How to Write a PhD Personal Statement for Neuroscience - The Profs (2023)

If you’re applying to study Neuroscience at PhD level, you may be required to submit a personal statement. Crafting an excellent personal statement is more than simply relaying a list of your qualifications and skills – it involves careful planning and putting thought into your motivations, interests, commitment to the subject area, and more.

This guide contains ten tips on how to write a stand-out personal statement for a Neuroscience PhD programme. You’ll also find top tips from The Profs’ expert postgraduate admissions tutors as well as Profs Co-Founder, Dr Leo Evans, who has personally helped students develop successful applications for top universities.

Before you begin writing your personal statement, make sure you check what is required of you. Some universities do require you to write a personal statement for PhD Neuroscience, while others do not (instead, they may ask for other documents along with a research proposal).

It’s important to note that a PhD personal statement may not always be called a personal statement. For example, you may see it referred to as a ‘Statement of Purpose’ or ‘Reasons for Applying’, both of which are in essence a personal statement.

Each university that does require a personal statement for PhD Neuroscience specifies slightly different guidelines. For example, Oxford asks for a statement of a maximum of 500 words, plus an extended statement of a maximum of 1,000 words (both mandatory), while Bristol asks for a statement that is no more than one side of A4 in length.

Whether you are required to submit a personal statement, and what you include in that statement, may also depend on whether you are applying for a defined PhD opportunity (e.g. a funded studentship) that is on a topic chosen by the university, or an open PhD programme that asks you to submit a research proposal on a topic of your choice. There may also be some taught elements to your PhD, such as compulsory research methods and research integrity modules – if this is the case, think about how you can prove that you are prepared to develop these advanced research skills and succeed at this element of the programme in your personal statement.

Your chosen university will want to know your motivations for applying for a PhD in Neuroscience. It’s all well and good to be interested in the subject area, but having a more specific purpose or goal in mind will show the university that you are an excellent candidate to study the subject at PhD level.

For example, perhaps you have a particular career goal and completing a PhD will help you achieve it. If so, how will it help and what specifically do you hope to gain from the course? Maybe you have been inspired by a particular event related to your chosen course and want to enact real-world change. If so, tell the university how pursuing this course will help you do this.

Founder of The Profs and Imperial College London graduate, Dr Leo Evans, also recommends making it clear that you are committed to the subject area for the long haul: “Not only will academics be trying to gauge whether you are suitable for a PhD (i.e. that you are intelligent, qualified, a self-starter, driven and committed), they will also be judging whether you are likely to see it out when the going gets hard. Drop off rates are high in PhDs and it is quite expensive for departments to essentially train people who then leave (i.e. they take up departmental resources by having classes and taking up supervisors’ time, etc.).”

When applying for PhD Neuroscience, you need to outline exactly why and how you are well-suited to the course based on your previous academic experience. Universities will know what you have studied as it will be outlined in your grade transcript, so don’t be too vague. It’s best to talk about specific modules or topics you covered in your Master’s degree (or undergraduate degree, if you are applying without a Master’s) that have prepared you for studying Neuroscience at PhD level.

You should focus on discussing any independent work you have completed, both during your studies (such as a dissertation or independent research project), as well as work that has allowed you to develop the necessary skills for studying Neuroscience at an advanced level (particularly strong technical and problem-solving skills). This will help to demonstrate your academic competence, commitment to the subject, and ability to work independently – a highly important skill at postgraduate level.

As an example, if you are proposing to research into the effects of physical activity on brain function, cognition, and psychopathology in children with ADHD, you will ideally need to demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of how conditions like ADHD operate, as well as the brain development of children, from the modules you studied at undergraduate level. If you researched a similar topic in your undergraduate or Master’s dissertation and can cite specific findings and academics, even better. You may also need to show an appreciation of the interdisciplinary context of this topic (see tip 8 below).

Including any relevant work experience you have completed in your personal statement will help to further demonstrate your genuine interest and real-world understanding of advanced level Neuroscience on an industry-specific level. It is particularly important in a postgraduate personal statement because it shows proactivity and dedication to your future academic or professional career – something that your chosen university will be looking for closely.

