this course will help you move towards your career goal.

Top tip: Coming up with a 5-year plan may seem like a daunting task, but remember that plans can always change. The 5-year plan you outline in your personal statement does not have to be set in stone and it is expected that you will inevitably adapt your plans based on your changing circumstances and interests. However, no matter how daunted you are, don’t be tempted to leave this part out – it is invaluable for demonstrating your motivation and commitment to the course.

8. Consider an interdisciplinary approach

When it comes to studying Neuroscience at PhD level, the importance of an interdisciplinary understanding and approach becomes paramount. For example, many areas of research intersect heavily with the Sciences, (Clinical) Psychology, Medicine, Sociology/Criminology, Linguistics, and even Philosophy and Marketing. Universities will expect to see an appreciation of the intersection between Neuroscience and any other disciplines that are relevant to your chosen research topic in your personal statement. For example, if you are proposing research to assess brain activity related to speech production and perception, you will need to show an understanding of both the neuroscientific and linguistic topics underpinning this research. It may also be beneficial to consider how this topic relates to medicine and the treatment of speech and language disorders through speech therapy.

9. Show that you have the technical skills required

University-level Neuroscience requires students to have more than just excellent subject knowledge – it is a highly quantitative and technical subject that requires you to use complex equipment and conduct research with the utmost integrity. Depending on the research you are proposing, you may need to demonstrate that you are able to use certain types of equipment or certain software needed to conduct experiments and analyse the data collected. If you studied Neuroscience at Master’s level (especially your chosen research area), you will almost certainly be familiar with many of the technical skills required and will be able to demonstrate this in your personal statement. However, if you studied a slightly different (but related) subject area, you may need to research what skills you will need in order to conduct your research project effectively. This will help to reassure your university that you are prepared to study Neuroscience at PhD level.

10. Consider how your work can contribute to the department, university, and wider society

Our final tip to writing an excellent PhD personal statement for Neuroscience is to consider how your work will contribute – not only to the specific department and university you are applying for, but also to wider society. Universities will want to know that you understand the wider context in which your research will sit and what gap it will fill in the current research. When applying for a PhD (especially a funded PhD), you’re also essentially asking a university to invest in you, so you need to convince them that you are worth that investment. A major way to do this is to explain how you will add value to their department and be an excellent member of the academic community. Neuroscience research can also have real impacts in a range of other disciplines and in wider society. For example, over the last 50 years, discoveries in the field of Neuroscience have improved our understanding of how specific diseases, such as autism, schizophrenia, depression, and dementia, disrupt nervous system function. These discoveries have not only helped to lessen the stigma towards these conditions in general society, but have also been heavily relied upon by policymakers, doctors, and nurses to inform treatment and laws.

How can we help?

The Profs’ PhD admissions consultants are true experts in helping students prepare for study at PhD level, submit stand-out PhD applications, and get into their first choice universities. Our network contains current researchers, lecturers, and ex-admissions staff who have reviewed hundreds of postgraduate applications, as well as Neuroscience experts, so they know just what universities are looking for in PhD applicants. 95% of students who work with our team secure places at their first or second choice university. These universities often include top 10 institutions like Oxbridge, Bristol, UCL, Manchester, and more. For professional, one-to-one guidance on your PhD application, get in touch with our team today.

Further resources

• How to Apply For a PhD
• How to Apply for PhD Psychology
• How to Write a PhD Research Proposal
• How to Prepare For a Postgraduate Interview
• Common Postgraduate Interview Questions

Browse more “ University Applications ” related blogs:

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 23 April 2021

Sell yourself and your science in a compelling personal statement

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Personal statements — essays highlighting personal circumstances, qualities and achievements — are used extensively in science to evaluate candidates for jobs, awards and promotions. Five researchers offer tips for making yours stand out in a crowded and competitive market.

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Writing an Effective Personal Statement for PhD Graduate Programs

Personal statements should be a reflection of your academic skills, success, and goals.

By Kaela Singleton Doctoral Candidate in Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience

A personal statement is one of the most important components of any doctoral graduate school application. This post will guide you with some general steps to get you started with generating a personal statement that is concise, reflects your academic success, and emphasizes your goals for graduate school. The individual graduate programs will provide writing prompts that detail exactly what you should address in your statement, so be sure you touch on everything that they want you to cover!

Before you start writing

• Update your CV:  Having a complete list of your accomplishments will make it easier to include and exclude information from your personal statement. Your CV can be used as a timeline of your achievements, and therefore an outline to how your past experiences have prepared you for graduate school. For guidance on CV writing, see  7 Tips for Writing a Successful CV.
• Research Graduate Schools of Interest:  Gain insight into the coursework, faculty, and student life for each program you are considering. Using the program website, generate a list of qualities that appeal to you about each school you’re applying to. Emphasize how and why these qualities contribute to your decision to apply to this program. This list should include research and faculty members that interest you as well as any other pros (i.e. location, cohort size, post-graduate jobs etc.)
• Create a team of editors:  Your personal statement will be read by faculty members and graduate students studying different topics within the program. Therefore, your personal statement should be compelling to a broad audience. Ask peers, mentors and advisors from various disciplines well in advance to edit and provide feedback on your statement.

Now start writing

Introduction.

The goal is to engage your reader with a quick synopsis of who you are, what you want out of graduate school, and your qualifications to join this specific program.

• Introduce yourself and identify your academic interests:  Provide a brief introduction of yourself and your academic interests. If you have a personal anecdote that explains how you became interested in science and research, start there. These “narrative hook” anecdotes engage the reader and set up a great platform to describe the motivation behind your experiences. Then go into your academic interests, which can be a couple of sentences broadly stating your research interests.  
• Emphasize your skills and overall goals:  Use both your research on the program and CV to highlight how your skill set will complement and grow from participation in this program. Speak in broad terms, showcasing how your goals align with the overall mission of the program.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

The goal is to expand on the points you mentioned within the introduction. Provide concrete examples of how past and present experiences led you to writing this application.

• Explain how you became interested in your particular scientific field:  Highlight key moments that encouraged you to apply to graduate school. This can be the very start of your interests in the field or from skills and knowledge that you gained from internships, research experiences, or coursework and class discussions.
• Describe your prior research experiences and importantly what you learned from each experience:  Provide a past experience where you used and developed a new skill that is pertinent to your ability to conduct research. Be sure to explain how this skill will be useful for your future in graduate school. It is critical to discuss what you learned from experience and to be as specific and concise as possible.  For example: I worked with Dr. A at institution B. My work focused on C. The project entailed D, E and F techniques. From this experience, I learned G. This taught me F about my decision to attend graduate school. 

In the conclusion paragraph, you should discuss what you learned about the graduate school program that you are applying for. Highlight specific faculty members or courses listed that excite you, and re-emphasize your goals.

• Summarize your qualifications and experiences:  Bring everything together here. Emphasize the skills you currently have and how joining this program will aide in continuing your success. 
• Personalize:  In this final paragraph, include specific faculty and program qualities that appeal to you as an applicant. Show that you have researched specific faculty or courses that will aide in your future training. Also be sure to discuss your career goals. 
• Edit:  Proofread and edit. Send your statement out to friends, faculty advisors, and people outside of your discipline. 

Personal statements should tell your story and be compelling across fields. Remember that a PhD program trains you to build and utilize scientific skills to advance research. You won’t want to try to convince the reader that you’ll cure cancer or discover the flu vaccine. Instead, focus on persuading readers that graduate training is right for you, and that the accompanying enrichment of your research skillset will help you reach your academic and professional goals.

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Demystifying Graduate School: Navigating a PhD in Neuroscience and Beyond

Linda k. mcloon.

1 Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455

2 Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455

A. David Redish

3 Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455

The decision to apply to a PhD-granting graduate program is both exciting and daunting. Understanding what graduate programs look for in an applicant will increase the chance of successful admission into a PhD program. It is also helpful for an applicant to understand what graduate training will look like once they matriculate into a PhD program to ensure they select programs that will help them reach their career objectives. This article focuses specifically on PhD programs in neuroscience, and while we use our program, the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota, as an example, most of what we describe is applicable to biomedical graduate programs generally. In order to ensure that our description of graduate programs is typical of neuroscience graduate programs generally, we surveyed the online websites of 52 neuroscience graduate programs around the U. S. and include our observations here. We will examine what graduate schools look for in an applicant, what to expect once admitted into a PhD graduate program, and the potential outcomes for those who successfully complete their PhD in neuroscience.

What Makes a Strong Application to a PhD Program in Neuroscience

A number of years ago, our Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota performed a statistical analysis of what correlated with successful completion of our PhD program. Consistent with more recent analyses ( Weiner, 2014 ), we found that the strongest correlation was if the applicant had done research outside of the classroom setting. Given those results, at this point, our admissions committee will only consider applicants if they have some research experience. However, in our experience speaking to undergraduates, we find that undergraduates tend to underestimate how much research they’ve done. This issue of what counts as “research” appears to worry many applicants, who often feel that they have not done sufficient research to meet this requirement.

