Program Overview

Introduction to the Neuroscience PhD Program

The Neuroscience PhD program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is designed to prepare students for independent research and teaching in neuroscience. The program aims to train students who will be experts in one particular approach to neuroscientific research, but who will also have a strong general background in other areas of neuroscience and related disciplines.

Program Overview

To achieve this objective, students take interdisciplinary core and advanced courses in neuroscience, as well as related courses sponsored by other graduate programs. In addition, students carry out research under the supervision of faculty members in the program. The UCSF Neuroscience program faculty, who are among the world leaders in their respective areas of neuroscience, utilize innovative cellular, computational, electrophysiological, genetic, imaging, and molecular strategies to address outstanding problems in neuroscience.

Faculty and Research Areas

The Neuroscience program currently has 100 faculty members from various departments and areas, including:

• Anatomy
• Biochemistry and biophysics
• Bioengineering
• The Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Center
• Cell and tissue biology
• CMP
• CVRI
• The Diabetes Center
• Gladstone Institutes
• Neurological surgery
• Neurology
• The Neuroscience Imaging Center
• Ophthalmology
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery
• Otolaryngology
• Pathology
• Pediatrics-medical genetics
• Pediatrics-neonatology
• Pharmaceutical chemistry
• Physical therapy
• Physiology
• Psychiatry

The program covers a range of sub-disciplines, including:

• Addiction research
• Behavioral neuroscience
• Cell and molecular neuroscience
• Developmental neuroscience
• Nervous system disease
• Synaptic physiology
• Systems neuroscience
• Theoretical/computational neuroscience

Program Administration

The Neuroscience program is offered by the UCSF Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Scholars, administered by the UCSF School of Medicine, and delivered by faculty members in the UCSF schools of dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy.

Program Structure

The program is based primarily at Mission Bay, but also has faculty at Parnassus, the UCSF affiliated Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital, and Gallo Center.

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Neuroscience is part of a broader range of graduate programs offered by UCSF, including:

• Bioengineering
• Biological and Medical Informatics
• Biomedical Sciences Program
• Biophysics
• Chemistry and Chemical Biology
• Computational Precision Health
• Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
• Epidemiology & Translational Science
• Global Health Sciences PhD
• History of Health Sciences PhD
• Medical Anthropology
• Neuroscience
• Nursing PhD
• Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
• Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
• Rehabilitation Science
• Sociology
• Tetrad

Program Details

For more detailed information about the program, including admission requirements, application process, and program statistics, please refer to the official UCSF graduate education website.