Students at CNS are exposed to cutting-edge neuroscience research through the CNS faculty, whose interests span the gamut from molecular to systems and cognitive neuroscience. Research at CNS is highly interdisciplinary and reflects the diverse backgrounds of the faculty themselves. The department offers world-class facilities and equipment together with a vibrant environment for research that consists of journal clubs, seminars and workshops.
The CNS PhD program is designed to provide a solid foundation of neuroscience for students with absolutely no prior background/experience in neuroscience. Incoming first-year PhD students are not pre-assigned to an advisor, but are instead asked to take the entire first semester to decide on the lab that they wish to join for their PhD. They are encouraged to talk to the faculty & students in each lab and do at least 3 lab rotations of their preference in order to make an informed decision. In addition, they are required to take two core courses offered by the CNS faculty: (1) Systems Neuroscience and (2) Molecular and Cellular Basis of Behaviour, and also choose from elective courses such as Cognitive Neuroscience and Developmental Neuroscience depending on their interests. These courses are aimed at forming a broad foundation of neuroscience knowledge for their research. They also help students understand and form a preference for the kind of neuroscience research they wish to undertake. Students make the final choice of their thesis advisor/laboratory by the end of the first semester.
PhD students are provided with a monthly stipend (per institute norms) and with accommodation in the student hostels at IISc. Campus life at IISc is extremely vibrant with a broad spectrum of cultural and sports activities.
Who can apply
Given the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience, we welcome students from diverse backgrounds. While we understand that students would have their domain knowledge specific to their individual exposure, we do expect students to possess some basic level neuroscience that reflects the motivation of students to pursue a PhD at CNS. Neuroscience is an inherently multi-disciplinary field, and the varied backgrounds of our PhD students provide an ideal setting for tackling neuroscience research questions from diverse perspectives.
Timeline
Admissions to the Phd program are typically announced in January with an application deadline in March or April. Candidates are then shortlisted for the interviews which typically are held in May or June. The interview results are announced during that week itself. Selected PhD students join IISc in the first week of August.
Eligibility
The eligibility criteria to apply for the CNS PhD program along with other relevant info can be found at the following links:
https://iisc.ac.in/admissions/research-programmes/#ffs
https://www.iisc.ac.in/admissions/faq/
How to apply
Students interested in pursuing PhD in CNS should submit an online application form on the IISc admissions website (https://iisc.ac.in/admissions/).
Interview process
We receive a large number of applications to join our PhD program each year. We shortlist candidates from each mode of admissions based on their marks and then call for interviews. We conduct two rounds of interviews for shortlisted candidates. Our interview questions are based on the premise that if you understand your own undergraduate and graduate subjects well, there’s a good chance that you will also understand fully the neuroscience that you are taught here. Apart from questions related to your undergraduate and graduate curriculum, we expect you to be comfortable with basic mathematics and analytical thinking. We also expect that you would have some basic knowledge of neuroscience, that reflects your motivation and interest in the topic! The interview results are typically announced within a day or two after they are completed.
To get a basic idea regarding what to expect at the CNS PhD interview, please watch this informative YouTube video by Navneet Shahi, PhD student in Prof Kavita Babu’s lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ttzqvf2H8
For any CNS admissions-related queries, please write to cnsadmissions@iisc.ac.in
