PhD Program in Neuroscience
Arianna Maffei
Program Director
If you are considering a PhD degree in neuroscience, Stony Brook's Graduate Program in Neuroscience should interest you.
Our graduate program offers multidisciplinary training leading to a PhD degree or combined MD/PhD given in conjunction with the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.
Our total student population is usually around 50 with broad representation of background and college degrees. The program graduates anywhere from four to eight students per year and accepts an incoming class of five to ten.
Admission into the PhD program is considered very competitive. Grades, prior research experience, statement of purpose, and recommendations from former instructors are among the factors considered in the decision-making process. Admissions requirements are further described in the program's Guidelines.
Funding for students in the PhD program comes from state sources, individual fellowships, and faculty research grants. The stipend for the academic year 2026-2027 is $40,000 and full tuition and broad based fees scholarships are awarded to all students in good standing.
Upon arriving on campus in the fall, incoming PhD students attend university and program sponsored orientation programs designed to quickly acclimate them to the essentials of graduate life and to enable them to begin their career studies. For example, staff from the Graduate School provide TA (teaching assistant) training, and SPEAK tests to international students. Employee Relations presents details of health benefits, and the department's graduate program faculty inform students about program objectives and requirements.
In setting course requirements and recommendations, individual academic backgrounds, interests, and career goals of incoming students are considered carefully. The course of study outlined in our Guidelines is regularly updated to meet the demands of modern neuroscience training. A core curriculum, laboratory rotations, and a major research project are mainstays of our curriculum-all designed to ensure broad competence in fundamental aspects of neuroscience. Teaching and participation in seminars are important components of the education you will receive in our graduate training program.
Students who intend to pursue careers in computational or translational research are encouraged to read about the advanced certificate programs available to our graduate students, including the Ceretificate Program in Advanced Computational and Data Science and the Stony Brook Scholars in BioMedical Sciences Program.
There are over 40 training faculty involved in the PhD program that together offer a broad choice of advisors and research topics from which to choose. Twenty one have primary appointments in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. Others have primary appointments in university departments of Anesthesiology, Biochemistry, Medicine, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Physiology and Biophysics, Psychiatry and others or in off-campus affiliate laboratories at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories. Broadly, faculty research interests include Biophysics and Cellular Neurobiology, Molecular Neurobiology, Integrative and Behavioral Neurobiology, and Computational/Theoretical Neuroscience. You can find more about faculty research areas on our Participating Faculty page.