UCL BRAIN SCIENCES
Postgraduate Study
in the UCL Faculty
of Brain Sciences:
Join our online community:
@UCLBrainScience
www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences
Cover image: Anai Gonzalez Cordero, Retinal kaleidoscope
Invest in your future
at London’s Global
University
UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences
The Faculty of Brain Sciences has a vision to solve
the greatest health and wellbeing problems in the
brain sciences, in order to transform society and
reduce the global burden of disease. The Faculty
provides a stimulating and enriching environment for
education, research and enterprise.
We offer an unparalleled range of researchembedded educational programmes, designed and
taught by leaders in their fields, in the areas of:
»» Audiology and Hearing Research
»» Cognitive Neuroscience
»» Linguistics and Language Sciences
»» Neurology and Neuroscience
»» Ophthalmology and Vision Research
»» Psychiatry and Mental Health
UCL Psychology, Psychiatry
& Neuroscience and UCL
Clinical Medicine are rated
first in the UK for research
power.
(www.ucl.ac.uk/ref2014)
»» Psychology and Psychotherapy
Our educational programmes build upon our research
expertise and applied clinical knowledge, and offer
both applied and clinical pathways.
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences
Image: UCL Portico
UCL: London’s Global University
At UCL we are proud of our pioneering history,
our distinguished present and our exciting future.
Academic excellence and conducting research that
addresses real-world problems inform our ethos
to this day and our plans for the future. With our
academic reputation, excellent facilities and central
London location, UCL is a great place to be a student.
Worldwide reputation
UCL is ranked joint 5 with
Oxford in the QS 2014 World
University Rankings and UCL
is ranked second worldwide
(behind Harvard) in the field of
neuroscience and behaviour. Our
expertise allows us to design and
deliver a first-class education in a
global environment.
th
Our Clinical and Educational
Psychology and Speech and
Language Therapy programmes
have a large network of
placements across London and
the South East in hospitals,
primary care trusts and
educational facilities.
One of the many advantages of
being in the centre of London is
our collaboration with a number
of world famous hospitals and
research centres.
We are aligned to the Sainsbury
Wellcome Centre for Neural
Circuits and Behaviour and the
Francis Crick Institute, and work
closely with our National Institute
for Health Research Biomedical
Research Centres, UCL Institute
of Clinical Trials and Methodology
and UCL Partners.
We work with leading specialist
hospitals, such as the National
Hospital for Neurology and
Neurosurgery, Moorfields Eye
Hospital and the Royal National
Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital.
“The neurology cluster at Queen
Square means you can bump into
world leaders in your field just by
crossing the road.”
Tara Noone, Advanced
Neuroimaging MSc
The London advantage
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl
Image: Mirror neurons
“I am very proud to be Dean
of a Faculty which offers
such a rich portfolio of
educational programmes. It
is a privilege to be able to
train the next generation of
leaders who will become UCL
ambassadors in their careers
as researchers, clinicians,
educators, professionals and
entrepreneurs.”
Professor Alan Thompson MD
FRCP, FRCPI, FAAN, FANA
Dean, Faculty of Brain Sciences
The Student Experience
The student experience is at the heart of our
educational vision. UCL provides the resources
associated with a world-leading university, and our
institutes and divisions have excellent disciplinespecific facilities. We also provide students with a
wealth of services to meet their cultural, social, and
leisure interests and their practical needs.
Our student community
In the latest National Student
Survey (2014), 97% of
respondents in the Faculty
expressed satisfaction with
their course, the highest
overall rate at UCL.
In a recent survey of
undergraduate students the
Faculty was given a 97%
overall satisfaction rating by
our final year students (NSS
2014). We organise large-scale
events to showcase student
research, provide opportunities
to be involved in enterprise and
ensure that the student voice is
represented at all levels.
Employability
Our graduate programmes
provide you with excellent
discipline knowledge and applied,
clinical and research skills for
careers in specific areas such
as psychiatry, speech and
language therapy, psychology,
ENT, audiology, neurology,
ophthalmology, and further
research. In addition, you will
acquire a range of transferable
skills, such as scientific
writing, data analysis and
entrepreneurship that make our
graduates highly employable.
