Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)

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Quick Facts

Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Subject
Life Sciences
Mode of delivery
On campus
Registration options
Full-time
Specialization
Neuroscience
Program Components
Dissertation
Faculty
Faculty of Medicine
 

Overview

The objectives of the Program are to educate graduate students as neuroscientists with intensive experience in at least one area of research, and to ensure that students in the Program develop a broadly based knowledge of the neurosciences. The Program aims for flexibility so that the individual needs and background of each student can, as quickly as possible, be accommodated. The core program of courses offered to entering students consists of Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Neurochemistry, Psychobiology, Molecular Neurobiology, and Neuropharmacology. Additional related courses are available for selection by the student and his/her Supervisory Committee. The Program is research oriented: students are expected to engage in research from the start of their studies. Research is undertaken in individual departments, over a wide range of basic and clinical Neuroscience topics.

 

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What makes the program unique?

The Graduate Program in Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary program of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. It is administered by the Chairman of the Neuroscience Advisory Committee, and comprises some 60 faculty members representing 13 departments from the Faculties of Medicine, Science and Arts at the University of British Columbia. Laboratory and teaching areas are located across the UBC campus and at the University Hospital and the Vancouver Hospital, according to the teaching and research affiliations of the Neuroscience faculty members.

 

Requirements

TOEFL (ibT) Overall Score Requirement

100
22
21
22
21

IELTS Overall Score Requirement

7.0
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.5

GRE required?

Required by some applicants (check program website)

Career Outcomes

92 students graduated between 2005 and 2013: 2 are in non-salaried situations; for 6 we have no data (based on research conducted between Feb-May 2016). For the remaining 84 graduates:


RI (Research-Intensive) Faculty: typically tenure-track faculty positions (equivalent of the North American Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor positions) in PhD-granting institutions
TI (Teaching-Intensive) Faculty: typically full-time faculty positions in colleges or in institutions not granting PhDs, and teaching faculty at PhD-granting institutions
Term Faculty: faculty in term appointments (e.g. sessional lecturers, visiting assistant professors, etc.)
Sample Employers in Higher Education
University of British Columbia (12)
University of Toronto (3)
China Medical University (2)
University of Nevada - Las Vegas (2)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (2)
Western Washington University (2)
University of Ottawa (2)
Simon Fraser University (2)
University of Calgary (2)
Carleton University
Sample Employers Outside Higher Education
STEMCELL Technologies (3)
Hospital for Sick Children (2)
Johnson and Johnson Inc.
DynaLIFE
Synchronous ERP Inc.
AstraZeneca
Eli Lilly and Company
Focus Eyecare Centre
Allen Institute for Brain Science
Vancouver Coastal Health
Sample Job Titles Outside Higher Education
Postdoctoral Fellow (6)
Medical Science Liaison (2)
Senior Applications Biologist
Program Manager for PLDP
Neurologist
Medical Liaisons
Director of Technology and Product Development
Audiologist
Senior Software Engineer
Data Scientist
PhD Career Outcome Survey
You may view the full report on career outcomes of UBC PhD graduates on outcomes.grad.ubc.ca.
Disclaimer
These data represent historical employment information and do not guarantee future employment prospects for graduates of this program. They are for informational purposes only. Data were collected through either alumni surveys or internet research.

Alumni on Success

Rochelle Hines

Job Title
Assistant Professor
Employer
University of Nevada Las Vegas

Carmen Chan

Job Title
Postdoctoral Researcher ("Research Scientist")
Employer
RIKEN Brain Science Institute
All Alumni Profiles

Tuition / Program Costs

FeesCanadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / DiplomatInternational
Application Fee$102.00$165.00
Tuition *
Installments per year33
Tuition per installment$1,600.60$2,811.98
Tuition per year$4,801.80$8,435.94
Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible) $3,200.00 (-)
Other Fees and Costs
Student Fees (yearly)$899.00 (approx.)
Costs of living (yearly)starting at $16,453.00 (check cost calculator)
* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.

Statistical Data

Enrolment Data

  2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
Applications 30 28 32 34 32
Offers 9 8 15 17 14
New registrations 6 7 12 15 10
Total enrolment 78 84 86 85 87

Completion Rates & Times

This program has a graduation rate of 81% based on 43 students admitted between 2003 - 2006. Based on 23 graduations between 2012 - 2015 the minimum time to completion is 3.33 years and the maximum time is 8.00 years with an average of 5.97 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.

Disclaimer

Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each year, May to April [data updated: 8 April 2016]. Enrolment data are based on March 1 snapshots. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs [data updated: 8 April 2016].

Research Supervisors

This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.

