Which Graduate Program is Right for You?

Student speaking at podium while giving a research talk.

Tianhao Qiu giving his data slam talk during the 2023 UC Berkeley Neuroscience Conference. Image by Leleña Avila.

Student holding up phone to take a selfie with Gold Gate far in the distance

Samantha Jackson takes a selfie with the Golden Gate Bridge during the 2022 recruitment visit. Image by Brittany Hosea Small.

Student looking through a dissecting scope.

Faye Clever engaged in a hands-on demo at a microscope in the Fisher Lab during Neuro Camp 2023. Image by Leleña Avila.

The Neuroscience PhD Program provides broad training at multiple levels of neuroscience. Other PhD programs at Berkeley also offer training in neuroscience, or in specific sub-disciplines of neuroscience. These include the PhD programs in Molecular & Cellular Biology, Psychology, Biophysics, and Vision Science. These programs differ in overall academic focus and course curriculum, and in the subset of neuroscience laboratories available for thesis research. UC Berkeley allows each applicant to apply to only one graduate program per application cycle. We want you to pick the one that best matches your intellectual interests.

Which Graduate Program is Right for You?

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Neuroscience PhD Program

Classes cover neuroscience at all its levels, including molecular, cellular, biophysical, developmental, circuits, systems, computational, behavioral, and human cognitive neuroscience. Thesis research is available in all these areas, studying normal brain function from cellular to systems levels, behavior, cognition, and disease. (For a list of faculty that may serve a lab rotation and dissertation lab mentors, see the Neuroscience PhD Program Training Faculty page.)

Molecular and Cell Biology Graduate Program

Classes provide broad training in molecular and cell biology, including genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, immunology, and molecular, cellular, synaptic and developmental neurobiology. Thesis research is available in neuroscience labs within the MCB department, which include molecular/cellular to circuits-level neuroscience research.

>> Go to MCB Graduate Program website

Psychology Graduate Program

Within this program, students can undertake thesis research in Psychology faculty laboratories. Training that is most related to neuroscience falls within 3 areas of specialization: Cognition, Brain, and Behavior; Behavioral Neuroscience; and Change, Plasticity, and Development. This program has no rotations, and students directly enter a specific faculty laboratory.

>> Go to Psychology Graduate Program website

Biophysics Graduate Group

This program focuses on molecular biophysics and systems biology, including selected faculty in neuroscience. Neuroscience areas include systems neuroscience, molecular imaging/optical probes, cellular signaling, structural biology, and brain imaging.

>> Go to Biophysics Graduate Group website

Vision Science Graduate Program

This program offers broad training in vision science, eye diseases, and development. Thesis research is available in visual neuroscience, including visual perception, visual system neurophysiology and signaling, development, and control of eye movements.

>> Go to Vision Science Program website

Other Programs

Other programs have some overlap with specific areas of neuroscience, including the Integrative Biology Graduate Program, Bioengineering Program, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and Community Health and Human Development.