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Neuroscience

Is a neuroscience degree worth it? What kind of jobs can you go in to after?
I'm starting my neuroscience BSc degree in september and I've heard there are a wide variety of careers and job prospects you can go into
For example, drug developments, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, clinical sciences, or even academia so like research and teaching


I have heard it is a tough degree but the careers and employability after completing the degree are quite wide and worth it. Just depends what you're planning on doing and going in to.
Reply 2
Hi! I'm in my final year of studying Neuroscience at King's College London. Here are a few thoughts that I would have liked to know before starting my degree.

Shirel.barda is right that there's a mix of careers you can go into, and I would add in maybe consulting, public/ global health policy making, science communications (for companies, or for publications/magazines) or working in the NHS as a clinical scientist (NHS-STP). However, be aware that a lot of these will require Masters or Doctorate level qualifications for you to be competitive. The common theme however, is that they're all related to the bioscience/life science industry. You could also leave biosciences entirely and go into finance/econ, the civil service, or teaching - but there may be easier ways of getting into these industries than with neuro.

Academia is a tough one to get into, and a tougher career to sustain yourself through. You'll need a PhD, and then it's 5-10 years of post-doctoral study before you can take up a lectureship position somewhere. It is a very very long grind. And only then do you start the journey towards being a professor - all the while trying to compete for the very limited amount of funding that universities/institutions have. I'm not going to lie it's a long road and you aren't particularly well paid for it either, so only go into academia if you really really like it. I know it might suck a little to hear this, but it's better to find out before going into it than finding out later like me haha.
Original post by Atsuran
Hi! I'm in my final year of studying Neuroscience at King's College London. Here are a few thoughts that I would have liked to know before starting my degree.

Shirel.barda is right that there's a mix of careers you can go into, and I would add in maybe consulting, public/ global health policy making, science communications (for companies, or for publications/magazines) or working in the NHS as a clinical scientist (NHS-STP). However, be aware that a lot of these will require Masters or Doctorate level qualifications for you to be competitive. The common theme however, is that they're all related to the bioscience/life science industry. You could also leave biosciences entirely and go into finance/econ, the civil service, or teaching - but there may be easier ways of getting into these industries than with neuro.

Academia is a tough one to get into, and a tougher career to sustain yourself through. You'll need a PhD, and then it's 5-10 years of post-doctoral study before you can take up a lectureship position somewhere. It is a very very long grind. And only then do you start the journey towards being a professor - all the while trying to compete for the very limited amount of funding that universities/institutions have. I'm not going to lie it's a long road and you aren't particularly well paid for it either, so only go into academia if you really really like it. I know it might suck a little to hear this, but it's better to find out before going into it than finding out later like me haha.

I've applied to Kings college for neuroscience and psychology but i'm not sure if i'll enjoy their course :/ Could you tell me a little more about the structure and difficulty of neuroscience as a degree as a whole? I have no idea where I'm going to firm my offer atm
Reply 4
Original post by shirel.barda
I've applied to Kings college for neuroscience and psychology but i'm not sure if i'll enjoy their course :/ Could you tell me a little more about the structure and difficulty of neuroscience as a degree as a whole? I have no idea where I'm going to firm my offer atm

Did you apply for the Neuroscience BSc? Or the Joint-Honours Neuroscience and Psychology degree? They are 2 different programmes run by different departments.
Original post by Atsuran
Did you apply for the Neuroscience BSc? Or the Joint-Honours Neuroscience and Psychology degree? They are 2 different programmes run by different departments.


I’ve applied for the joint honours course because I didn’t meet the entry requirements for the neuroscience BSc as I don’t take chemistry for A level
Reply 6
Original post by shirel.barda
I’ve applied for the joint honours course because I didn’t meet the entry requirements for the neuroscience BSc as I don’t take chemistry for A level

Ah ok.

I'm on the pure Neuroscience course, and looking at the course pages for both it seems they're quite different. I also know the person running the neuro & psych degree and interviewed them somewhat recently for a university outreach thing, since it's a new degree programme that started a year ago (I think).

He said that the programme is more focused on psychology research and *cognitive* neuroscience, with a greater emphasis on preparing people for research. One key difference compared to the research methods taught in the pure neuro course is the emphasis on computational research methods, particularly in R (a computer coding language that is used for statistical analysis). Also looking at the course page, the few neuroscience modules that are available are geared (again) to cognitive neuroscience. In your final year it seems you can mix and match a few modules but the only pure neuroscience module on offer to the dual award degree is the "Memory Mechanism in Health & Disease (15 credits)" module, which I took this year haha. I'm personally not a fan of cognitive neuro, but then again that's probably why I didn't go into psychology - ultimately you'll have to look at the course page and decide if the modules on offer are something that interest you.

In terms of difficultly, it's not hard if you put effort into it. But then again, you could say that about anything really. It's far more important to make sure you're studying something you enjoy - that way revision becomes *slightly* less tedious haha.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Atsuran
Hi! I'm in my final year of studying Neuroscience at King's College London. Here are a few thoughts that I would have liked to know before starting my degree.

Shirel.barda is right that there's a mix of careers you can go into, and I would add in maybe consulting, public/ global health policy making, science communications (for companies, or for publications/magazines) or working in the NHS as a clinical scientist (NHS-STP). However, be aware that a lot of these will require Masters or Doctorate level qualifications for you to be competitive. The common theme however, is that they're all related to the bioscience/life science industry. You could also leave biosciences entirely and go into finance/econ, the civil service, or teaching - but there may be easier ways of getting into these industries than with neuro.

Academia is a tough one to get into, and a tougher career to sustain yourself through. You'll need a PhD, and then it's 5-10 years of post-doctoral study before you can take up a lectureship position somewhere. It is a very very long grind. And only then do you start the journey towards being a professor - all the while trying to compete for the very limited amount of funding that universities/institutions have. I'm not going to lie it's a long road and you aren't particularly well paid for it either, so only go into academia if you really really like it. I know it might suck a little to hear this, but it's better to find out before going into it than finding out later like me haha.

Thanks! What sort of work experience would you suggest for a neuroscience personal statement. I'm also thinking of applying to a joint honours of biochemistry and neuroscience at keele.

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