  • Accili, Eric (molecular mechanisms responsible for cellular pacemaking behavior )
  • Allan, Douglas (Nervous system)
  • Auld, Vanessa (development, nervous system, permeability barriers, glia , cell biology , genetics)
  • Austin, Jehannine (Genetics, genomics, genetic counseling, psychiatric illness, mental illness, mental health, psychiatry, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, postpartum depression, perinatal mental health, Mood & Anxiety Disorders, Schizophrenia)
  • Bamji, Shernaz (synapse biology, primary neuronal cultures, transgenic models, neurodevelopmental disease)
  • Barr, Alasdair (Mental health and addictions, with a particular emphasis on psychosis and the medications used in its treatment, Anesthesiology )
  • Barton, Jason (face perception, object recognition, eye movements, higher visual function, Human vision and eye movement)
  • Beasley, Clare Louise
  • Bhagavatula, Sastry (Age-related research, Anesthesiology, plasticity of synaptic transmission, mammalian central nervous system)
  • Boyd, Lara (What therapies positively alter patterns of brain activity after stroke)
  • Cairns, Brian (Pain associated with temporomandibular disorders)
  • Cashman, Neil (prion disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, protein misfolding diseases, Alzheimer's)
  • Christoff, Kalina (brain, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, prefronal cortex, fMRI, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, executive functions, problem solving, reasoning, thinking, mind-wandering, attention, consciousness, real-time fMRI, trauma and PTSD, Cognitive and neural basis of human thought, reasoning and problem solving)
  • Church, John (Role of intracellular pH regulating mechanisms in seizure activity, neuronal death and neuronal development)
  • Craig, Ann Marie (Excitatory and inhibitory synapses, Synapse development and plasticity, Synapse organizing proteins, Neurotransmitter receptors, Autism and schizophrenia)
  • Cynader, Max (eye diseases; glaucoma; dyslexia; stroke; neurotrauma; memory; vision; learning disabilities; hearing development; recovery after brain damage; ischemia; gene therapy, Alzheimer's)
  • Diamond, Adele (Interventions to improve Executive Function skills in young children (such as early education programs, storytelling, and mindfulness), roles of dance, music, and physical activity in improving executive functions and academic & mental health outcomes, genetic polymorphisms that affect dopamine in prefrontal cortex and may affect executive function skills differently in males and females, supporting and helping parents to help their children succeed)
  • Dorovini-Zis, Katerina (Biology and pathology of the blood-brain barrier, neuroinflammation)
  • Doudet, Doris (Brain imaging, mood disorders, stimulation therapies, Parkinson's disease)
  • Eich, Eric (Mood congruence and mood dependence in learning and remembering, memory impairments associated with bipolar affective illness, the cognitive correlates of dissociative identity disorder, and subjective, behavioral, and neural differences between field (first-person perspective) and observer (third-person perspective) memories)
  • Eng, Janice (Neurorehabilitation, spinal cord, brain)
  • Enns, James (human cognition, vision, attention, eye movements, Cognitive role of attention in human vision, autism)
  • Floresco, Stanley Bogdan (Neural circuits subserving learning and executive functions, behavioural and electrophysiological analyses of limbic-cortical-striatal interactions involved in decision making and behavioural flexibility, animal models of schizophrenia and drug addiction)
  • Galea, Liisa Ann Margaret
  • Giaschi, Deborah (Dyslexia, Amblyopia, Maturation, fMRI, Motion Perception)

Pages

Recent Doctoral Citations

  • Dr. Ya Wen
    "Dr. Wen studied how the key excitatory neurotransmitter enhances the function of an inhibitory transmitter receptor in the brain. She also developed drugs targeting this pathway. Her work not only blurs the classic definition of excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmissions, but also offers a stepping-stone for developing new medications for epilepsy." (November 2016)
  • Dr. Wu Yang Jin
    "Parkinson's disease is a severe disease of the brain and alpha-synuclein is one of the most important disease-causing proteins. Dr. Jin has developed a compound that can effectively reduce the level of alpha-synuclein in the brain, which may lead to a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease." (November 2016)
  • Dr. Sijia Cao
    "Dr. Cao studied two important risk factors associated with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. She found that environmental and genetic risk factors can trigger an overdrive in the body's immune system, which leads to chronic inflammation and damage in the eye tissues. Her findings will help develop new strategies to stop AMD development and prevent vision loss in the elderly." (November 2016)
  • Dr. Maxence Le Vasseur
    "Dr. Le Vasseur studied a group of channels that facilitate the movement of particles through the membranes and allow cells to communicate with each other. His work discovered that one channel remains inside the cell at point of contact with mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells, where it controls the stimulation of programmed cell death." (November 2016)
  • Dr. Paul John Cocker
    "Dr. Cocker utilised a novel rodent slot machine task to probe the underlying neurobiological basis of problem gambling. He found a novel role for the dopamine D4 receptor in mediating attributions of salience to reward related stimuli, indicating that targeting this receptor may represent a potential treatment avenue for problem gambling in humans" (November 2016)

Sample Thesis Submissions

Further Program Information

 
 

September 2017 Intake
Application Open Date
01 June 2016
Canadian/US Applicant Deadline
27 January 2017
International Applicant Deadline
30 November 2016

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