Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Entry requirements

The first step in applying is to establish if there is a member of faculty with research interests that overlap with yours who could offer you supervision. We offer supervision in a wide number of areas of Psychological research, but please look at the research and faculty webpages to see the research interests of individual faculty members. Please note that emeritus faculty cannot offer primary supervision. Once you have identified a potential supervisor, please email them to discuss your application and proposed area of research. We expect applicants to formulate a research proposal as part of the application in partnership with their potential supervisor (see more details below). Please do not apply to our department if there is nobody here who is appropriate to supervise work in the area you wish to pursue.

Once you have found a potential supervisor and they have encouraged you to apply, please complete an application for your chosen degree course via the University online application system.

Months of entry

January, April, July, October

Course content

PhD and MPhil degrees both involve conducting research under the supervision of a member of staff and submitting the results in a thesis.

PhD students study for three years (six years part-time), while an MPhil degree takes two years (four years part-time) and thus requires a smaller quantity of research to be completed.

Applicants are expected to choose between our two PhD programmes based on their research interests: those who plan to conduct research at the York Neuroimaging Centre, or to complete research in cognitive neuroscience are advised to apply for the PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, whilst those with research interests in all other areas are advised to apply for the PhD in Psychology. Potential supervisors can also give advice on the most suitable programme for individual applicants.

As well as starting their research, first year graduate students attend training sessions designed to enhance their research skills and broad knowledge of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging. Students pursuing this degree complete 1 module in their first year (unless already completed in an ESRC-accredited masters programme):

• Programming in Neuroimaging

Throughout this three year degree programme students attend both the weekly research seminars at the York Neuroimaging Centre and the weekly research seminars in the Department of Pscyhology. Students can also attend any relevant final-year undergraduate and MSc courses to enhance their knowledge and skills in specific areas of interest. There are also academic tools sessions covering grant and CV writing as well as interview skills.

Information for international students

To demonstrate their competence in English, international applicants are normally required to obtain an overall score of 6.5 and a minimum of 6.5 in all four areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking) in an IELTS test or equivalent.