The most useful research experiences are not necessarily those which result in publications, or even those which find statistically significant answers. Rather, the most useful research experiences are those in which an applicant contributes to the research being performed, which involve grappling with questions which do not have known answers in the back of the book. These experiences are generally performed outside of a regular classroom setting, but a wide array of experiences can fulfill this research prerequisite. For example, an applicant might have done one or more summer internships in a laboratory. Others may have done a directed research project that was taken for academic credit but whose sole purpose was to perform independent research. Others may have done internships at companies. We often see applicants who have worked in laboratories or done independent original research projects in the context of their specific coursework during the school year. These courses are becoming more common, and these independent research-focused undergraduate classes can be great examples of independent research if the work provided the applicant with experience in doing research directly.

Some colleges do not have strong research opportunities available. Students in those situations should reach out to summer or other internship programs at other universities to gain that research experience. There are many such research programs. For example, the University of Minnesota runs a Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program (LSSURP) that provides such opportunities across many fields in the life sciences (including neuroscience). Many universities have Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs available that are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). These programs usually pay a summer stipend and living costs as well as providing research experiences.

However, it is not necessary for the research to be done in a formal setting. What matters is that the applicant has some experience with direct research. Similarly, the duration of the research done is not as critical a concern as having had the experience of performing research at all. The key question is: Does the student have real-world experience in doing research, and in spite of methodological difficulties and negative results in experiments, does the applicant still have a love for the scientific process? It does not matter if there were no conclusive results, if the project was left unfinished, or if the project was not published as an abstract or peer-reviewed publication.

While coursework in a graduate program is important, the “real” work of a graduate student is to learn to do science. The research experience demonstrates to the admissions committee that the applicant has a realistic sense of what it is like to work on an open-ended problem, which takes innovative thinking about experiments and controls as well as understanding the need for patience with the scientific process. It is important that both the applicant and the admissions committee know that if admitted, the applicant will not be surprised by the focus of graduate school on independently performed research.

Personal Statement

The personal statement is one of the most important aspects of an application to a graduate program. There are three main areas that need to be included in a personal statement, and if these are inadequate, it will have a negative impact on the ultimate success of that application. First, and most importantly, a personal statement must make it clear why that applicant wants to pursue a PhD in neuroscience specifically. A broad flowery description about the applicant’s interest in biology since they were 5 years old is not helpful. This statement is easier if the applicant has some laboratory research experience and can speak to why that research experience was motivating. A clear articulation of “why neuroscience” is imperative.

As noted above, the most important information in an application is the research done by the applicant. Thus, the applicant needs to provide a description of the independent research they have performed to date somewhere in the application. The research description should focus on the big picture: What was the big question? What choices were made in the experiments? What controls were done? Why were the specific controls used? The applicant should do this for each distinct research project. This shows the admissions committee how the applicant thinks about science; understanding the process is more important than if there were positive results.

The final part of the personal statement should state why they are applying to the particular program. A good way to show that the applicant has spent time looking at the specific graduate program and has thought about which programs were a good fit for their interests is by identifying programmatic strengths, such as the expertise of the faculty, or by identifying other specific or unique aspects that differentiate the program, such as, for example, our Itasca program [see below].

Finally, applicants should proofread their personal statements. Typographic errors, poor grammar, and other sloppy writing suggest an applicant who does not take the time or effort to ensure quality. It may seem silly to mention, but it is important to make sure that when mentioning programmatic strengths, the applicant should be sure that these are the programmatic strengths of the institution to which the application is sent.

Majors, Grades, and GREs

Neuroscience encompasses many different disciplines – from genetics and subcellular approaches to neural circuits and behavior. Most neuroscience graduate programs admit applicants with a broad variety of majors. Many of the applicants that we see majored in neuroscience, biology, or psychology as an undergraduate, but applicants with other undergraduate majors such as math, computer science, or physics have succeeded in our program. Many programs also admit applicants with degrees in the humanities, and we have found that many students with these broad backgrounds have succeeded in our program, some of whom only developed an interest in neuroscience after they graduated from college. However, successful applicants from the humanities need to have taken classes in the sciences before they apply to graduate school for a PhD in neuroscience.

The most important statement that we can make about grades is really in terms of the specific classes taken. While the major area of study is not critical, an internal survey of our program found that trainees were most successful in our PhD program if they had taken at least some biology, some physics, basic chemistry preferably through organic chemistry, and college level mathematics through calculus.

In our survey of over 50 graduate programs in neuroscience, most programs do not seem to have a strict GPA cut-off under which they will not admit someone; nevertheless, GPA is an important criteria being used by many admissions committees. While overall GPA is important, students who did poorly in their freshman and sophomore classes, but did well in their junior and senior years, can excel in their PhD training. Another example might be someone who had a very bad single semester or year due to extenuating circumstances, such as an illness of a death in the family. If one of these scenarios applies, it is imperative for this to be directly discussed in the personal statements that accompany a graduate program application. While most admissions committees do not explicitly rank schools, expected difficulty of the undergraduate program is usually taken into account when looking at grades, classes and GPA.

The use of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) in making admissions decisions to a neuroscience PhD graduate program is a complex issue and has become controversial in recent years. Although many recent studies have claimed to suggest that GRE scores do not correlate with successful completion of a PhD degree in the biomedical sciences ( Hall et al., 2017 ; Moneta-Koehler et al., 2017 ), other studies examining PhDs in more quantitative disciplines, including neuroscience, found that the portions of the GRE score are in fact correlated with successful degree completion ( Willcockson et al., 2009 ; Olivares-Urueta and Williamson, 2013 ). In a large meta-analysis of GRE scores and success in graduate school, Kuncel and Hezlett (2007) found that both the GRE and undergraduate grades were effective predictors of important academic outcomes even beyond grades earned in graduate school. It should be noted that all of these studies have been performed on programs that took GREs into account when making admissions decisions and thus are based on biased data sets. Following this, some neuroscience graduate programs have elected to remove the GRE from their admission decisions, while others have decided to weigh it less in their decision-making. Most graduate programs recognize that the GRE score is just a tool, and one of many that admissions committees use to make their admissions decisions. Our graduate program, for example, is currently in the latter group—we still require it but are weighing it less than other factors such as the personal statement, classes taken, GPA, and letters of recommendation.

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are some of the most important components of an application to graduate school. Who the student chooses to write for them and what those letters say are important factors considered by admissions committee members. The most important letters are those from research mentors with whom the applicant did independent research. A lack of letters from research mentors leaves open the question of the extent and value of that research experience. The best letters of recommendation are detailed and provide a clear indication that the mentor knew the student and can assess the student’s potential for success. The mentor’s comparison of the applicant’s abilities relative to others with whom they have worked is particularly useful.

Letters from other sources, such as athletics coaches or course directors, can speak to initiative, time management, ability to work under stress, and so forth; however, most admissions committees do not find these particularly useful, unless the course director can speak to exceptional academic achievement, such as an undergraduate shining in a graduate class. Least useful are letters from non-academic sources, such as faith leaders, employers, family friends, and the like. These letters cannot speak to the questions of success in a graduate program and have been known to detract from an application, because it implies that the student does not have sufficient academic mentors to provide the full complement of letters.

Should letters come from postdoctoral fellows or graduate students? In many large laboratories, the primary professor may not actually interact with an undergraduate research assistant very much. Instead, undergraduate research is often done under the supervision of a postdoctoral fellow or graduate student. While letters from senior postdoctoral fellows are acceptable to some programs, they are not for others. We advise the applicant to check with each program to determine if this is an issue for their admissions committee. Our program has accepted students with one letter from a postdoctoral mentor, but we found that these students were not eligible to be nominated for some university-level awards. Thus, there is a balance in having the letter come from someone who worked with the student directly but also having the letter come from a faculty member. We recommend that undergraduates in these situations get a single letter that is co-signed by both the postdoctoral fellow and the professor or senior mentor.

The Admissions Process

Most graduate programs in neuroscience use a two-stage admissions process. The first stage identifies a subset of students to invite for an interview/recruiting visit and then a subset of those students is provided offers. All graduate schools in the U. S. have signed the Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees, and Assistants from the Council of Graduate Programs which says that students have until April 15th to make their matriculation decisions. In order to try to manage this, schools will admit more students than they actually expect to matriculate, and may place other students on a waitlist, trying to balance issues of getting too many students, producing a problem for budgets, or too few students producing problems of cohesion, and problems meeting the research needs of the program and university.

Interview and Recruiting Visits

Some graduate programs bring students out either singly or in small batches to visit their program, interview with faculty, and see what possibilities could come from matriculating into the program. Other programs bring students out all at once as a cohort in a combined interview/recruiting visit. Many programs combine this interview/recruiting visit with other program events; for example, we tie ours to our annual retreat. The method of organizing these interviews and recruiting visits is not particularly important, as the goal of these visits is the same – to provide an in-person look at the graduate program.

From the program side, the interview/recruiting visit allows the admissions committee to assess the fit of the potential students and to ask specific questions related to how they think about science. It is important for visiting interviewees/recruits to realize that graduate programs often have graduate students contribute to the governance of the program and provide input to the admissions committees. In our program, two current PhD students are full voting members of the admissions committee. Comments made during events where only graduate students are present do matter, and we have had a number of experiences where comments and behavior at dinners or other trainee-only events have led to rejection of the applicant.

