Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, one of the most complex structures known to exist in the natural world. It asks how the brain and nervous system are organised, how they develop, how they generate behaviour, thought, perception, and emotion, and how they can malfunction in the conditions that give rise to mental illness, neurological disease, and injury. Neuroscience is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and medicine to build a picture of the brain and its relationship to the rest of the body.

At the University of Glasgow, you will study neuroscience over four years, a structure that provides the depth and range this complex field demands. You will develop a strong grounding in cell and molecular biology, physiology, pharmacology, and psychology before moving into increasingly specialised neuroscience topics, including the cellular mechanisms of neural signalling, the systems-level organisation of sensory and motor pathways, and the neuroscientific basis of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, and schizophrenia. Glasgow has strong research strengths in neuroscience, and your studies will connect you to active research at the frontier of the field.

The programme includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study at a partner institution elsewhere in the world and to encounter different research traditions and academic cultures in a discipline that is genuinely global.

You will develop rigorous laboratory skills, the ability to read and critically evaluate primary scientific literature, and the quantitative and analytical capacities that neuroscience at this level demands.

Graduates of neuroscience go on to careers in biomedical research, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical science, science communication, public health, and policy. Many go on to postgraduate study, including PhD programmes in neuroscience or related biological sciences, graduate-entry medicine, and research roles in academic or commercial settings. The analytical skills developed also transfer to careers in data science, finance, and consultancy.