| |
|
|
What the Students Have to Say:
The Faculty
One of the key components of advanced
degrees is finding someone you respect and admire to mentor you through
the process. Given the first year of lab rotations you get to know a variety
of faculty and then you have to choose!! It was a difficult decision because
the faculty have so much to offer. Overall, it is a young, up-and-coming,
enthusiastic, and talented group. You can't go wrong here with faculty,
they're outstanding.
-Amy Lincoln, Graduate Student
in the Baynes Lab
The science at UCD is excellent.
Because our program is interdisciplinary, research ranges from molecular
to cell to physiology to behavior. This allows students in the program
to learn first hand about various techniques and methods used to study
the brain. The faculty are incredible scientists who are very excited
about their research and enjoy teaching us to become better neuroscientists.
I've had great experiences with our professors and have learned so much
from them.
-Jennifer Kelly, Graduate Student in the Amaral Lab
There's some really top notch faculty in this program. And they're genuinely
dedicated to the program, not just their labs. From making every effort
to attract competitive applicants, to being willing to share their expertise
with graduate students officially in other faculty member's labs, the faculty
make this program work, and they make it work well.
-Eric Leaver, Graduate Student in the Pappone Lab
Having had the opportunity to be a graduate student or closely associated
with graduate students at several institutions, I have a good basis for
evaluating (from a graduate student perspective) the faculty at UC Davis.
One of the most important qualities in a good graduate program is having
faculty that are willing to collaborate with each other and you. It is unlikely
that a single faculty advisor can provide everything you need to accomplish
your graduate student goals. This can range from necessary equipment, to
individual expertise and training. Having a program where you can feel comfortable
talking with and working with many different faculty members is very important.
This is one of strongest points of the Neuroscience program at Davis. The
faculty members are not only individually outstanding but, from my experience,
all are happy to discuss issues and ideas related to your own interests
and seem genuinely interested in supporting and advising graduate students
(whether you "officially belong" to their lab or not).
-Scott Murray, Graduate Student in the Olshausen Lab
I don't think I can say enough about how much respect I have for the faculty
here. I can go to anyone, knock on any door, if I have a question--Ken Britten
for help designing psychophysical experiments, Bruno Olshausen if I need
to work on SGIs or get advice about visual cognition, Charlie DeCarli for
help decoding MRI data from Siemens scanners, etc., etc. At one time or
another, I've probably bugged 3/4 of the faculty--and people are glad to
support my work in any way they can.
-Noah Merin, MD/PhD Student in the Amaral Lab
The research interests of the faculty members in the Neuroscience Graduate
Group are very diverse. Faculty members come from numerous departments in
biological sciences as well as from departments of neurology and psychiatry
in the medical school. Collaborations with faculty members other than the
major professor are generally encouraged and supported. Thus, we are given
the opportunity to learn about neuroscience and to conduct research at a
truly interdisciplinary level.
-Christine Wu, Graduate Student in the Jagust Lab
Great faculty and quite diverse. Can't say enough about their willingness
to collaborate and encourage us to do the same. The faculty also push us
to attend seminars and maintain our neuroscientific diversity.
-Chris Petkov, Graduate Student in the Sutter Lab
The neuroscience faculty here is a vibrant and enthusiastic group -- as
well as being extremely high-caliber research scientists, many of the faculty
are dedicated to providing an excellent training ground for graduate students.
This shows in a myriad of ways. For example, two of the auditory physiologists
read and commented on my NRSA fellowship application (for visual experiments).
Other indications of their commitment include their participation in the
annual graduate student retreat, their dedication to improving the core
course (which is constantly being "tweaked" to provide an optimal experience
for the first-year students), and their willingness to take time to explain
techniques or ideas to students during rotations.
-Hilary Heuer, Graduate Student in the Britten Lab
Since neuroscience is such a broad field, we have several faculty members
with specialties from cognitive and clinical to molecular and cellular neuroscience.
I came into the program with a mostly cognitive background, but many faculty
members have gone out of their way to teach me cellular and molecular mechanisms
outside of the classroom. In our first year, we are able to rotate through
3 or 4 labs before choosing an advisor. This is an excellent opportunity
to learn skills from faculty members outside of your specialty, which is
very beneficial in the future!
-Cyndi Mills-Schumann, Graduate Student in the Amaral Lab
Back to What the Students Have to Say!
|
