Neuroscience CV Example
A neuroscience CV highlights your research into the nervous system, brain function, and neurological processes using advanced experimental techniques.
Recommended template: Compact
Key Skills to Include
Quick Tips
- Detail specific neuroscience techniques and model systems you have worked with.
- Include publications, posters, and conference presentations in neuroscience.
- Highlight experience with neuroimaging tools such as fMRI, EEG, or MEG.
- Showcase interdisciplinary skills that bridge biology, psychology, and computation.
Ready to build your CV?
Start with the Compact template and customise it for your science role.
How to Write Your Neuroscience CV
A neuroscience CV should demonstrate your expertise in studying the nervous system through experimental, computational, or clinical approaches. Selection panels and hiring managers want to see evidence of technical mastery, publication output, and the ability to design experiments that advance understanding of brain function. Your CV should clearly present your research focus, the techniques you use, and the impact of your findings.
CV Structure
Use a reverse-chronological format with sections for your profile, research experience, education, publications, grants, and technical skills. Each role should describe the research group, funding source, and your specific project. Follow with publications and achievements. Include a separate publications section listing papers in reverse chronological order. Keep the CV to two to three pages.
CV Format
Select a clean academic template. Neuroscience hiring panels expect clear structure and easy navigation. Include your ORCID iD, Google Scholar link, and any open-source code repositories. Use consistent citation formatting and save as a PDF. Avoid decorative elements — substance matters more than style.
CV Profile Examples
Systems Neuroscientist
Systems neuroscientist with eight years of postdoctoral research experience investigating sensory processing and decision-making circuits using in vivo electrophysiology in rodent models. Proficient in multi-electrode array recordings, optogenetics, and computational modelling of neural dynamics using MATLAB and Python. Author of twelve peer-reviewed publications including two in Nature Neuroscience.
Cognitive Neuroscientist
Cognitive neuroscientist specialising in human memory and attention, with extensive experience in fMRI experimental design, EEG acquisition, and advanced multivariate pattern analysis. Six years of research experience across two Russell Group universities with a strong teaching record in undergraduate neuroscience and psychology modules. Wellcome Trust-funded researcher with nine publications.
Graduate Neuroscientist
Neuroscience PhD candidate in the final year of doctoral research investigating neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease using transgenic mouse models. Experienced in immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, behavioural testing, and quantitative image analysis. Seeking a postdoctoral position that combines preclinical neuroscience with translational approaches to neurodegenerative disease.
State your research focus, model system, core techniques, and headline metrics such as publication count or grant income. Mention the level at which you operate — from PhD student to principal investigator — to set expectations.
Key Skills for Your Neuroscience CV
Electrophysiology
Recording electrical activity from neurons using extracellular multi-electrode arrays, patch clamp, or EEG to study neural coding and circuit function.
Neuroimaging
Acquiring and analysing brain imaging data using fMRI, structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, PET, or EEG/MEG techniques.
Behavioural Analysis
Designing and quantifying animal and human behavioural tasks to measure cognitive, sensory, and motor function in experimental settings.
Histology
Processing and staining brain tissue sections for microscopic analysis using immunohistochemistry, fluorescence, and cresyl violet methods.
Statistical Analysis
Applying parametric, non-parametric, and Bayesian statistical methods to neural and behavioural datasets using MATLAB, R, or Python.
MATLAB
Writing custom analysis scripts and toolboxes for electrophysiology data processing, signal analysis, and computational modelling.
Animal Models
Working with rodent models of neurological disease and conducting surgical procedures, behavioural testing, and tissue collection under Home Office licence.
Cognitive Testing
Administering standardised neuropsychological assessments to measure memory, attention, executive function, and other cognitive domains.
Optogenetics
Using light-activated proteins to selectively activate or inhibit specific neural populations in vivo to establish causal relationships in brain circuits.
Work Experience Examples
Describe the scientific question, your experimental approach, the techniques used, and the outcomes. Include publications, conference presentations, and any methodological innovations. Mention supervision and teaching activities. Quantify your output — papers published, students supervised, grant income secured.
Postdoctoral Research Associate — Neuroscience
UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London
Investigated cortical mechanisms of perceptual decision-making using electrophysiology and optogenetics in awake, behaving mice, funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award.
Responsibilities
- Performed chronic multi-electrode implant surgeries and recorded from populations of neurons in visual and prefrontal cortex during decision-making tasks.
- Designed and implemented behavioural paradigms using custom-built apparatus controlled by Arduino and Bpod systems.
- Analysed electrophysiological data using MATLAB and Python, applying dimensionality reduction, decoding models, and drift-diffusion frameworks.
- Led optogenetic manipulation experiments, injecting viral vectors and performing fibre-optic implant surgeries to selectively inhibit neural populations.
- Supervised two PhD students and contributed to their project design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.
Achievements
- Published a first-author paper in Nature Neuroscience demonstrating a causal role for prefrontal cortex in perceptual confidence, cited over 150 times.
- Secured a £35,000 travel and research grant from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to support a three-month collaboration at a partner laboratory in the United States.
- Developed an open-source MATLAB toolbox for neural decoding analysis that has been downloaded over 800 times from GitHub.
Research Assistant — Neuroscience
University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences
Supported clinical neuroscience research investigating biomarkers of traumatic brain injury using neuroimaging and cognitive testing in patient cohorts.
Responsibilities
- Recruited and assessed patients with traumatic brain injury, administering standardised cognitive test batteries and quality-of-life questionnaires.
- Coordinated MRI scanning sessions, including structural, diffusion tensor imaging, and resting-state fMRI acquisitions.
- Preprocessed neuroimaging data using FSL and FreeSurfer, conducting volumetric and tractography analyses.
- Managed the clinical research database, ensuring data accuracy and compliance with research ethics and data protection requirements.
Achievements
- Contributed imaging analysis to a publication in Brain identifying white matter biomarkers predictive of long-term cognitive outcome after TBI.
- Recruited 45 patients ahead of schedule for a multicentre clinical study, meeting the site target three months early.
Education & Qualifications
List your PhD with thesis title and supervisor. Follow with master's and bachelor's degrees. Include relevant prizes, funded studentships, or prestigious summer programmes. Mention any formal training in research methods, statistics, or ethics.
PhD in Neuroscience
Doctoral qualification demonstrating the ability to conduct independent neuroscience research and contribute original findings to the field.
Home Office Personal Licence (PIL)
Licence required for researchers conducting regulated procedures on animals under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
FHEA
Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy demonstrating competence in university-level teaching and student support.
GCP Training
Good Clinical Practice certification required for neuroscientists involved in clinical research with human participants.
Frequently Asked Questions
What techniques should I highlight on a neuroscience CV?
How important are publications for neuroscience positions?
Should I include my animal licence on my neuroscience CV?
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