From the visitor side, this is an opportunity to see what the program is like, as well as the living environment where the program is located. Important questions that applicants should consider include whether the students are getting the training and support that they need, whether the faculty members are engaged with the program, and whether there are faculty members to work with in the student’s area of interest. Generally, applicants should recognize that their goals, interests, and research directions may change. Ensuring that a program can accommodate those changes is an important thing when choosing a PhD program.

Choosing the Right Program

Graduate school, like most of life, is about finding the right fit. Every student is going to have to use their own judgement to determine which graduate school is right for them, but we have some suggestions about issues to consider.

First and foremost, are there a sufficient number of faculty members in their area of interest? Importantly, students should recognize that interests often change, either with experience or time or discoveries, so the student should also look at what other faculty members are around, and what opportunities there are to examine other research areas. For example, how collaborative are the faculty? What processes are in place if one needs to switch advisors? Does the program do rotations in different laboratories, or does the student have to choose an advisor immediately?

In our survey of over 50 neuroscience graduate programs in the U. S., all but one admit students into the program as a whole, rather than into specific laboratories. Students in the majority of programs spend the first year rotating through three or four different laboratories in order to get a thorough exploration of advisors and potential research areas. Furthermore, because students are admitted to the program as a whole and not into a specific laboratory, there are processes in place to handle the (rare) situation when a student needs to switch their primary research mentor.

An important consideration on picking an advisor is not only the research area of the advisor, but also the training and personal style of that PhD mentor. In our graduate program, we have 8-week rotations to give a student and an advisor sufficient time to determine if they can work together well. The duration of laboratory rotations varies between programs, but generally most programs have between 2 and 4 during the course of the first year. Choosing a PhD thesis mentor is not generally an issue of advisor quality, but rather one of style. Should the student and advisor meet daily? Weekly? Monthly? Is the goal a thesis that is a hoop to jump through on the path to another career or is it a magnum opus on which one will build a reputation? How are manuscripts written? How does the laboratory decide which projects to do? These questions do not have right and wrong answers, but a mismatch between styles can potentially make it difficult to complete the degree.

There are several other considerations. The applicant should examine the curriculum. How comprehensive or specific is it? Does it cover what the student wants to have as their baseline/background? Applicants should also look at publication requirements and expectations. Are students publishing first author papers? Trainee funding should also be evaluated. How are trainees supported? Is funding guaranteed or not? Part of the consideration relative to trainee funding is whether the program has training grants to help financially support students—these can include National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 grants, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship (NRT) and Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) training grants. Training grant support from NIH and NSF is a good measure of how the PhD training program is viewed by external reviewers. It is also useful to see if the trainees are successfully competing for fellowship awards. This speaks to the quality of the graduate students as well as the quality of mentorship from their thesis advisors and the program.

Other issues to consider are the environment and social climate of the program and the career paths the program’s graduates take. In terms of social climate and environment, we suggest asking whether the trainees know and support each other, and whether the faculty members know the trainees. Science is increasingly a collaborative venture. Evidence could be the presence of co-mentored trainees, as well as research publications that are co-authored by members of the graduate program. Other evidence of the environment of a PhD graduate program is to determine how integrated the PhD trainees are in program decision making and leadership. Do they serve on committees, and if so, what are their roles? Self-reflective programs generally include multiple voices in making program decisions. This also speaks in part to mentorship of trainees, as participating in program governance provides the PhD trainee an opportunity to develop leadership skills.

In terms of outcomes, it is important to recognize that career goals change, but we recommend programs that provide opportunities for a variety of career paths. Importantly, programs should have processes that enable students to succeed in academia and elsewhere. As we will discuss in the following section, post-graduate paths for PhD trainees have always included a mix of academic and non-academic careers. This was also the recommendation of a workshop held by the National Academy of Science ( IOM, 2015 ), and in fact reflects the actual career choices of individuals who received their PhD in neuroscience ( Akil et al., 2016 ). Importantly, the career-space that our current graduates will face will look very different from previous generations. In particular, it will look very different from the previous generation when there were very few academic jobs available. The current career space is broader than it used to be, including some jobs, such as internet-related positions, that did not exist a generation ago. Furthermore, neuroscience academic jobs are opening up as baby boomers retire and universities invest in neuroscience. Whatever the student’s goal is, we recommend looking for programs that provide career facilitation support for a variety of outcomes, because, as noted above, career goals may change with experience.

While many students and many programs will look at time-to-degree as a criterion for program quality, we feel that this can be misleading. No one has ever asked us how long we took to get through graduate school. One way to think about graduate school is to realize that graduate students in neuroscience programs get paid to go to graduate school – being a graduate student in neuroscience is a job, and one that should provide a living wage in the area that one will be living in during one’s time in graduate school. The main problem with students taking too long to complete a degree is that it may indicate deeper problems in a graduate program, for example, when students are not graduating because their technical skills are needed in a laboratory. These situations are rare, but extremely long durations (e.g., 8 years) can be a sign to look for when making a decision. However, the difference between spending 4.5, 5.5, or even 6 years in graduate school is simply not important relative to the duration of a scientific career. In fact, there is a case to be made that taking an extra year to get additional publications can be a wise choice for students going into academic careers, since fellowships, awards, and other granting mechanisms, such as individual NIH postdoctoral training grants (F32) and individual NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) awards, and the faculty level “early stage investigator” identifier at NIH, are based on date of graduation. Furthermore, few reviewers normalize number of papers by time spent in graduate school.

Additional Resources

The Society for Neuroscience provides useful resources to undergraduate students interested in a PhD in Neuroscience. One resource is the online training program directory that offers graduate program information on more than 75 top neuroscience graduate programs in North America, and provides a short summary of the characteristics of each program (e.g., number of faculty, student demographics, and research areas) along with a link to the program of interest. A second resource is available to prospective students who are able to attend the SfN annual meeting. Known as the Graduate Student Fair , it offers an opportunity for prospective students to meet face-to-face with representatives of many graduate programs.

The Gap Year Question

In recent years, we have seen that increasing numbers of applicants are taking a gap year between completion of their undergraduate degree and entering graduate school. We have not seen any correlation with success in graduate school from a gap year, and the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota does not require such a gap year. However, other neuroscience graduate programs have begun to require it. The gap year itself can vary, but often the recent college graduate enters a formal postbaccalaureate or “postbac” program, such as the one at the NIH, works in a laboratory, and participates in specific programs designed to increase readiness for graduate school. Many applicants have taken one or more years off from formal education to do research in an academic, government or industry setting. Whether a postbac year is useful or not is very much an individual choice.

There are two cases where a postbaccalaureate experience can be helpful for admissions into a neuroscience PhD program. One is when the undergraduate GPA is lower than a 3.0 or the student does not have the requisite science-related coursework. The other is when a student does not have sufficient research experience. Structured programs, such as the one at NIH, can be helpful in these situations. These postbac programs can provide an experience that is valuable for those students with limited research experiences. They can also provide opportunities for students who decide to transition to new fields late in their college career or after completion of their undergraduate degree. However, as noted above, in our experience, students underestimate their research experience and take gap years unnecessarily. To summarize, additional research training after a bachelor’s degree is not necessary for successful admission into a graduate program in neuroscience for the vast majority of applicants, nor does it appear to correlate with successful completion of the PhD.

What Trainees Can Expect During Their PhD Training in Neuroscience

A neuroscience PhD is a research-focused degree. This means that the student will spend the majority of their time as a PhD trainee working on research that can be published in peer-reviewed journals. However, that journey can look quite different from program to program. Most programs work through some structure that is a combination of coursework and early research exploration in the first years, punctuated by a written preliminary exam, followed by a thesis proposal, thesis research, and a thesis defense. In almost all of the programs we surveyed, the student is paired with an advisor that is the primary research mentor.

Throughout this section, we will use our program as an example and we will note where it differs from others. However, the general timeline is similar between programs.

In August before our “official” school year actually starts, we provide a month-long hands-on, state-of-the-art research experience for all our incoming PhD students at a research station owned by the University of Minnesota at Lake Itasca at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. This program is unique in our experience relative to other programs, and it (1) provides a neuroscience background experience for students coming from diverse intellectual backgrounds, (2) binds the class together into a cohort which helps to provide a strong support system during the transition to and experience of graduate school, (3) begins the trainees on a journey from student to colleague. They then return to the Twin Cities to begin their formal year 1 experience.

In the majority of neuroscience graduate programs, students spend their first year doing two to four laboratory rotations with faculty who participate in the neuroscience graduate program and complete a set of core classes. The four core classes we require are Cell and Molecular Neuroscience , Systems Neuroscience , Developmental Neurobiology , and Behavioral Neurobiology . Other programs require other classes that might constitute a “minor” in a secondary subject, such as pharmaceutics or computational methods. At the end of the first year, many programs have students take a written preliminary examination that is focused on the integration of the material taught in the core first-year classes. Generally, programs use this sort of examination as a check to ensure that students have integrated the knowledge from their first-year classes. Students in most neuroscience graduate programs also take a class that provides training in research ethics, writing experiences, and other important non-academic components that will be necessary for a research career. Starting in the first year, it is typical that the program directors have annual or semi-annual meetings with every trainee in the graduate program. In later years, a thesis committee will also meet semi-annually with students to provide oversight and mentorship. Some programs we surveyed have separate committees that monitor student progress in the PhD program independent from the mentor and thesis committees. We advise looking for a program that will provide the trainee with regular evaluations and clearly defined milestones to help the student complete their degree in a timely manner.