Six months after graduation,
89% of our masters students and
96% of our PhD students are
in graduate employment (Data
taken from the ‘Destination of
Leavers from Higher Education’
survey, of the 2013 graduating
cohort).
“One of the most appealing
and invaluable aspects of
the UCL community is that it
encourages intellectual curiosity
right from your first day as an
undergraduate student”
Dr Sylvia Vitello, BSc Psychology
2010, PhD 2014
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/students
Image: Students
Psychology, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry
We offer an unrivalled portfolio of taught postgraduate
opportunities in the fields of psychology, mental health
and cognition. Whether you want to join the next
generation of academic researchers or healthcare
professionals, or build a successful career in a wide
variety of other fields, our outstanding academic staff
and facilities will support your ambitions.
Our range of clinically-oriented
masters programmes in Clinical
Psychology and Psychotherapy
covers therapeutic modalities
from psychoanalysis to cognitive
behavioural therapy, systemic
family practice and interpersonal
psychotherapy.
practical training in mental health
research.
The Clinical Mental Health
Sciences MSc caters both for
psychology graduates and for
clinicians wishing to undertake a
broad-based and highly flexible
higher degree with options
to enhance clinical practice,
management skills and research
knowledge.
Unique programmes such as the
MSc in Industrial-Organisational
and Business Psychology provide
students with a solid grounding
in talent management, the
psychology of human capital
and organisations, and the MSc
in Human-Computer Interaction
and Ergonomics aims to teach
students, through information,
demonstration, exploration and
application, a scientific humancentred approach to the design
and evaluation of a wide range of
interactive systems and products.
We also offer a wide range of
cognitive programmes with
a particular emphasis on the
investigative methodologies
underlying them; likewise our
Mental Health Sciences Research
MSc provides stimulating and
The MSc and MRes in Cognitive
Neuroscience bring together
leading researchers at the
interface between psychology
and neuroscience to understand
mental processes in health and
disease.
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/pals
Image: Predicting Language
Outcome and Recovery After
Stroke (Lim & Guerin - IoN)
Around 43% of our students
are international, coming
from 155 countries, and
thrive in UCL’s friendly and
cosmopolitan atmosphere.
We work hard to embed a
global perspective in all our
teaching.
Neuroscience, Language Sciences and
Translational Programmes
Our research-led programmes bring together
expertise from across the Faculty of Brain Sciences
and offer the opportunity to work and train with
leading researchers at one of the most highly
regarded centres of excellence in brain science in the
world.
Programmes in neuroscience
Nobel Prizes have been
awarded to 29 people who
are or have been students or
academics at UCL, including
two currently within UCL
Neuroscience.
UCL is Europe’s research
powerhouse in neuroscience,
ranked second in the world, and
first in Europe, in neuroscience
and behaviour by Thomson ISI
Essential Science Indicators. The
Faculty provides an outstanding
environment for training future
generations of interdisciplinary
researchers in basic and clinical
neuroscience. Our scientific
excellence attracts many of the
best students from around the
world to work with leading experts
who are engaged in frontline
research and translational
application.
Programmes in language
sciences and linguistics
UCL is virtually unmatched
in terms of the breadth of
expertise in teaching and
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/ion
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/pals
research across many subdisciplines of the language
sciences. The MA Linguistics
is a conversion programme for
students who have had little
exposure to the subject in their
undergraduate studies and
there are also a number of nonclinical programmes for students
interested in furthering their
knowledge with a view to a career
in research, education or related
disciplines.
Applied and translational
programmes
Translation of discoveries into
applications is essential for
scientific progress, and has its
own academic discipline. In
these programmes world-leading
researchers teach the complete
process of translating discoveries
into clinical, diagnostic and
therapeutic applications.
Image: Layer 5
pyramidal neurons
(Alex Moreau)
Clinical Programmes
Our clinical programmes provide you with excellent
discipline-specific knowledge and clinical skills for
careers in specific areas such as psychiatry, speech
and language therapy, ophthalmology, neurology and
ENT. Many of our academics hold joint posts with
pioneering hospitals providing strong clinical links and
the possibility of offering advanced training.
