Study and work

We offer opportunities for postdoctoral fellows to conduct cutting-edge research in theoretical neuroscience and/or machine learning. This fellowship offers relative independence to pursue your own research vision, together with your supervisor. You will develop as a researcher through teaching and mentoring PhD students, networking with the UCL community and our academic event programme including regular talks, journal clubs and lab meetings. Other career development opportunities are available through UCL.

Postdoctoral positions are typically funded for up to three years. Fellowships are available on an ad hoc basis, for opportunities see our Vacancies page or follow us on twitter/mastodon for latest opportunities.

We offer doctoral training in theoretical neuroscience and machine learning, including taught courses in the first year (see Teaching). This four-year PhD programme is highly competitive, with up to six students being accepted each year.

The Gatsby Unit and Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour (SWC) have launched a four-year joint PhD programme that aims to bridge the gap between theory and experiments. The joint programme is designed to immerse students in both experimental and theoretical thinking, providing a rigorous preparation for an interdisciplinary research career.

We have a paid project research internship programme for final-year undergraduates and Master’s students, where the research would not form part of their degree requirements. See 'Project Research Interns' on the Vacancies page for more information and how to apply.

We may also be able to supervise MSc and other research projects leading to a master's degree. If you are at UCL please contact your preferred supervisor in the normal way for your course. If at another institution please submit your application following the same procedure (and deadline) for the internship programme. (If there is an internal deadline that is earlier than the internship deadline, please contact I-Chun Lin at i.lin 'at' ucl.ac.uk, explaining the situation.) In your application, please give details of your academic programme as well as any constraints or regulations relevant to the research, and specifying that you are applying to carry out a MSc (or similar) research project. Please note that such research visits are separate from our paid internships, and we expect any financial support or remuneration to ordinarily be arranged through your home institution.

The Gatsby Bridging Programme is a 7-week mathematics summer school for undergraduates and Master’s students (or recent graduates) who aspire to pursue a postgraduate research degree in theoretical neuroscience and/or machine learning but whose degree programme(s) does/do not have a strong mathematical focus. Participants will develop the mathematics skills and intuition necessary to enter these fields.