Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the scientific investigation of the nervous system, examining how the brain and its components work at every level, from the electrical behaviour of individual neurons to the complex circuits that generate perception, memory, emotion, and conscious experience. It is one of the most rapidly developing areas of contemporary science, driven by new tools for recording and manipulating brain activity that are revealing the mechanisms of mind in unprecedented detail. At the same time, neuroscience has direct implications for understanding and treating conditions including depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, and dementia, making it both a fundamental and an applied science.

At the University of York, this three-year full-time degree is taught jointly by the Departments of Biology and Psychology, which means you learn from researchers working at the frontier of the discipline across both its biological and psychological dimensions. You will study the molecular and cellular biology of neurons, the organisation of neural circuits and brain systems, the neuroscience of behaviour and cognition, and the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric disease. Research methods and data analysis are integral to the programme, developing your capacity to engage with primary literature and to design and conduct your own investigations.

A placement or work experience year is built into the course, and a year abroad is also available, giving you professional and international experience alongside your academic studies.

You will develop scientific rigour, the ability to work with complex and uncertain evidence, and the capacity to think across multiple levels of analysis from molecule to behaviour. These are skills that are valuable in research and in a range of applied careers.

Graduates pursue careers in neuroscience research, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical neuroscience, healthcare, science communication, and neurotechnology. Many go on to doctoral research or postgraduate clinical training, and the degree provides excellent preparation for competitive postgraduate programmes in neuroscience, psychology, or medicine.