The human brain is often said to be the most complex object known to humankind, and understanding how it works and why it sometimes fails is the ultimate challenge. UCL and Birkbeck represent the largest grouping of neuroscientists in Europe.
Students joining this theme will have the opportunity, for instance, to trace how individual neurons find their place as the brain develops, record and manipulate the activity of neurons, understand how animals or humans integrate sensory information to make decisions, explore the developmental and environmental factors that make some individuals vulnerable to psychiatric and neurological disorders, or devise new ways of treating such diseases. Research laboratories within the Neuroscience and Mental Health theme are distributed across all four faculties of the UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences and at Birkbeck, but many collaborations, for instance between fundamental and translational neuroscience, allow students to experience a rich diversity of methods and topics.
The Theme Directors are Professor Selina Wray and Professor Josef Kittler. Their contact details can be found on the People page of this website.
Potential Supervisors
The UCL Birkbeck MRC DTP sends out a call for projects after we recruit our students and the full list of projects for the 2024/25 academic year will be available in the summer of 2024.
The list of the projects for the Neuroscience and Mental Health theme for the 2023/24 academic year is available. This list is indicative only. These projects may not be available in 2024/25