Neuroscience programs

[grains!]

I applied to a bunch of neuroscience programs this past fall and only received one offer (it wasn't a top choice) so I decided I'd hang out another year at my job and see if I can do anything meaningful before next application period. I am quite serious about neuroscience and research as a career but I'm just feeling unsure about which programs to apply to. I went for the flashy names last time and I think I will take a different strategy this time around. Would anyone like to share which programs they think are good and the reasons why? Maybe a bit about what they are looking for in applicants also. I would certainly appreciate it as I gear up for another round of apps. I'm geographically pretty open and probably not a star academic though I am very passionate and have a decent amount of research experience.

Thanks!

[grains!]

Hm, seems like the "where to apply" posts aren't very popular...guess I'll have to do the hard work by myself, heh.

[cogneuroforfun]

You haven't mentioned your research interests or experience at all, so no one can tell you what programs would be good for you. What are you interested in studying? What kinds of experience do you have already? Without knowing what you want to study, all anyone can tell you is that the "flashy name" programs will probably have good people doing something you're interested in.

[grains!]

You haven't mentioned your research interests or experience at all, so no one can tell you what programs would be good for you. What are you interested in studying? What kinds of experience do you have already? Without knowing what you want to study, all anyone can tell you is that the "flashy name" programs will probably have good people doing something you're interested in.

Good point. Well, my background is varied, I've worked a lot with rodent operant conditioning as an undergraduate and had an internship doing a project on cerebellar development and neurotrophin expression in rats experiencing developmental LPS exposure, this project involved a lot of basic techniques from treatment of animals, behavioral testing, dissection, harvesting and fixing brains, sectioning, staining, stereology, confocal microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, as an undergraduate I helped set up an automated laser ablation system to selectively lesion medullary cells as part of a separate project. This was in a systems neuroscience lab that focused on the neural mechanism of respiration and rhythm generation in a small complex of neurons in the medulla. I took a couple of graduate level courses in applied neuroscience and developed an interest in neurophysiology and electrophysiology (a technique in which I am gaining experience). For graduate study, I think I would like to work on a circuit level project and since I have a lot of experience in different techniques, a systems approach appeals to me most. My current work is in sensory transduction and more specifically, TRP channel function. Ion channel research and membrane biophysics also interest me as a way to understand neuronal behavior and dynamics, this coupled with high-level imaging would be really exciting. I'm working on narrowing my focus but definitely leaning in the direction of physiology as opposed to neurobiology and behavioral or cognitive fields. I have experience with rats, mice, C. elegans and cells so as far as model systems, I'm definitely more interested in mammalian nervous systems. The school I was accepted to was UVa so programs on this level would probably be best for me to look into. For personal reasons, I'd like to be on the west coast though I didn't have much luck out there the last time I applied so I'm open to finding a good program pretty much anywhere (domestic).

[bhmlurker]

Good point. Well, my background is varied, I've worked a lot with rodent operant conditioning as an undergraduate and had an internship doing a project on cerebellar development and neurotrophin expression in rats experiencing developmental LPS exposure, this project involved a lot of basic techniques from treatment of animals, behavioral testing, dissection, harvesting and fixing brains, sectioning, staining, stereology, confocal microscopy and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, as an undergraduate I helped set up an automated laser ablation system to selectively lesion medullary cells as part of a separate project. This was in a systems neuroscience lab that focused on the neural mechanism of respiration and rhythm generation in a small complex of neurons in the medulla. I took a couple of graduate level courses in applied neuroscience and developed an interest in neurophysiology and electrophysiology (a technique in which I am gaining experience). For graduate study, I think I would like to work on a circuit level project and since I have a lot of experience in different techniques, a systems approach appeals to me most. My current work is in sensory transduction and more specifically, TRP channel function. Ion channel research and membrane biophysics also interest me as a way to understand neuronal behavior and dynamics, this coupled with high-level imaging would be really exciting. I'm working on narrowing my focus but definitely leaning in the direction of physiology as opposed to neurobiology and behavioral or cognitive fields. I have experience with rats, mice, C. elegans and cells so as far as model systems, I'm definitely more interested in mammalian nervous systems. The school I was accepted to was UVa so programs on this level would probably be best for me to look into. For personal reasons, I'd like to be on the west coast though I didn't have much luck out there the last time I applied so I'm open to finding a good program pretty much anywhere (domestic).

My suggestion is to search Pubmed for some subject keywords, and see who publishes the most high impact papers in that sub-field. Email that prof/PI and see if he/she has funding for a PhD student. Don't apply to a school because it has a nice name. NIH funding is really tight right now, so if you apply to a school without looking up advisor/mentors first, you might be stuck rotating and choosing between labs that actually have funding. For that matter, prof/PIs move around from time to time, so contacting them is important so you don't show up just as they're leaving to go to another university. Any decent person will reply to your question instead of ignoring your email, so don't be shy.