PhD studies in Computational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering at the University of Washington

The University of Washington has a rich, active and highly collaborative community of researchers in systems and computational neuroscience (http://compneuro.washington.edu/) and neural engineering (http://uwin.washington.edu ). The University of Washington is a vibrant research university with a beautiful campus in a spectacular urban setting, with an ERC Center in Sensorimotor Neural Engineering (http://www.csne-erc.org/), the UW Institute for Neuroengineering, close connections to the local tech industry and the Allen Institute for Brain Science. UW is also a major data sciences center with interdisciplinary interactions coordinated through the eSciences Institute (http://escience.washington.edu). The city is a short distance from wilderness and outstanding summer and winter outdoor adventure.

While faculty advisors belong to a wide range of different departments, researchers come together regularly for seminars, journal clubs and a yearly retreat. A common set of graduate courses in computational neuroscience and neural engineering allows students to interact across departments.  Many student funding opportunities exist through multiple training grants, UWIN, Data Sciences and the CSNE. Doctoral programs encourage collaborative research projects across departmental boundaries, but admissions and first-year course work and formal requirements are handled by graduate programs individually. Students interested in this area should apply to the program that best fits their background, interests and career goals.

Relevant programs, websites and application deadlines include:

Neuroscience, http://depts.washington.edu/behneuro/ , Dec 1

Bioengineering, http://depts.washington.edu/bioe/, Dec 1

Computer Science and Engineering, www.cs.washington.edu/, Dec 15

Applied Mathematics, www.amath.washington.edu/, Jan 15

Speech and Hearing, http://depts.washington.edu/sphsc/, Feb 15

Biological Physics, Structure and Design, http://depts.washington.edu/bpsd/, Dec 1

Biology, www.biology.washington.edu/, Dec 1

Psychology, http://web.psych.washington.edu/, Dec 1

Faculty include:

Wyeth Bair (Neuro, CSE): Computer modeling of visual cortical circuits

Geoff Boynton (Neuro, Psychology): Functional imaging of vision

Michael Buice (Applied Math (Affiliate), Allen Institute):  Analysis of coding and computation in mouse cortex

Beth Buffalo (Neuro): Navigation and memory in primates

Bing Brunton (Biology and Data Sciences): High dimensional neural data

Howard Chizeck (CSE): Performance metrics for neural interfaces

Tom Daniel (Neuro, Biology): Sensorimotor integration and flight control

Horacio de la Iglesia (Neuro, Biology): Circadian rhythms

Emily Fox (Statistics, CS):  Statistical modeling of connectivity and time series

Marcel den Nijs (Physics): Statistical mechanics of brain function

Adrienne Fairhall (Neuro, BPSD, Physics): Adaptive neural coding and sensorimotor integration

Eb Fetz (Neuro): Motor control and brain-computer interfaces

Ione Fine (Neuro, Psychology): Human visual psychophysics and imaging

David Gire (Neuro, Psychology): Mammalian olfaction

Bertil Hille (Neuro, BPSD): Biophysics of neuronal signal transduction

Greg Horwitz (Neuro): Cortical color processing

Nathan Kutz (A Math): Nonlinear dynamics and dimensionality reduction

Adrian KC Lee (Neuro, Speech and Hearing): Auditory scene analysis with imaging

Stefan Mihalas (Applied Math (Affiliate), Allen Institute):  Analysis and modeling of cortical networks  

Chet Moritz (Neuro, Rehabilitation Medicine): Neural prosthetics

Sheri Mizumori (Neuro, Psychology): Neurobiology of decisions, learning, and memory

Bill Moody (Neuro, Biology): Cortical development

Scott Murray (Neuro, Psychology): Visual neuroimaging

Jay Neitz (Neuro): Color vision

Jeff Ojemann (Neuro, Neurology): Human neural function and neuroprosthetics

Anitha Pasupathy (Neuro): Neurobiology of visual shape processing

David Perkel (Neuro): Neural mechanisms of vocal learning

Steve Perlmutter (Neuro): Motor control

Chantal Prat (Neuro, Speech and hearing): Auditory processing

Nino Ramirez (Neuro):  Neural control of rhythmic activity

Rajesh Rao (Neuro, CSE): Computational modeling and brain-computer interfaces

Fred Rieke (Neuro, Physics, BPSD): Sensory signal processing in the retina

Jeff Riffell (Neuro, Biology):  Neuroecology and chemosensation

Ed Rubel (Neuro): Development of the auditory system

Jay Rubinstein (Neuro, Bioengineering): Biophysics and engineering of cochlear implants

Eric Shea-Brown (Neuro, A Math): Nonlinear dynamics in neural computation and coding

Bill Spain (Neuro): Biophysics of neuronal computation

Kat Steele (Mec Eng): Human movement

Emo Todorov (Neuro, A Math, CSE): Optimal motor control