With its concentration of clinical
and applied scientific activity, the
Institute of Neurology is a unique
national centre for postgraduate
training and research in
neurology and its related
disciplines. Together with its
associated specialist hospital, the
Institute promotes the translation
of research that is of direct
clinical relevance into improved
patient care and treatment.
Training the next generation of
auditory scientists is also the
priority at the Ear Institute, which
hosts a range of programmes
in audiology, each of which
includes a research element. Its
programmes are designed not
only for practising audiologists
looking to enhance their clinical
skills, but also to train students
from other disciplines as
audiologists.
Our programmes at the Institute
of Ophthalmology build on its
outstanding clinical and industrial
links, helping our students to
build their careers. The MSc
Ophthalmology with Clinical
Practice is specifically oriented
towards clinicians outside the UK
and provides the opportunity to
train a generation of students at
two world leading institutions.
Focusing on speech and
language pathology and therapy,
the Speech and Language
Sciences MSc considers
approaches to the investigation
and management of clients with
communication and swallowing
problems.
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/ear
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/ioo
Image: Ophthalmologist
operating
Our Careers Service offers
professional help and
advice to students seeking
employment, work experience
placements or further study,
and our Alumni Relations
office facilitates networking to
help UCL graduates in their
chosen careers.
Research Degrees and Professional Doctorates
Supervised by our internationally respected body
of academic staff, we offer a variety of programmes
that enable you to undertake substantial, in-depth
research and make an original contribution to your
chosen field. Six months after graduation, 96% of our
PhD students are in graduate employment.
PhD opportunities
UCL Advances, our centre
for entrepreneurship, offers
training, networking and
business support, as well as
the opportunity to win startup funding, for UCL students
seeking to start their own
business.
We seek to attract outstanding
students from across the globe.
Our research training is often
cross-disciplinary to address
critical research challenges
such as dementia, and to allow
students to take full advantage of
the range of expertise distributed
within and beyond the Faculty.
We train our students to apply
relevant research outcomes to
maximise the impact of their
research on policy and practice
and ensure they understand the
importance of research integrity
and ethics.
The Faculty’s five key research
themes are designed to have a
transformational impact on the
greatest health and wellbeing
problems in the brain sciences:
Neurodegeneration and
Neuroprotection; Mental Health;
Sensory Systems; Lifelong
Cognition and Behaviour Change;
and Stroke.
Professional doctorates
Our range of professional
doctorates combines an
applied focus with academic
and research excellence. The
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
is the UK’s largest professional
training course for Clinical
Psychologists, welcoming highcalibre candidates from the UK
and abroad. UCL also has a longstanding reputation for innovation
and excellence in training in
Educational Psychology and
offers a Doctorate in Educational
and Child Psychology and a
CPD Doctorate in Educational
Psychology which is available
to practising Educational
Psychologists.
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/
students/postgraduateresearch
Image: Blood vessels & glia
in human retina (Marcus
Fruttiger - IoO)
Key
A Audiology and Hearing
Research
LL Linguistics, Language
Sciences and Speech
Therapy
NN Neurology and Neuroscience
O Ophthalmology and Vision
Research
P
Psychiatry and Mental Health
PP Psychology and
Psychotherapy
CL Clinical
TR Translational
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Programmes
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Advanced Audiology MSc (A,
CL)
Advanced Neuroimaging MSc
(NN, TR)
Applied Research in Human
Communication Disorders
MRes (LL)
Audiological Science MSc (A,
CL)
Audiological Science with
Clinical Practice MSc (A, CL)
Brain Science MRes (NN, TR)
Clinical Mental Health Sciences
MSc (P, CL)
•
•
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Clinical Ophthalmic Practice
PGCert (O, CL)
Clinical Ophthalmology MSc
(O, CL)
Clinical Neurology MSc (NN,
CL)
Clinical Neurology via Distance
Learning PGDip (NN, CL)