In year 2, students in the majority of graduate neuroscience programs have settled into a laboratory and are working towards writing their thesis proposal. The thesis proposal is usually the basis for the “oral preliminary exam.” In our program, we have students write their thesis proposal in the form of an NIH NRSA (F30 or F31) grant proposal which helps train students to write grant proposals.

Many programs have students take other elective classes throughout their second and sometimes even into the third year. In the second year in our program, students take one more required class, Quantitative Neuroscience that covers statistics, programming, and experimental design, but that then completes their class requirements. These types of quantitative classes are being introduced in many neuroscience graduate programs in response to the rigor and reproducibility issues that are being raised in the scientific literature and expected to be discussed as part of grant submissions to the NIH.

Most neuroscience graduate programs also have a teaching requirement. In our program, this occurs in the second year. Programs require different amounts of teaching, so this is a good question for the applicant to ask when they are interviewing. Many graduate students are interested in careers that include teaching as well as research, and additional teaching experience is important. We provide extra opportunities for teaching, where the trainee might run discussion sections or give course lectures. Often, these “extra” teaching experiences are paid beyond what the student receives from their stipend. For those interested in a more teaching-centric career, these experiences are very important. We recommend the applicant ask about how teaching expectations of the graduate students is handled in the programs to which they are applying.

Year 3 and Beyond

In the subsequent years, PhD trainees continue to do research, write and publish papers, present their work at conferences and in colloquia, and proceed on the journey to graduation. Graduate neuroscience programs generally have trainees meet with their thesis committee once or twice a year to ensure that they stay on track to graduation. The final stage, of course, is the thesis writing and thesis defense.

Presentations and Outreach

A key factor for a successful science career is the ability to communicate one’s discoveries, both to fellow scientists and to the public at large. In our program, students are required to present their research annually to the other faculty and students in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. These presentations are opportunities to learn how to present work to a friendly audience who will push one scientifically, but still provide positive support. In our experience, students are often very nervous giving their first colloquium, but confident by the time they are ready to defend their PhD thesis. The final PhD defense is a public presentation in which the student presents and defends their research. The specific aspects of the PhD defense are accomplished in different ways amongst PhD graduate programs; however, in the end, all PhD programs require that the student be able to publicly present their research in a comprehensive and cohesive manner as well as field questions about their research.

In addition, neuroscience graduate programs provide many opportunities for outreach beyond the scientific community, although most do not require outreach explicitly. Typical types of outreach in many programs include volunteering to present science at K-12 schools, Brain Awareness Week programs sponsored by the Society for Neuroscience, or science museums as examples. We have found that these opportunities provide students learning experiences in how to present scientific data and ideas to a broader audience. Not surprisingly, the ability to present ideas to a broad audience translates very well to communicating scientific results to other scientists as well.

It’s a Job

We have found it useful for students to think of graduate school as a combination of college and career. Students should not have pay out of pocket for their PhD program. Most neuroscience graduate programs not only pay students a stipend but also provide tuition and health care benefits. For some trainees, conceptualizing graduate school as a job rather than as continued school can be important for dealing with family pressures to “get a job” rather than “continue in school.”

Where to Go from Here

Fundamentally, the goal of a PhD program is to teach the student how to think critically and how to determine if a new discovery is real or illusion. An undergraduate program is usually about how to learn from books and from teachers, how to determine if the text in front of you is trustworthy or not, and how to integrate knowledge from multiple sources. A graduate program is about how to determine if the discovery you just made is correct when there is no answer in the back of a book for you to look up. In practice, this means learning how to ask questions that are answerable, how to design appropriate controls, how to interpret results and integrate them into a scholarly literature, and, importantly, how to communicate those discoveries to other scientists and the public as a whole.

These skills are useful in a variety of careers. Much of the discussion of graduate school outcomes has suggested that graduate programs are designed to produce faculty for colleges and universities and bemoan the fact that (1) there are too many PhD trainees and not enough faculty jobs, and (2) that many students are forced into “alternative careers.” Both of these statements are wrong when one looks at the actual data.

First and foremost, we wish to point out that there should be no such thing as an “alternative career” — graduates should go towards a career and not away from one. We tell our students that we want them to do something important, whether that is becoming faculty at a research institution, teaching undergraduates at a liberal arts college, contributing to industrial research, analysis, or translation, becoming a writer and making research findings accessible to other scientist or lay audiences, or making policy in a governmental or non-profit setting.

Second, the complaints seen in many of these publications do not take into account very important demographic trends. Current students will see a very different world of faculty jobs than their professors did. Simply put, understanding the faculty situation requires considering the baby boomers (q.v. ACD biomedical workforce data ). In 1980, a 35-year-old young professor was born in 1945, while a 65-year-old was born in 1915. This means that the generation of senior professors in 1980 consisted of those who had survived two World Wars and the Great Depression, while the junior professors were baby boomers. With the blossoming of investment in science after WWII, there were lots of jobs, and the baby boomers filled them quickly. Mechanisms were developed for new professors to get initial NIH grants to help them set up their laboratories (q.v. NIH History of new and early stage investigator policies ). In contrast, in 2000, a 35-year-old was born in 1965, and a baby-boomer born in 1945 was 55, in the prime of their scientific career. There were fewer jobs and few funding mechanisms that focused on providing assistance for new, young investigators. In 2018, that baby-boomer born in 1945 is nearly 75 years old and likely retiring or retired. Thus, based on our own university as well as checking sources online such as Science Careers , there are faculty positions in neuroscience open all over the country. In addition, there are now specific programs at NIH to help new faculty get grants and transition into becoming successfully funded faculty quickly.

In practice, this has meant that there are many faculty positions for those who want them, at many different types of academic institutions. An undergraduate student who wants to take the next step into a PhD program should be encouraged to do so. PhDs have always gone on after their PhD to contribute to science in many ways. A recent survey published in Nature found that a scientific PhD had high value in the United Kingdom and Canadian job markets ( Woolston, 2018 ). In fact, when we look at the distribution of careers our graduating students have taken since graduation, we find that the vast majority (96%) are engaged in important, science-related jobs.

However, the essential benefit of a PhD is that it teaches one how to think critically about the world around them. Life is long and careers are long, and the needs of both society and technology changes. It is critical to remember that many of the jobs people are doing today literally did not exist when we (the authors of this paper) were in graduate school. For example, it is now possible to make a living running an educational website on scientific topics that gets millions of hits per month, reaching thousands of school districts around the country, but when we (the authors) were in college, the internet didn’t exist. A well-designed PhD program will prepare its trainees for whatever career they chose.

We cannot imagine the world 30 years from now, but we can state that PhD-trained scientists will not only be able to handle these changes but will in fact invent many of them. Huge technological innovations now allow investigators to see many individual neurons inside the brain, control the properties of neurons experimentally, to see effects of individual channels and proteins within a neuron or glial cell, and to observe the effects of these manipulations on behavior. Neuroscience is making amazing discoveries in the fundamental science of how the brain functions and the clinical and practical consequences of those discoveries. Simply put, it is an amazing time to be a neuroscientist.

The authors thank Drs. Robert Meisel, Timothy Ebner, Paul Mermelstein, Stephanie Fretham, Kevin Crisp, and Neil Schmitzer-Torbert for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Neuroscience PhD How to Apply H2 Code

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Penn State College of Medicine’s Neuroscience PhD Program follows the application process for The Graduate School at Penn State.

All students must submit an application through The Graduate School .

Before applying, please be sure to read The Graduate School's admission requirements .

Prerequisites

To be considered for admission, you must have an appropriate academic background, including a minimum GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) during the last two years (junior/senior) of a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university.

Your degree should be in a biological, physical or behavioral science, and you should have taken courses in biology, chemistry and mathematics. Neuroscience courses are desirable but not essential. Research experience is required.

Neuroscience PhD How to Apply Basic Article

Application instructions.

The Neuroscience Graduate Program does not request or use GRE scores in our admissions process.

To complete your application through The Graduate School, please note the following:

• Campus: Select "Hershey Med Ctr."
• Major: Select "Neuroscience."
• Degree: Select "Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)."

A complete application through The Graduate School should include:

• Completed online application
• Payment of the $65 application fee
• Copies of official transcripts from all colleges and/or universities attended, uploaded by the student (do not mail official transcripts unless specifically requested to do so)
• 3 letters of recommendation, uploaded through online application system by person writing the reference
• TOEFL/IELTS score (if applicable) - School Code 2660 - sent directly from the testing agency
• Personal statement including your reasons for applying to the program, research interests, research experience (not including lab courses), and future goals
• Resume or curriculum vitae

Formal applications for the doctoral program for domestic or international students must be received by Dec. 1 . All supporting documents (transcripts, references, etc.) must be received by Dec. 5 .

Admission to this program is for fall semester only.

Interview Process

Highly competitive applicants selected based on the materials in their completed application package are invited to interview with faculty members in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Interviews will be conducted in January and February.

If you have questions about the Neuroscience PhD program, please contact Kristin E. Smith, MS, Director of Graduate Admissions, at [email protected] .

