Neuroinformatics – (Ph.D.)

Contents

The DTC provides an interdisciplinary programme that trains PhD students in neuroinformatics and computational neuroscience. This page describes what students can expect from this four-year programme.

Introductory year
The introductory year is a key feature of the programme and is mandatory for all students. By the end of the year, students will have been exposed to a broad range of research problems in the neurosciences and cognitive sciences, and will have studied informatics and neuromorphic approaches to tackling these problems.

In the first three months, students take the full-time Neuroscience module from the MSc in Neuroscience, along with DTC-specific supplementary material designed to make this module accessible to physical scientists and to ensure coverage of a broad range of topics. This module introduces students to the full range of research problems and experimental methodologies in the study of the nervous system, from molecular to cognitive approaches.

In the following three months (term 2), students study the core themes in neuroinformatics and the computational and electronics methodologies for addressing the current topics within these areas. Students will attend at least five MSc modules in Informatics, chosen as appropriate combinations from a list including Neural Computation (NC), Computational Cognitive Neuroscience (CCN), Cognitive ModellingNeural Information Processing (NIP), Computational Neuroscience of VisionBioinformatics2 (Bio2), Applied Databases (AD), Machine Learning and Sensorimotor Control (MLSC) , Data Intensive Linguistics (DIL), Intelligent Autonomous Robotics (IAR), and Neuroinformatics Research. (CM), (CNV), Neuromorphic VLSI (NVLSI),

In the second six months, students will undertake one or two research projects. These research projects will be based in experimental laboratories so that students can gain an appreciation of the complexities involved in experimental work, and can learn how to relate experimental data to theory.

PhD year 1
Students start developing their PhD topic and proposal by the end of the MSc year, and begin their projects early in their first PhD year. In addition, during the first three months (term 1), the student can attend further specialised courses that are particularly relevant to their research. The modules will be drawn from the broad range of MSc programmes in the relevant disciplines.

Even once the PhD work has begun, students continue to meet with other DTC students regularly for seminars, journal clubs, retreats, and other shared events, allowing them to be part of a robust and lively community of young researchers in related fields.

PhD years 2 and 3
The final two years of the programme are comparable with most existing UK PhD programmes, except that DTC students will be encouraged to spend a 3-6 month period in an institute outside Edinburgh that has collaborative links with their supervisor's laboratory. The aim of this period of external study is to familiarise students with research facilities outside the host institution, to give them a different perspective on their research project and to enable them to make contacts with research groups where they may commence their post-doctoral career. The student will normally complete preparation of their PhD thesis by the end of the third year.