Careers | Neuroscience Program | The University of Vermont(title)

Many of our graduates choose to pursue advanced studies leading to M.S., Ph.D., M.D., D.V.M., D.P.T., and other clinically related degrees for subsequent employment in academia, industry, and government as well as numerous medically-related occupations such as neurology, clinical neuropsychol­ogy, neurorehabilitation, among other health science professions.

You'll be well prepared to compete in a wide range of job markets at the bachelor's level as scientists and technicians in biotechnology, biomedical research, hospital and pharmaceutical laboratories, and other private sector, academic, and government research and development occupations. The interdisciplinary background obtained through this major also prepares students for other types of careers such as science teaching, science writ­ing and editing, consulting, medical equipment and pharmaceutical sales, and social and governmental agencies providing much-needed support to clinically challenged populations such as people with brain or spinal cord injury.

Advanced Lab Experience Leads to Pharma Career

Body
gain R by body of water

Gain Robinson was in the middle of class when he got a phone call from a hiring manager at Merck about a job opportunity at the company. After excusing himself from the room, Robinson was invited to elaborate on his activities at UVM. “Well, I perform brain surgery on rats,” he replied. He also described the learning and memory research skills he had picked up as a neuroscience major at UVM. Robinson got the job, and since his hiring in 2012, he has risen from associate scientist to scientist to senior scientist at Merck Research Laboratories in Boston. He credits his rigorous lab experience at UVM as key preparation for his role in identifying translational biomarkers that can lead to new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease and a variety of cancers. 

“I got involved in research in Professor John Green’s laboratory early in my time at UVM. That led to other opportunities including a summer internship at ArQule, a small biopharmaceutical company outside Boston. When I got the call from Merck, I felt like I had developed pretty advanced skills in  rodent surgery and behavioral neuroscience—just about everything they were looking for.”

At UVM, his honors thesis “The Effect of Secretin on Extinction of Eyeblink Conditioning" investigated the role of a poorly understood neuropeptide in the induction of synaptic plasticity in the rodent cerebellum, which led to an article he co-authored for the peer-reviewed journal Learning and Memory.

Robinson transferred to UVM after spending two years at a small college in Massachusetts--he enjoyed studying psychology there but was interested in getting hands-on research experience. He found that at UVM.

“It is relatively rare to be able to publish and develop advanced lab skills as an undergraduate, but it really does happen at UVM.”

Robinson is interested in giving back to the institution that helped him launch his research career. He’s spearheading an effort to raise money for more undergraduate research grants that will benefit the next generation of UVM neuroscience students.

“There’s so much support at UVM to fund student research and I’m really looking to expand that. There’s a lot of enthusiasm among recent graduates to support the program, and we plan to offer multiple grants of $500 per year.”

After UVM

Our curriculum provides a comprehensive introduction to topics of high interest to the field of neuroscience and many of the professional skills needed for post-graduation career options. The following are just a few examples of topics you can pursue:

  • Molecular, cellular, physiological, and biochemical processes underlying nervous system functioning, psychological processes, and behavior; and clinical phenomena associated with nervous system dysfunction.
  • An understanding of scientific methods including experimental design and associated statistical methods used by neuroscientists to study brain-behavior functions.
  • Oral and written skills are needed to communicate with professional and nonprofessional people, and an awareness of and an ability to consider ethical issues associated with neuroscience.