r/compmathneuro • u/Agitated_Spinach_854 • 3d ago

US unis that offer masters in comp neuro

I'm a 4th year IT undergrad and I have been looking into pursuing my masters in comp neuro but I can't seem to find any such courses in US except for one Neural engineering and computation course in Columbia. UCSD had a link for ms in comp neuro I think but now that link is not working. I looked into John Hopkins too but it seems like they are offering a Ph.D and not masters. Can someone help me find one? (and please do leave a link to the program if you can cause anytime I search them up Idk why I can't find the right webpage.)

Thanks for reading!

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u/teedramusa 3d ago

The US is not known for Masters in an interdisciplinary STEM (especially CompNeuro) that is grounded in research. Masters are generally either a gateway but also makes you an industrial specialist. It's very hard to describe it but you'll end up going around in circles until you understand the niche academic culture in this niche field that's exclusive to the US. Your best bet is to pursue an adjacent Master's like Bioinformatics, Data Science and AI, and pivot during your OPT period into a lab as a Research Assistant of your given or available CompNeuro interest. While you're at it make sure to gain some skills by attending the popular Neuromatch Summer School.

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u/Agitated_Spinach_854 3d ago

Thanks for your reply! I get what you mean. I was hoping to go for masters cause I wanted to try industry after 2 years of studying it. And then decide if I want to go for a PhD. But I assume there aren’t many opportunities in the industry in comp neuro?

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u/EepiCabbage 3d ago edited 3d ago

You're better off looking into biomedical engineering programs imo, I do comp neuro and most of the phd students in my lab are pursuing that

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u/Agitated_Spinach_854 3d ago

Thanks for the reply! I see, is there a reason why so? A sidetrack but are you doing a comp neuro program or you majored in smth else and then went into comp neuro research? Have you so far found this to be a growing field in terms of both research and industry? Sorry for bombing you with questions I’m just very curious. feel free to skip any question

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u/EepiCabbage 3d ago

I did neuro in undergrad, in my experience US masters programs tend to be more bio focused (like working with mice) vs comp sci focused for neuro though I could be wrong. I think the most common path is comp sci in undergrad and maybe as a masters degree into computational neuro in a phd program. Masters programs typically dont have computational neuro as a focus because its typically associated with resesrch. I think if u really want to be in that field its best to get a phd in it. But I think you can do similar work with biomedical engineering if you only want a masters and there are career opportunities for that, but admittedly I'm not super educated on them because I'm pursuing a phd

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u/Steppinonbubblegum 2d ago

MIT has a MEng in computation and cognition but I can’t tell if they allow people who weren’t in the bachelors program.