• Personal Statements
• Neuroscience personal statement

Neuroscience Personal Statement Example

Sample statement.

Studying Neuroscience means you’ll be on the frontline of new scientific discoveries and could lead to a highly rewarding career. However, you might find that writing your personal statement is the biggest hurdle.

To give you a push in the right direction here is an example personal statement of someone applying to study Neuroscience:

From an early age I was interested in science and thoroughly enjoyed creating “experiments” with home science kits and other household items. As I grew older I understood just how many ground breaking discoveries are made in the world of science every day and I know that a career where I can be a part of that is right for me.

At school I excelled in science subjects and relished the chance to study Biology and Chemistry at A Level. By studying these subjects alongside Psychology and Sociology gave me a chance to develop more in-depth knowledge of how the human mind works and how we form relationships with each other and the world around us.

During my time at college I worked part time as a carer in a nursing home specialising in elderly dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. This gave me first-hand experience of how fragile and complex the human brain is.

Outside of school I fit volunteering at my local charity shop around my studies and part time employment. This gives me the chance to build on my personal, teamwork, and communication skills that I have gained as a result of working in the care home.

I look forward to my time at university taking me to a new area where I can volunteer for another charity and continue to develop my skills and make new connections with local people.

My time at the care home has inspired me to want to help people who suffer with degenerative brain disorders and to strive to discover better forms of treatment, or even a prevention or cure.

I hope that a career in Neuroscience will allow me to improve the lives of others, if only in a small way.

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Biomedical Graduate Studies

Neuroscience graduate group.

Retina I by Greg Dunn, http://www.gregadunn.com

If you missed our recent NGG Live! Admissions Information Session, you can find a link to the recording here . We hope this helps you in your application process. Please feel free to reach out to Mariel Featherstone ( [email protected] ) with any questions you may have.

The Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG)  is the  University of Pennsylvania ’s interdisciplinary PhD program in neuroscience. The NGG is part of  Biomedical Graduate Studies  (BGS), an umbrella organization administered through the  Perelman School of Medicine  that includes the NGG and other biomedical-related graduate groups. All NGG students receive fellowships that cover tuition and fees, as well as a stipend. The stipend is $40,000 for the 2023-2024 academic year.

The NGG is committed to its mission of selecting and training top students from a diversity of educational and personal backgrounds. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience, our admissions committee is not looking for a particular set of skills or educational path. Instead, we value highly motivated and talented students who have demonstrated an ability to thrive in a cutting-edge, research- oriented field. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals, particularly from members of ethnic, cultural, educational, and socioeconomic groups that are traditionally underrepresented in neuroscience.

Application Requirements

To apply to the NGG, you must use the BGS online application . See the BGS application  FAQ  for more details. We require:

• TOEFL or IELTS (required only for applicants for whom English is not a native language
• GPA (the average GPA of admitted applicants from the last three years is 3.71)
• A statement of purpose (personal statement) discussing your academic and career objectives
• A research statement describing your research experience
• BGS does not require or accept GRE scores.
• International and domestic applications are due  December 1, 2023.
• Applicants residing in the United States who are selected for interviews will be invited to attend one of two interview sessions to be held in January and February. We will arrange and cover the cost of travel, hotel, and meals during your stay. International applicants who are selected for an interview but who are not currently residing in the United States will be interviewed by Skype around the same time.
• Students who are invited for an interview will be notified of an Admissions decision generally within two weeks of the interview date

For additional information or questions about the application process, please contact the NGG Graduate Coordinator .

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Personal statement example neuroscience personal statement.

Submitted by Olivia

Make the most of your interest in Biology with biomedical sciences at Swansea.

Tailor your studies towards a career in research, innovation or healthcare with Swansea University's range of biomedical sciences degrees. Foundation Year, BSc and MSci available - there's a place for you at Swansea!

Neuroscience Personal Statement

The brain, to me, is such a complex and sovereign organism that has influence over the internal mechanisms and this has always allured to me. My true fascination has manifested from observing the external factors that can affect the function of the brain. From a young age I have been exposed to addiction; a factor which I believe has incited a passion within me to pursue a neurological career. I have witnessed the physical and psychological effects that an alcohol addiction has over an individual, and in my seventeen years the greatest thing that I have observed is the pattern of habits that relapse and evolve with an addiction. Although this can be a truly upsetting environment to have been around, I have learnt that the brain and mind, like many other things in life, are susceptible to error. This is something I wish to delve deeper into in my studies.

Whilst in a philosophy lesson in which we were exploring the issue of whether the evil and suffering that exists in this world can be reconciled with an omnibenevolent God, I first encountered the contribution of Paul Kalanithi to the debate. Intrigued by his approach of harmonising his neurosurgical practice with his faith, all the while accepting the terminal diagnosis of lung cancer, I read his 'When Breath Becomes Air'. The line; '...the fact that brains give rise to our ability to form relationships and make life meaningful. Sometimes they break', resonates with me and opened my eyes to the importance of neurological development in the world today. Ethics classes have made me become more acquainted to discussions regarding the psychological involvement in notorious crimes, for example, the influence of OCD and Asperger's Syndrome on the 2013 Sandy Hook perpetrator Adam Lanza. I enjoy engaging in these lessons, and at times challenging other classmates as I acknowledge that there can be many ways to psychologically tackle these dilemmas.

Biology, I believe, has provided me with the skills required in both neuroscience and psychology. In class we regularly practice experimental techniques such as microscopy which I know will be utilised when studying the brain closely. The most prominent thing that biology has given to me is the ability to study the systematic nature of our body, and how even the 'simplest' bodily function requires nervous stimulation. I often leave lessons perplexed yet fascinated by the human body, and even more astonished by the paramountcy of the brain within the body; something that I would be grateful to study at university. Studying health and social care at A level has given me the opportunity to explore the physical, mental and social affects that neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's can have on an individual, with such chronic diseases like this on the rise I believe that my knowledge from studying this subject would aid any future research.

I have worked as an optical assistant in a local optician's for over a year now. This job has given me the opportunity to develop and display skills of applying my knowledge in independent and team settings. I have been trained in conducting field tests, which has further increased my interest in studying the brain as these tests can correlate optical health with neurological health.

In my spare time I attend the gym regularly and practice yoga and mindfulness; keeping me physical and mentally fit. Both of these activities have shown to have great psychological benefits, and I would say I am an advocate of this. I also enjoy reading and learning about psychological theories and developments via YouTube and the news. For example, I recently read of the 2017 Nobel Prize winners for physiology who discovered that our cells have a 'body clock' explaining human sleep and behaviour patterns. This has truly fascinated me and one day I hope to embrace the opportunity to make such scientific development like this.

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• Neuroscience Personal Statement Examples

Below are very good neuroscience personal statement examples, as well as FAQ. Read and use these personal statements as inspiration to write your university application. 

Neuroscience Personal Statement Example

As a lifelong science enthusiast, I have always been fascinated by the complexity of the natural world and the mysteries that await discovery. From my early love of dinosaurs to my current interest in the intricate workings of the human brain, I have pursued my passion for science through my academic studies and personal pursuits. Now, as I embark on the next phase of my educational journey, I am thrilled at the prospect of studying neuroscience at university.

My BTEC in Science has provided me with a solid foundation in various scientific fields, including psychology , physiology, and biochemistry. However, it is the study of the brain that truly captivates me. I am eager to delve into the intricate connections between different disciplines that enable us to understand this complex organ and potentially cure illnesses that afflict humanity. My interest in neuroscience was further sparked by reading Louann Brizendine’s “The Female Brain” and following Dr Helen Fisher’s work on the biological basis of human behaviour.

My love of problem-solving and new inventions is evident in my interests outside of academia, including my passion for science fiction films like “Transformers,” “Inception,” and “Iron Man.” The engineering involved in creating sleek and fast cars like my favourite, the Maserati Quattroporte GTS, fascinates me and underscores my appreciation for scientific knowledge and its applications.

In addition to my academic pursuits, I am an avid sports enthusiast and have gained valuable experience in teamwork and leadership through my involvement in sports programmes. I obtained my Sports Leadership Award and shared my skills in basketball and other sports with children. I regularly participate in my local Kickz football scheme and have been featured in video clips for my local basketball team. I believe that teamwork and collaboration are essential to achieving humanity’s goals, just as the relationships between different scientific disciplines are vital to advancing our understanding of the world.

Having lived in Russia for nine years, I have developed a deep appreciation for different cultures and a desire to contribute positively to the world. My multilingualism in English, Urdu, Russian, Spanish, and French reflects my ability to communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds. My work experience at Office Angels Recruitment Agency taught me the importance of organization, focus, and teamwork in achieving goals.

As part of the Imagine Croydon scheme, I presented my ideas for improving my borough to the Mayor of Croydon Council, which reflects my passion for making a positive impact on the world. I am inspired by the allegory coined by Oliver Sacks about cognitive processes being akin to learning a new piece of music, and I am convinced that our plastic neural networks can be rewired to improve our cognitive abilities.

One of my primary aims in studying neuroscience is to gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of the brain and its development from childhood to adulthood. I believe that this knowledge holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the prefrontal cortex and further advancing our understanding of the brain’s capabilities.

