Neuroscience (Integrative Neuroscience) MScR

Our programme is full-time for twelve months, beginning in early September and ending on 31 August of the following year. You are expected to be on campus from week one of Semester One. Successful MSc/Diploma candidates graduate in November/December of the following year.

Teaching breaks for 2025/6 include 22 December – 12 January.

Semester 1, Taught (September – December)

Taught component including Review of Neuroscience course (themed weeks) which run in parallel with elective courses. In addition you will develop core skills including data analysis and statistics.

Review of Neuroscience course

This compulsory course, which runs across Semester One, covers topics on many different areas of neuroscience, including:

• Neural development
• Neurodegeneration and regeneration
• Sensory and control systems
• Synaptic physiology
• Invertebrate model systems
• Neural circuits for cognition
• Motor disorders
• Cognitive neurology
• Neuroinformatics
• Neural imaging

Elective Courses

You will take one of four elective courses, allowing you to specialise in a particular area of interest.

Elective courses run on two half days a week. These courses provide a deeper insight into the concepts and methodology of a specific field of interest.

Elective courses include:

• Neural Dynamics
• Neurobiology of behaviour
• Neurodegeneration and regeneration
• Neurodevelopment disorders

Elective course availability will be subject to student numbers. While every attempt will be made to allocate you to your preferred elective course choice where demand is high we cannot guarantee this.

You should check course details for timetabling information and location as courses are taught at a number of sites across the university.

Core Skills

To help you gain a range of skills you can apply in many areas, you will develop core skills including experimental design, data analysis and statistics. There will be additional sessions to help you understand the ethical and legal framework under which animal research is conducted in the UK.

Semester 2 and Summer

Between January and August, you will conduct either two 12-week or one 24-week neuroscience research projects. You may choose from available projects or contact principal investigators from the Edinburgh Neuroscience community to arrange a project. The Edinburgh Neuroscience community comprises more than 150 world-leading Neuroscience groups covering interests spanning different levels of analysis from genes to cognition, across the life course, in health and disease. Projects will be advertised after the start of the programme, so there is no need to arrange projects in advance.

• Edinburgh Neuroscience

Research Project 1 (January – April)**

By the end of Semester One you will have arranged your first 12-week project. This project may continue as Project 2, effectively making it a 24-week project. Alternatively, you can start a new project for Project 2.

There are two assessments related to Project 1:

• Research proposal: in the research area of Project 1 and building on training in experimental design.
• Poster Presentation: Summarising the research conducted during Project 1)

Research Project 2 (May to August)

During the summer period you will commence a second project, or continue with your first project. There are 2 assessments related to Project 2:

• Dissertation
• Oral Presentation summarising your research project.

Neuroscience Conference

During the programme, you will have the opportunity to attend a neuroscience conference. Usually, this is the British Neuroscience Association (BNA) Festival of Neuroscience or the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum, which are held in alternating years.

Learning targets and assessments

These are structured so that you are encouraged to learn to produce everything a working scientist would be asked to for their research, including a group poster presentation, a short review of a topical research paper in Neuroscience, poster and oral presentations, a research proposal and a dissertation.

Find out more about compulsory and optional courses

We link to the latest information available. Please note that this may be for a previous academic year and should be considered indicative.

Award	Title	Duration	Study mode
MScR	Integrative Neuroscience	1 Year	Full-time	Programme structure 2024/25

This programme is designed to help you develop a career in research. A high number of students proceed to PhDs in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Other positive next destinations include medical study, teaching and research assistant posts or science communication roles.

These entry requirements are for the 2025/26 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2026/27 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2025.

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in biological or biomedical sciences (including neuroscience or psychology) or a medical, dental or veterinary degree.

Students from China

This degree is Band C.

• Postgraduate entry requirements for students from China

International qualifications

Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:

• Entry requirements by country

English language requirements

Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency which will enable you to succeed in your studies.

English language tests

We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:

• IELTS Academic: total 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component. We do not accept IELTS One Skill Retake to meet our English language requirements.
• TOEFL-iBT (including Home Edition): total 92 with at least 20 in each component. We do not accept TOEFL MyBest Score to meet our English language requirements.
• C1 Advanced (CAE) / C2 Proficiency (CPE): total 176 with at least 169 in each component.
• Trinity ISE: ISE II with distinctions in all four components.
• PTE Academic: total 65 with at least 59 in each component. We do not accept PTE Academic Online.
• Oxford ELLT: 7 overall with at least 6 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS, TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE, in which case it must be no more than two years old.

Degrees taught and assessed in English

We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:

• UKVI list of majority English speaking countries

We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).

• Approved universities in non-MESC

If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old at the beginning of your programme of study.

Find out more about our language requirements:

• English language requirements

Academic Technology Approval Scheme

If you are not an EU, EEA or Swiss national, you may need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme clearance certificate in order to study this programme.

• Academic Technology Approval Scheme

Tuition fees

Award	Title	Duration	Study mode
MScR	Integrative Neuroscience	1 Year	Full-time	Tuition fees

Funding for postgraduate study is different to undergraduate study, and many students need to combine funding sources to pay for their studies.

Most students use a combination of the following funding to pay their tuition fees and living costs:

• borrowing money

  • taking out a loan

  • family support

• personal savings

• income from work

• employer sponsorship

• scholarships

Explore sources of funding for postgraduate study

UK government postgraduate loans

If you live in the UK, you may be able to apply for a postgraduate loan from one of the UK’s governments.

The type and amount of financial support you are eligible for will depend on:

• your programme
• the duration of your studies
• your tuition fee status

Programmes studied on a part-time intermittent basis are not eligible.

• UK government and other external funding

Other funding opportunities

Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:

• Search for funding