Clinical Neuroscience MSc
(NN, PP)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
for Children and Young People
MSc (PP, CL)
Cognitive and Decision
Sciences MSc (PP)
Cognitive Neuroscience MSc /
MRes (NN, PP)
Developmental Neuroscience
and Psychopathology MSc (PP)
Developmental Psychology and
Clinical Practice MSc (PP, CL)
Dual Masters in Brain and Mind
Science (NN)
Human-Computer Interaction
with Ergonomics MSc (PP)
Industrial/Organisational and
Business Psychology MSc (PP)
Language Sciences with
specialisation in Language
Development MSc (LL)
Language Sciences with
Specialisation in Linguistics
with Neuroscience MSc (LL)
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Language Sciences with
Specialisation in Neuroscience
and Communication MSc (LL)
Language Sciences with
specialisation in Sign Language
Studies MSc (LL)
Language Sciences with
specialisation in Speech and
Hearing Sciences MSc (LL)
Linguistics MA (LL)
Low Intensity Cognitive
Behavioural Interventions
PGDip (PP, CL)
Mental Health Sciences
Research MSc (P, TR)
Medical Otology and Audiology
MSc (A, CL)
Neurology for Clinical Trainees
MSc (NN, CL)
Neuromuscular Disease MSc
(NN, TR)
Ophthalmology with Clinical
Practice MSc (O, CL)
Professional Doctorates
in Clinical Psychology and
Educational and Child
Psychology (PP, CL)
Psychoanalytic Developmental
Psychology MSc (PP)
Research Methods in
Psychology MSc (PP)
Social Cognition MSc (PP)
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Speech and Language
Sciences MSc (PP, CL)
Speech, Language and
Cognition MRes (LL)
Stroke Medicine MSc (NN, TR)
Theoretical Psychoanalytical
Studies MSc (PP)
Translational Immunobiology
MSc (O, TR, NN)
Translational and Regenerative
Neuroscience MSc (O, TR, NN)
Translational Neurology MRes
(NN, TR)
Vision Research MRes (O)
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/students/postgraduate-taught
PhD opportunities
• MB PhD programme in the
Institute of Neurology
• PhD in Clinical, Educational
and Health Psychology
• PhD in Developmental Science
• PhD in the Division of
Psychiatry
• PhD in the Ear Institute
• PhD in Experimental
Psychology
• PhD in the Institute of Cognitive
Neuroscience
• PhD in the Institute of
Ophthalmology
• PhD in Language and
Communication
• PhD in Linguistics
• PhD in the Institute of
Neurology
• PhD in Neurology - Leonard
Wolfson Programme (4 yrs)
• PhD in Neuroscience (4 years)
• PhD in Psychoanalytic Studies
• PhD in Speech, Hearing and
Phonetic Sciences
• PhD in the UCL Interaction
Centre
• Wellcome Trust Clinical
Programme
Professional doctorates
• Doctorate in Clinical
Psychology
• Doctorate in Educational and
Child Psychology
• Doctorate in Educational
Psychology
• Doctorate in Psychotherapy
(Child and Adolescent
Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy)
Applying for a research
degree
Before applying, you should:
• Have or expect to have
a relevant first degree
or Master’s degree of 1st
class or 2.1 standard in UK
system, or equivalent for
overseas degrees.
• Have a commitment to
and demonstrated ability
in research. Often your
previous experience and
performance, such as in
an undergraduate or a
Master’s research project,
will show whether research
is right for you and you are
right for research.
• Overseas applicants also
need to satisfy the English
Language requirement.
If you meet the above criteria,
the next step is to check
whether we can supervise
research in your chosen area.
We only take MPhil/PhD
students to whom we can offer
expert research supervision
from one of our academic
staff. Therefore, your research
question needs to engage with
the research interests of one
of our staff.
There are two main types of
research degree opportunity:
PhD studentships
Studentships provide funding
that covers tuition fees,
student living expenses
and often some research
expenses. Usually they
are awarded to specific
supervisors or programmes.
They are advertised
throughout the year so you
will need to regularly check
relevant websites (see link
below).
Speculative opportunities
If you can’t find a studentship
in a research project that
interests you or you have
your own funding, the best
way to find a PhD project
is to approach a potential
supervisor directly. Exceptional
students, who meet the
entrance requirements, are
encouraged to be proactive
to identify opportunities with
UCL academics whose recent
research closely matches their
interests.
A summary of the research
interests of potential
supervisors can be found on
the webpage of each of our
academics.
»» www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/
degrees/research/studentships