Despite facing medical challenges that impacted my ability to concentrate fully during my A-level studies, I found the subjects engaging and interesting. I have also been helping GCSE students in their science, Spanish, and English studies, which has reinforced my love of teaching and sharing knowledge with others.

I am excited to pursue my passion for neuroscience at university and apply my problem-solving skills, teamwork experience, and multilingualism to contribute positively to the field. I am confident that my love of science, combined with my curiosity and thirst for knowledge, will make me a valuable addition to any neuroscience programme.

Cognitive Neuroscience Personal Statement

From my early fascination with dopamine and neurotransmitters to my current interest in Alzheimer’s disease and its treatment, my passion for neuroscience has driven my academic and personal pursuits. I was inspired by a Psychology course in my fourth year and went on to study Chemistry and Biology, where I was captivated by the endocrine and neurological systems. My love of reading has led me to stay up to date on medical world affairs, with Ivor Browne’s autobiography and British journal articles on psychiatry illnesses and drug use among my favourite sources.

My interest in Alzheimer’s disease has motivated me to volunteer at Alzheimer’s homes, where I have performed for and entertained elderly patients. My enterprise class in transition year taught me essential entrepreneurial skills, including initiative, problem-solving, and pragmatism, and I led my group to be the only one to make a profit. Drama is one of my main hobbies, and I have performed on stage several times, particularly enjoying improvisation.

My EPQ explored the most effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, leading me to conclude that a combined treatment plan including pharmaceuticals and activities for healthy brain stimulation, such as music, might be most effective. I am also interested in using treatments that have not previously been considered for mainstream medical applications, such as curcumin, and postulated that hormone reduction played a vital role in the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.

My work experience with Dr Gregory Wildgoose and his research team at UEA allowed me to gain a better understanding of the industry I am hoping to enter, despite the electrochemistry I was working on not being directly connected to my field of interest. My greatest personal achievement has been travelling in Malaysia with World Challenge, where I raised funds to help redecorate an orphanage for disabled children and rebuild a hatchery on the site of a turtle conservation area, teaching me essential skills such as time management, budgeting, leadership, teamwork, and self-motivation.

I am excited to pursue a degree in Neuroscience and contribute to the field in the future. I am particularly interested in the narrow field of research and development and hope to be an eternal student, continually stimulated by everything I encounter. Studying at a university far from home is ideal for me, as I relish the idea of starting afresh and facing new challenges and responsibilities. I am quick on my feet, cope well under pressure, and pay attention to detail, all skills that will serve me well in the field of neuroscience.

In conclusion, my passion for neuroscience has driven my academic and personal pursuits, from my early fascination with neurotransmitters to my current interest in Alzheimer’s disease and its treatment. My enterprise skills, love of reading, and volunteering experience have prepared me well for the challenges of university study, while my achievements have taught me essential skills such as leadership, teamwork, and self-motivation. I am excited to contribute to the field of neuroscience in the future and am eager to learn every detail to continually be stimulated.

FAQ Neuroscience Personal Statements

A strong Neuroscience Personal Statement is important because it is typically the first opportunity for a university admissions tutor to get to know you beyond your academic record and test scores. It allows you to showcase your passion for neuroscience and demonstrate your suitability for the programme. 

A personal statement for the neuroscience course should highlight your academic achievements, experience, skills, and aspirations. It should demonstrate your passion for neuroscience and your understanding of the subject matter. You should explain why you are interested in neuroscience, what you hope to gain from the programme, and how it fits into your future goals. 

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Cognitive neuroscience personal statement example.

Why do people commit acts which are contrary to the law? Why do some individuals turn out to be aggressive and violent while others are not? Is it really true that some individuals are neurologically more susceptible or predisposed to be violent, aggressive and engage in risky behaviors than others or are they just the by-products of their environment?.

These were the questions that have been plaguing me for a very long time because of the distressing circumstances I had as a child.

I was born into a middle class family with five siblings. We lived a happy life until the day my father was shot dead in a gold heist by a group of robbers in 1988. We soon lost everything and we were forced to move into a neighboring slum and my mother had to start working as a cleaner to make ends meet.

I was continuously abused sexually for 4 years by my neighbor’s adolescent sons. Despite the circumstances, I grew up to be a fine gentlemen excelling both in my studies and other co-curricular activities at school. I was not perturbed by the fact that I had been through some traumatic events in life, by definition.

It was only in mid 2003, when I saw some of the perpetrators at my elder brother’s funeral that it actually dawned to me that, I had suppressed some of my feelings of pain, anger and resentment. The only way I had coped as a child was by diverting my attention to matters such as studies and other related activities. Seeing them again at the funeral brought back some repressed memories from my traumatic past.

The re-emergence of these feelings and the need for answers to my questions, along with the passion to understand human behaviors, thoughts and desires has led me into a quest to seek empirical answers or evidences to some of the fundamental questions in psychology and its related sciences including cognition, neuropsychology and forensics.

One of my early research was my undergraduate thesis (2003) on the psychological factors that contribute towards organisational criminology (white collar crime). This research in particular paved an opportunity for me to do a paper presentation at the World Criminology Congress held at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005.

Although the paper was commended for its originality and as a pioneering study in Malaysia, I also received some criticism on the basic research fundamentals. While attending the conference, I also had the opportunity to attend a professional workshop on collecting qualitative data in criminology.

This experience and exposure that I had in the United States, only strengthened my zeal to produce research works of better academic rigor, standing and quality.

Early 2007, I embarked on my Masters dissertation on the aspects of emotional intelligence, criminal personality typologies and sexual dysfunctions among sex offenders (both adult and adolescent).

A total of 21 samples were recruited for the purpose of this research from a prison and a juvenile detention center where they were incarcerated.

Various research methods and instruments were employed including self- rated questionnaires, oral history recount/in depth - interview, clinical psychiatric tests, and also the use of penile plethysmograph (physiological assessment).

The findings of the research were both in support and contrary to some of the pioneering studies conducted elsewhere including the works of Prentky and Knight(1993), Moriarty, Stough, Tidmarh, Eger and Dennison (2005), Righthand and Welch (2001).

Upon the completion of my dissertation, I was further encouraged to seek well assayed arguments or studies on neuropsychological origin to human behavior, emotions and decision making in general and sexual offending specifically.

Some of my readings into the works of Stein & Kennedy (2001), Cumming and Mendez (1984 & 2000), Absher et al (2000) and Sasanova et al (2002) lends basis to scientifically study the damages or anomalies of frontal, temporal, cingulated and subcortical structures and its relationship with the disinhibition of human behavior including sexual deviance.

In order to further understand these complex arcane interrelationships, the amalgamation of a multimodal approach such as that of Professor XXXXX and Professor XXXXXX are essential as they incorporate various behavioral, neuroimaging, neurogenetic, and neurobiological strategies.

Besides the above mentioned areas of interest, I am also fascinated by neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Huntington’s disease. Personally, I would like to further understand the diminishing neuropsychological capabilities of the said sufferers and its effects on cognitive, affective and motor functions.

Genetic memory is also another area of genomic psychology that I am excited about. What is the real possibility of elucidating the complex genetic predisposition and how they affect the cognitive processes especially in the area of learning memory and aberrant behavioral traits?

With the aforementioned questions in mind and the burning desire to obtain answers, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Development (Honors) and a Master of Education in Educational Psychology degree in 2003 and 2008 respectively. I was certified as a Professional Trainer by the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) and Human Resource Development Fund (PSMB) in 2010.

In 2011, I became an Associate Member of the American Psychological Association and a peer reviewer for the Asian Journal of Criminology based in Hong Kong.

Besides that, I have also been volunteering as a counselor at the Pink Triangle Foundation, Malaysia conducting HIV screening, testing and counseling where my clientele are consists of members of the public including professionals, young adults, sex workers, drug users, people living with HIV, and other marginalized communities. L

ast year, I headed a research team of 5 contributing members and a group of 12 student volunteers who assisted to carry out a study on risky sexual behaviors among the 950 respondents at the Red Carnival 2010 held at Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Professionally, I have a total of 8 years of working experience in the area of teaching including 3 years of conducting group and individual counseling and therapies; both locally and abroad. I have travelled and lived in a few countries like Vietnam, Turkey, United States, Japan, etc, in the course of research endeavors and also work assignments.

My background of teaching students from various cultures, age groups, and nationalities has actually sharpened my interpersonal and communication skills. Whereas, in the counseling sessions, working with many groups of young adults in youth transformation programs, I have acquired empathetic problem solving skills.

It has also given me a better understanding on the diverse human behaviors, emotions and thought processes.

Though the grades in my first degree and GRE may not be that impressive and I may lack exposure to broader scientific lab experiments and testing, I believe that my inquisitive mind, quick learning ability; self motivation and determination will enable me to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully complete this PhD program.

Besides, I am also very much independent, analytical, result-oriented and a pragmatic person. I have therefore made arrangements to take up courses in neuroanatomy and genetics in order to better equip myself for the program. I have also volunteered myself to assist in lab works in order to acquire the skills necessary.

Apart from engaging in academic undertakings, my life revolves around social work, jiving to music (trained in both classical and contemporary dance) and travelling, exploring different parts of the world.

