LONDON'S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
Neuroscience MSci
UCAS code: B141
www.ucl.ac.uk/prospectus/neurosci
Neuroscience MSci
The Neuroscience MSci offers an extra year on
top of the Neuroscience BSc, to extend your
specialised knowledge of brain function and
conduct original neuroscience research. Entry
requirements for both programmes are the same
and you decide in year two whether to follow the
three-year BSc or the four-year MSci.
Degree summary
•
The multidisciplinary structure allows you to draw on expertise across
all life sciences. As you progress, lectures will increasingly be given
by specialists who are actively involved in related research.
•
The programme puts particular emphasis on preparing you for
careers that directly involve research or require a sound
understanding of its methods.
•
UCL and its associated institutes now represent the greatest critical
mass of neuroscience researchers in Europe, with an outstanding
global reputation.
•
Co-operation with UCL's Institutes of Neurology, Cognitive
Neuroscience, Ophthalmology, Child Health, and the newly
established Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and
Behaviour offers unrivalled opportunities to access research
laboratories for your final-year project.
The first year consists of introductory core courses that provide a secure
foundation for future work. Taking courses with other students in the
Faculties of Life Sciences and Brain Sciences will give you mutual insight
into related disciplines. Taking further core and optional courses in your
second year will prepare you for the third year, in which you will select
specialised options to suit your own interests; examples include Neural
Basis of Motivation and Learning; Pain; Neurobiology of
Neurodegenerative Disease and Visual Neuroscience, but there are
many more.
There is also an opportunity to transfer to the BSc programme at the end
of year two, completing your degree in three years.
In the fourth year you will be able to join an existing research team in one
of UCL's departments or institutes to conduct an extended project of
original research, guided by a supervisor.
Your learning
Your teaching and learning will include lectures, tutorials, workshops and
practical classes. Some courses in year one are taught in relatively small
groups, while others involve large lectures shared with students on other
programmes. Practical classes play an important part throughout your
studies, and help to prepare you for the individual research project of
your final year.
You will normally take a written examination at the end of the academic
year in which you have taken each course, after obtaining up to 30% of
your marks through coursework. Some introductory courses are
examined by invigilated online tests throughout the year. Your final-year
project will involve a written dissertation and an oral presentation.
Your career
The programme trains you to be literate, numerate, and a critical thinker,
which can help you gain success in fields that do not require your specific
subject knowledge, as well as in neuroscience itself.
Around half of our graduates choose to pursue further studies in
neuroscience or a related life science. Some join one of UCL’s own MSc
or PhD programmes, while others obtain PhD scholarships at major
research centres worldwide. Among other potential advantages, the MSci
programme is intended to make it easier for graduates to enter future
PhD programmes at European centres of research excellence.
Some other possibilities are mentioned in the Neuroscience BSc
Prospectus entry.
The first cohort of students admitted to this programme will graduate in
2015, therefore no information about their career destinations is yet
available. Career destinations of graduates (2010-2013) from the
Neuroscience BSc include:
•
•
•
•
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Full-time student, PhD in Neurobiology at the University of Cambridge
Research Technician, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
Business Intelligence Analyst, Accenture
Full-time student, MBBS in Medicine at the University of Cambridge
Full-time student, Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the
Institute of Education
Degree structure
In each year of your degree you will take a number of individual courses,
normally valued at 0.5 or 1.0 credits, adding up to a total of 4.0 credits for
the year. Courses are assessed in the academic year in which they are
taken. The balance of compulsory and optional courses varies from
programme to programme and year to year. A 1.0 credit is considered
equivalent to 15 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).
Year One
Compulsory courses
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Cell Physiology and Developmental Biology
Chemistry for Biology Students
Foundations of Neurobiology
Introduction to Genetics
Introduction to Neuroscience
Mammalian Physiology
Optional courses
All first-year courses are compulsory.
Year Two
Compulsory courses
Cellular Neurophysiology
Essential Molecular Biology
Human Neuroanatomy
Practical Neurobiochemistry
Optional courses
You will select 2.0 credits from a wide range of options, including:
One of the following:
General and Systematic Pharmacology (1.0 credits)
Introductory Pharmacology (0.5 credits)
Plus at least one of the following, and a further free option that may lie
outside Neuroscience:
Developmental Neurobiology (0.5 credits)
Systems Neuroscience (0.5 credits)
The Principles of Cellular Control (0.5 credits)
Year Three
Compulsory course
Individually-supervised literature-based project (1.0 credits)
Optional courses
You will select 3.0 credits from a wide range of advanced-level optional
courses within Neuroscience and related disciplines.
Final Year
Compulsory course
Individually-supervised Master's-level experimental project (currently 2.0
credits)
Optional courses
Currently, students select 2.0 credits from a wide range of Masters-level
optional courses within Neuroscience and other related disciplines. The
programme that MSci students follow in their final year is under review,
and in future is expected to place additional emphasis on the experimental
project and on courses supporting experimental design, experimental
methods and data analysis.
Entry requirements
A levels
A level grades
AAA
A level subjects
Chemistry required plus one from Biology,
Mathematics or Physics.
AS levels
For UK-based students a pass in a further subject
at AS level or equivalent is required.
GCSE
English Language and Mathematics at grade B.
For UK-based students, a grade C or equivalent
in a foreign language (other than Ancient Greek,
Biblical Hebrew or Latin) is required. UCL
provides opportunities to meet the foreign
language requirement following enrolment,
further details at: www.ucl.ac.uk/ug-reqs
combining academic success with extracurricular activities),
self-discipline (through involvement in sports or music, for instance) and
experience of working in a team environment.
If you apply by the main UCAS deadline and meet or are predicted to
meet all of our academic and individual requirements, including being
able to demonstrate a good understanding of what this specialised
subject entails, you will receive an offer of a place, either conditional or
unconditional.
Fees
UK/EU fee
£9,000 (2016/17)
Overseas fee
£21,320 (2016/17)
Notes
Details about financial support are available at:
www.ucl.ac.uk/study/ug-finance
Contacts
IB diploma
IB points
38
Subjects
A total of 18 points in three higher level subjects
including Chemistry and one subject from
Biology, Mathematics or Physics, with no score
below 5.
Contact
Professor Paola Pedarzani
Admissions Tutor
Email
p.pedarzani@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone
Prospectus entry
www.ucl.ac.uk/prospectus/neurosci
Other qualifications
Full lists of all degree programmes and other entry requirements can be
found on our website at: www.ucl.ac.uk/otherquals
Undergraduate Preparatory
Certificates
UCL's Undergraduate Preparatory Certificates (UPCs) are intensive
one-year foundation courses for international students of high academic
potential, who are aiming to gain access to undergraduate degree
programmes at UCL and other top UK universities.
For more information see our website: www.ucl.ac.uk/upc
Your application
Application for admission should be made through UCAS (the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). Applicants currently at
school or college will be provided with advice on the process; however,
applicants who have left school or who are based outside the United
Kingdom may obtain information directly from UCAS.
The entry requirements and selection process for the Neuroscience BSc
and MSci are the same. In addition to meeting the entry requirements,
you must demonstrate in your application an understanding of what
studying neuroscience entails, and why you are motivated to study it.
Desirable skills include time-management abilities (perhaps shown by
PDF Updated: February 23, 2016
Information correct at time of going to press. See website (www.ucl.ac.uk/prospectus/neurosci) for latest information
Key facts
REF
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Department
Division of Biosciences
Faculty
Life Sciences