UK Neuroscience PhD Reputations

[musicdegree4me]

Hello! I am looking for feedback on the reputation/prestige of the following three Neuroscience PhD programs (listed in alphabetical order) from others involved in neuroscience:

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. University College London

The specific area is cognitive/behavioral neuroscience. Please feel free to tailor your feedback to that particular niche, or comment on the reputation/prestige of the three programs writ large, as you are able/desire. I am especially interested in the perception of these programs in the USA but am open to everyone's thoughts, so please also provide your general location (i.e. Europe, North America, Asia, etc.) in your feedback.

To be clear: I already understand the importance of research fit and PI reputation/demeanor as it relates to the current and future success of a PhD candidate and that has been duly emphasized so no need to delve into that.

Thanks in advance!

[neurocalculator]

I'll take a crack at this. 

These are clearly the top three neuroscience programs in Europe, but UCL is generally considered the strongest. It's disadvantage is that it's not very well known in the US and doesn't have the same reputation as Oxbridge even within the UK. So, the average person at a bar will be more impressed with Cambridge or Oxford, but your fellow neuroscientists will probably be more impressed by UCL, especially if you're at Gatsby, Sainsbury Wellcome, or the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. To put this in perspective, the UK neuroscience power move is to attend Oxford undergrad (biomedical science or experimental psychology) and then obtain your PhD at UCL.

All things being equal, if I was selecting for most overall international prestige outside of the field I'd chose Oxford. If I was selecting for the best neuroscience program as recognized by folks within the field I'd choose UCL. 

Edited January 26 by neurocalculator