Last but not least, should I be offered an admission, it would be a chance of a lifetime for me to be considered to work under the auspice of Professor XXXXX or Professor XXXXXX as my research interests corresponds closely to those of theirs. However, I am also open to suggestion.

Profile info

This personal statement was written by vicbrett for application in 2012.

vicbrett's Comments

I wrote this personal statement for my PhD in Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience (Duke University, North Carolina)application for Fall 2012. Its my earnest prayer and wish that I'd get through successfully.

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Additionally, NGP has a limited number of USC Sponsored Application Fee Waivers.  Application fee waivers are available for students who are permanent residents, eligible for AB540 benefits or U.S. citizens.  Eligibility Requirements include, receiving a need based scholarship, being part of an Equal Opportunity Program (EOP), and or being a MARC, Fullbright, or McNair Scholar.  Please contact NGP to receive more information on applying for a USC Sponsored Application Fee Waiver. The last day to request a fee waiver from the NGP is November 15.

The application to the Neuroscience Graduate Program requires the following materials to be uploaded to the on-line admissions system:

• Transcripts* from all colleges and universities attended
• CV or Resume

Statement of Purpose (Personal Statement)

• Three Letters of Recommendation
• GRE: not considered, please omit
• TOEFL or IELTS scores**

*Transcripts:  Review the  Graduate Admission submission requirements .

**TOEFL/IELTS:  Scores must be sent electronically to USC from the testing service for them to be considered official. Photocopies or paper copies of scores are not acceptable.

TOEFL:  USC’s institution code is 4852. No department code is required.

IELTS:  Select “University of Southern California” from the list of available institutions when you register to take the IELTS test. Alternatively, provide this information to your testing center after you have taken the test. Contact information for the USC department to which you are applying is not required.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: When listing undergraduate/graduate GPAs (Grade Point Averages) on the Application, please use the system of your university. If you received a percentage grade, provide the average percentage. If you were graded on a scale other than 4.0 (with 4.0 equal to an “A”), please indicate the average grade AND indicate the scale (for example, 8.5/10).

The Statement of Purpose (Personal Statement) should be 2 pages (maximum) with the standard 1 inch margins and 12 font. Please use the statement of purpose (personal statement) to describe your research interest, as well as previous experience and your desire to join the NGP program.

Your personal statement (statement of purpose) should include the following elements:

1) Why you wish to pursue a graduate education.

2) Why you wish to join NGP at USC.

3) Why you are a good candidate for the program.

4) What your research interests are. Explain.

5) Detail all research experience and what you learned.

6) Your goal upon completion of the program.

7) ** Optional : Have you overcome adverse life experiences that have shaped your personal development and your potential for graduate training in science.

The statement of purpose (personal statement) should be uploaded along with your CV/Resume in the documents section of your application.

In the Program Materials Section – Recommendation, applicants must enter at least 3 faculty recommenders.  Applicants may enter up to five faculty recommenders for consideration. All letters of recommendation are submitted through the online application system.

Once you have saved an electronic recommendation, an email request will automatically be sent to the recommender on your behalf. This can happen before the application is submitted.  Please advise your recommender to look for this email in their inbox, as well as their spam or junk-mail folder, as emails do occasionally get filtered out.

Additionally, all letters of recommendation are considered confidential and you waive your right to access.  It is the applicants responsibility to ensure that the letters of recommendation are submitted on time, before the December 1st deadline.

Recruitment Process

Applicants being considered for acceptance will be invited to participate in virtual interviews with faculty. Admitted students currently located within the United States will be invited to visit campus. Admission offers will be made by early March, and final decisions for all applicants will be made by April 15th.  

International Applicants

If accepted to NGP and your degree is from an international institution, you will need to submit your documents for verification to IERF. Below is their contact information: 

Email: [email protected] 

Tel: (310) 258-9451 

Apply online: https://apply.ierf.org 

For more information, go to: www.ierf.org/usc 

All students admitted to the program are fully supported during their graduate training. Support is provided in many forms, including teaching assistantships, research assistantships, training grants, and University fellowships. All awards include full tuition remission, a monthly stipend for living expenses (for the 2023-2024 academic year: a minimum of $39,200 annually), and payment of student health insurance and student health center fees. All students are encouraged to apply for funding from external sources, which include the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Relocation Scholarship Award:

NGP has a limited number of Relocation Scholarship Awards for incoming first-year students relocating from areas 300 miles from the University of Southern California. Submissions are collected from the relocation scholarship award form and are due before July 15. 

Scholarship amounts are determined by the program and are calculated based on need, award availability, and the current federal mileage reimbursement amount. The scholarship will be disbursed in one payment as a fellowship payment at the beginning of the student’s first term at USC in the NGP. There are a limited number of Relocation Scholarship Awards.

Other Requirements — All regular NGP application requirements must be met, and student must upload a 300-500 word description of financial need and budget justification.

For more details about the NGP Relocation Scholarship, contact [email protected] or 213-740-2245 .

Applicants are encouraged to contact faculty members at any time during the recruitment process to identify potential research interests at the University of Southern California.

Email addresses for each faculty will be found in the Faculty Directory .

Applicants are more than welcome to visit the USC campus.  The NGP Office does not arrange these visits, including campus tours or laboratory tours outside of recruitment.  If you wish to schedule your own visit to USC please visit USC Graduate Admissions .

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Neuroscience Personal Statement – Sample For Graduate School

EssayEdge > Blog > Neuroscience Personal Statement – Sample For Graduate School

My long-term goal is to dedicate myself to the research field of neuroscience. In order to achieve this goal, I hope to acquire my Ph.D. at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine starting in the fall of 2000.

In 1992, I obtained my MA degree in Molecular Microbiology from Indiana University, Bloomington. At I.U., I received intensive training by Dr. Roger Innes in experimental design, logical thinking, and molecular genetics techniques. After I graduated from I.U., I became a lab supervisor in the clinical cytogenetic laboratory at Tzu Chi College of Medicine, Taiwan. The lab is part of TCCM’s newly established genetic research team directed by Dr. Ming-Liang Lee. My responsibilities at the lab included training lab technicians, improving testing accuracy by consistently improving technical skills and knowledge, and managing the lab’s day-to-day operations. At TCCM, I also taught several fundamental biology courses, including general biology, cell biology, and medical genetics laboratory.

After five years of working, I decided to pursue more advanced research training in the latest techniques of microbiology. Since the fall of 1998, I have been taking several Ph.D.-level courses at New York University . I have performed very well in my studies there, which have been supported by a fellowship from Taiwan’s National Science Council. My courses at NYU are Biochemistry I and II, Molecular Principles of Evolution, Cell Biology, Molecular Controls of Organism Form and Function, Neuroimmunology Journal Club, and Physiology Basis of Behavior. I am also researching in Dr. Joseph LeDoux’s lab for credit. At this lab, I have been using immunohistochemistry to detect the activation of track receptors in rat brains after fear conditioning. One of the tracks, trkB, responds to BDNF, which is related to synaptogenesis and LTP induction in the processes of learning and memory. My results have shown that the phosphorylation peak of trk appears in the hippocampal CA1 area 24 hours after fear conditioning. Further blocking experiments using trk antagonist need to be performed in order to confirm this result.

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My laboratory experience has triggered my strong interest in studying cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurological diseases. The majority of patients with these diseases have chromosomal and genetic abnormalities. Most genetic diseases lead to neurological symptoms, and several neurological diseases are associated with strong genetic predispositions. The genetic defects associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, alcoholism, Fragile-X Syndrome, Neurofibrmatosis, and Parkinson’s Disease have already been mapped. However, the links between genes, gene products, neuronal circuits, brain functions, and diseases are still unclear. I am eager to help uncover these links.

I think that Mt. Sinai’s Ph.D. program perfectly suits my interests. The faculty includes experts in several divisions of neuroscience. There is an especially large group studying neurological diseases. The group uses various approaches, animal models, and behavioral paradigms to search for the causes of diseases on the molecular, cellular, physiological, and system levels. I am particularly interested in working in Dr. John Morrison’s lab, which studies cortical organizations, glutamate receptors, and neurodegenerative disorders; Dr. Patrick Hof’s lab, which uses comparative neuroanatomy to study aging; Dr. Giulio Pasinetti’s lab, which studies cyclooxygenase and inflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease; and Dr. Charles Mobbs’s lab, which uses molecular, histological, behavioral, and electrophysiological methods to study basic mechanisms underlying metabolic diseases and aging.

Mt. Sinai School of Medicine also attracts me because of its location in an extremely nice area of Manhattan. In addition, the strong collaboration between its neuroscience program and its other departments, its affiliated hospital, and many other outstanding New York laboratories will enable me to receive much technical and academic support.

In order to sponsor my Ph.D. education, I have obtained a competitive Ph.D. fellowship from the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, the largest nonprofit organization in Taiwan. The foundation is dedicated to helping needy all over the world, regardless of age, sex, race, and religion. Over the past decades, it has provided worldwide relief and assistance. Its missions focus on charity, medical care, education, and international relief. The founder, Master Chang Yang, was once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The foundation will support my Ph.D. education for at least four years.

