An MPhil at the CBU is achieved via supervised research which falls under the jurisdiction of the Degree Committee for the School of Clinical Medicine. The provision of supervision and teaching is overseen by the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences. Within the CBU, the internal Postgraduate Education Committee is responsible for all aspects of the running of the postgraduate programme. A suitable project falling within the interests of the supervisor, and sustainable within the limits imposed by the facilities available at the CBU and the funded duration, is agreed by both student and supervisor, and endorsed by members of the Postgraduate Education Committee.

Each postgraduate student benefits from a supervisory team which is made up of a primary supervisor, who supervises the main body of their research, and an adviser who acts as a supplementary source of advice and support. Where it benefits the science, students and their supervisors are additionally encouraged to seek further support in the form of a second supervisor or additional adviser, which can be drawn from other Cambridge departments. We also have two pastoral tutors who offer personal and emotional support throughout a student’s time at the CBU, and a mentoring scheme, through which postgraduate students can be paired with a postdoctoral researcher as another helpful source of inspiration and guidance.

The University of Cambridge publishes an annual Code of Practice which sets out the University’s expectations regarding supervision for both postgraduates and their supervisor.

Students attend a variety of Unit seminars (Wednesday Lunchtime and Chaucer Club) given by distinguished CBU and Cambridge, as well as UK and international, scientists.

The Cambridge Postgraduate Programme in Cognitive and Brain Sciences

CBU students are members of the Cambridge Postgraduate Programme in Cognitive and Brain Sciences, which was jointly established by the Unit and the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry. The programme comprises a weekly series of theoretical and practical seminars presented by senior researchers from the CBU and the University. Attendance is compulsory for CBU first year postgraduates. The content of the course varies from one year to the next but tends to include a mixture of lectures covering basic cognitive neuroscience content (e.g. memory, intelligence, language), methods (e.g. MR physics) and professional issues and skills (e.g. How to give a good talk).

In recent years, we have been extremely fortunate to be able to incorporate Amy Orben’s “Robust Behavioural Science" seminars which covers many aspects of open science, including the philosophy of science and the replication crisis.

Details of the Seminar programme are updated annually, with relevant information communicated by email via the “Camgrads+” mailing list.