Relevant work experience for a Neuroscience PhD might include: an internship at a pharmaceutical company (e.g. AstraZeneca), a placement as a research assistant at a university, a summer research placement with the British Neuroscience Association, and more.

Rather than simply listing the relevant work experience you have, make sure you show a degree of introspection. Tell your chosen university not only what you did on any work experience placements, but also what you learnt from it and how you intend to apply that experience in order to excel in your PhD.

Universities won’t just be looking at your past studies and work experience, but also how you have pursued and developed your interest in your chosen research topic in your own time. For example, maybe you led the Neuroscience society at your previous university, or perhaps you have simply explored your interest in the topic through reading relevant academic papers or keeping up to date with the latest news in the discipline/industry. Make sure to include examples and name-drop any significant organisations, news, papers, and academics throughout your personal statement to support your claims.

Some resources that will help you do that include the New Scientist, the Neuroscience section of The Guardian, and Nature Journal.

Universities will be looking for PhD applicants who are driven and committed to their industry. A strong personal statement should outline your goals for the future and explain how studying a PhD in Neuroscience will help you to achieve your 5-year plan.

If you don’t have a 5-year plan, you’re not alone! Start by thinking specifically about what you hope to achieve by the end of your PhD, whether educationally or professionally. If you have professional objectives, explain how this course will help you move towards your career goal.

When it comes to studying Neuroscience at PhD level, the importance of an interdisciplinary understanding and approach becomes paramount. For example, many areas of research intersect heavily with the Sciences, (Clinical) Psychology, Medicine, Sociology/Criminology, Linguistics, and even Philosophy and Marketing. Universities will expect to see an appreciation of the intersection between Neuroscience and any other disciplines that are relevant to your chosen research topic in your personal statement.

For example, if you are proposing research to assess brain activity related to speech production and perception, you will need to show an understanding of both the neuroscientific and linguistic topics underpinning this research. It may also be beneficial to consider how this topic relates to medicine and the treatment of speech and language disorders through speech therapy.

University-level Neuroscience requires students to have more than just excellent subject knowledge – it is a highly quantitative and technical subject that requires you to use complex equipment and conduct research with the utmost integrity. Depending on the research you are proposing, you may need to demonstrate that you are able to use certain types of equipment or certain software needed to conduct experiments and analyse the data collected.

If you studied Neuroscience at Master’s level (especially your chosen research area), you will almost certainly be familiar with many of the technical skills required and will be able to demonstrate this in your personal statement. However, if you studied a slightly different (but related) subject area, you may need to research what skills you will need in order to conduct your research project effectively. This will help to reassure your university that you are prepared to study Neuroscience at PhD level.

Our final tip to writing an excellent PhD personal statement for Neuroscience is to consider how your work will contribute – not only to the specific department and university you are applying for, but also to wider society. Universities will want to know that you understand the wider context in which your research will sit and what gap it will fill in the current research.

When applying for a PhD (especially a funded PhD), you’re also essentially asking a university to invest in you, so you need to convince them that you are worth that investment. A major way to do this is to explain how you will add value to their department and be an excellent member of the academic community.

Neuroscience research can also have real impacts in a range of other disciplines and in wider society. For example, over the last 50 years, discoveries in the field of Neuroscience have improved our understanding of how specific diseases, such as autism, schizophrenia, depression, and dementia, disrupt nervous system function. These discoveries have not only helped to lessen the stigma towards these conditions in general society, but have also been heavily relied upon by policymakers, doctors, and nurses to inform treatment and laws.

The Profs’ PhD admissions consultants are true experts in helping students prepare for study at PhD level, submit stand-out PhD applications, and get into their first choice universities. Our network contains current researchers, lecturers, and ex-admissions staff who have reviewed hundreds of postgraduate applications, as well as Neuroscience experts, so they know just what universities are looking for in PhD applicants.

More than 90% of students who work with our team secure places at their first or second choice university. These universities often include top 10 institutions like Oxbridge, Bristol, UCL, Manchester, and more.

For professional, one-to-one guidance on your PhD application, get in touch with our team today.