After completing my Ph.D. education, I plan to continue my research and teaching in neuroscience. Thus far, most of the detailed work in studying neurological disease has of necessity been performed in experimental animal systems. However, the progress of human genome mapping might eventually make it possible to test whether the disease mechanisms discovered in animals function in comparable ways in humans. Consequently, in the future, I hope to apply my knowledge of the genes and proteins involved in neurological diseases to develop pharmacological treatment or genetic therapies. I am confident that one day we will have effective drugs to prevent memory loss or aging. We may even be able to cure currently intractable neurological diseases through gene therapies, either in utero or in live humans.

I am confident that Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s graduate program will enable me to successfully meet my goals. I also believe that if I am accepted to your Ph.D. program, I will contribute greatly to Mount Sinai’s learning environment.

If the paper you plan to submit looks similar to this sample, you can order a graduate school personal essay edit. This neuroscience graduate essay sample has a good structure, flow, and style, but some aspects need improvement. You can check our before and after editing examples to realize why editing is essential. We are waiting for your request!

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Chuck Chan, stem cell researcher who discovered how to regrow cartilage, dies at 48

The Stanford Medicine researcher was known for his groundbreaking work and his generous spirit as a mentor and colleague.

April 23, 2024 - By Jennifer Welsh

Chuck Chan on a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. Wan-Jun Lu

Charles “Chuck” Kwok Fai Chan, PhD, an assistant professor of surgery at Stanford Medicine, died March 12 at Stanford Hospital surrounded by his wife, parents, siblings, and some of his dearest friends and colleagues. He was 48. 

“Chuck accomplished a great deal in the short time he had,” said   Lloyd Minor , MD, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University. “He knew he was working against the clock, which drove him to persevere in his research. He leaves behind a wealth of foundational stem cell discoveries that will inform the future of rejuvenative medicine. Stanford Medicine mourns the loss of such a talented researcher at such an early age.”

A member of the Stanford  Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine , Chan discovered the mouse and human stem cells that give rise to bone, cartilage and some types of cells that nurture blood-forming stem and progenitor cells. These stem cells are integral to developing new healing technologies for joints affected by osteoarthritis or skeletal injuries. 

​“Chan was an outstanding scientist with a prodigious intellect and curiosity. He was a giant in the field who we lost way too early,” said  Michael Longaker , MD, a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and the Deane P. and Louise Mitchell Professor in the School of Medicine. “His work will have a long-lived impact. Decades from now, millions of people with arthritis may be benefiting from his discoveries, and I will say, ‘This work traces back to the Chan lab.’”

Chan trained many young scientists, including undergraduates,  CIRM scholars  and international students. His colleagues said he was generous with his time, ideas and the secret recipes used in his experiments. He believed there were always more discoveries to make and more  Nature  papers to write. 

“He was very confident that there was enough science to go around. He was so willing to share, to talk about science, to collaborate because he was confident that there was so much still to discover,” said his brother  Ed Chan , a researcher in the plastic and reconstructive surgery department at Stanford Medicine. “He was very open with his science, pushing his teams to present their research and share what they discovered and the new tools they developed.”

Chan identified and isolated essential components needed to encourage the development of skeletal stem cells, which can make bone, cartilage and helper cells for blood-cell precursors. To bring these findings to the clinic, he dabbled in gene editing and even a project using microneedle-based technologies for repairing cartilage with his brother.

“He was a brilliant young scientist, unafraid to explore new technology,” said  Irving Weissman , MD, founding director of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, professor of pathology and developmental biology, and the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor in Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research. “Though he didn’t treat patients, he was always thinking about how they’d benefit from his discoveries. We will miss his drive, his empathy, his deep intelligence. Sadly, generations of patients will miss his potential discoveries.”

Boundless curiosity, unrestrained imagination

When he applied to Stanford Medicine’s graduate program, Chan wrote in his personal statement, “If I cannot be a child, then let me be a scientist…scientists have boundless curiosity and an unrestrained imagination.” It was a definition Chan embodied his entire life, friends and family say. 

Though he didn’t treat patients, he was always thinking about how they’d benefit from his discoveries.

Born May 14, 1975, in Hong Kong, Chan moved to the U.S. in early 1982, landing in Anaheim, California, where he could see Disneyland’s famous fireworks displays from his living room window. He was the eldest of six siblings — he had four brothers and one sister. His mother is a homemaker, and his father was in the photographic equipment business during his youth.

“Chuck was the leader of our gang. He was No. 1,” Ed Chan said. “He was always into science — he had a big rock collection; he was into bugs and how the ecosystem works. As a family, we used to laugh at him a bit for his obsessions.”

He attended Alhambra High School, where he played clarinet in the marching band. He started his research career in high school, interning at university labs over the summer. 

He earned a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1999, staying on for two years to complete a research project and publish his work. In 2002, he enrolled in the development biology program at Stanford Medicine, joiningWeissman’s lab, where he focused on finding and defining interactions between stem cells that lead to regenerative growth. He earned his PhD in 2011. 

“He explored many things and proved himself to be absolutely fearless in terms of technologies that might advance the field,” Weissman said. 

As a graduate student, Chan was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent extensive treatments. “During that time, he did not stop doing science,” said his wife,  Wan-Jin Lu,  PhD, a research scientist at the Stanford  Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine . “He managed to publish a paper, defend his thesis, attend lab meetings and support his lab mates.”

Eventually, a bone marrow transplant from his sister gave him an eight-year remission. He was awarded with an independent Siebel Scholar position and built up his lab immediately after earning his PhD. His work focused on the stem cells that give rise to bones and cartilage. 

“Anyone else might have been demoralized by how hard these experiments were. But Chuck seemed like he couldn’t get enough of it,” Longaker said. “That’s what made him a unique and uber-successful scientist.”

Chan worked doggedly to identify the  mouse skeletal stem cell , which gives rise to the spongy bone that supports blood, hard bone and cartilage.

“Irv said these experiments would not work, but Chuck did not listen. He went ahead and tried it anyway,” Lu said. Eventually, he grew a piece of bone with a spongey inside and cartilage at the ends. “He was so proud of himself that he brought the bone straight into Irv’s office — it was his once-in-a-lifetime ‘Eureka’ moment that every scientist dreams about.”

Weissman added, “One of the unique aspects of helping great graduate students is that they discover what you doubted.”

That work was published in the top journal  Cell  and immediately put him on the map as a “researcher to follow,” Longaker said. Very quickly after that, he identified the human skeletal stem cell, again publishing the finding in  Cell .

“He became this iconic bone biology person early in his career — it was a testament to his vision for what’s possible,” Longaker said. “He went on to regenerate cartilage and reverse the slow healing of aging.”

When joint cartilage has worn away, bone painfully rubs against bone. Often, a patient’s only solution is pain medication or joint replacement surgery. Chan’s research may lead to ways to regrow cartilage.

“Because he had overcome so much with his health as a grad student, I think it gave him a sense of urgency in his work,” Longaker said. “He wasn’t on faculty long. But wow, his contributions will live forever.”

A lasting impression

Not only was Chan a dedicated scientist; he was an optimist inside and outside the lab — an upbeat person always happy to collaborate, colleagues said. He was also a well-known night owl, sending texts from the lab at all hours.

In the lab, Chuck was in his element. That was what he wanted to do with the people he wanted to do it with.

He took an unusual approach to picking his projects. He pursued the fundamental questions, pushing through ideas at an unusually fast rate. He conducted one experiment, focusing on one question, to decide if that project would work. If not, the next week, he would start a new project.

“He didn’t work on small projects. He wanted to make a difference,” Longaker said. “He was undaunted; no matter how complicated the experiment, he did whatever it took — that’s what made him unique.”

Chan was also a good mentor and group leader. “If someone was having a bad day, they would come to Chuck’s lab. They’d have a few beers, and he would help them through it. He would sit with you and inspire you,” Lu said.

Chan spent about 90% of his time talking about, thinking about or conducting lab work, Lu said.

“The idea of work-life balance wasn’t his focus. It’s work and life, they’re just together,” Ed Chan said. “In the lab, Chuck was in his element. That was what he wanted to do with the people he wanted to do it with.”

Outside the lab, Chuck found a profound connection with Hawaiian culture during a weeklong camping trip along the Maui coastline. This experience ignited a love for the Aloha spirit and the Hawaiian way of life. He was often seen in Hawaiian shirts, spending time at the beach and hiking the island trails. Chuck had a particular fondness for sea turtles, always seizing the chance to seek them out along the sandy shores.

When it came to his family, Chuck was the sterner older brother, Ed said. He pushed his younger siblings hard when they were younger, prepping them to take the SATs by having his siblings live with him for the summer and drilling them every day. “They hated it. But to this day, they all admit that they got into decent schools because Chuck was riding them so hard,”Ed Chan said.

Chan received a Siebel Scholarship Award from 2011 to 2013, a Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award from 2013 to 2016, a National Institutes of Health Pathway to Independence Award from 2015 to 2020, and an American Federation for Aging Research and Arthritis National Foundation grant in 2018 and 2020. 

Chan is survived by his wife, Wan-Jin Lu, of Redwood City, California; parents Albert and Anna Chan; and his five siblings: Edward Chan, Andrew Chan, Marvin Chan, Brian Chan and Karen Haas. He has nine nephews and nieces.

• Jennifer Welsh Jennifer Welsh is a freelance writer

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu .

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