Master's Degree Programme in Human Neuroscience
What makes an individual? Learn about the nuances of the most complex organ: the human brain. We educate future experts to understand and measure human brain function and performance throughout the lifespan.
Do you have the brain and mind for human neuroscience?
Students of the programme will get a deep understanding of human brain function. They will learn non-invasive imaging methods to investigate brain activation and structure as well as behavioural methods to measure human cognition and performance. The programme gives a strong foundation to work as a human neuroscience expert in various industries requiring knowledge and skills to tackle the complex brain-behaviour issues.
Graduates are expected to find jobs, for example, in companies developing novel health and game products, and in customised marketing research. The programme also gives a strong basis to continue studies towards a PhD.
Entry requirements
The detailed admission criteria for the Master's Degree Programme in Human Neuroscience are available in the Studyinfo portal. Please see the detailed admission criteria in Studyinfo: Master's Degree Programme in Human Neuroscience, Master of Science (2 years) - Studyinfo
Programme in brief
The extent of the Master’s Degree Programme is 120 ECTS to be completed in two years. The studies consist of:
Brain Imaging Methods (15 ECTS)
Clinical Neuroscience (23 ECTS),
Behavioral Methods to measure human cognition, perception, consciousness and performance (10 ECTS),
Data Analysis (10 ECTS),
Elective Courses (17 ECTS) and Human Neuroscience Seminars, consisting of seminars related to lab presentations, thesis and future career opportunities.
The Master’s thesis will be 40 ECTS. All programme parts contain lectures, group work, independent studies and practical exercises. See the curriculum.
The University of Turku fosters students' professional growth and global perspective by promoting internships and student exchanges. Every degree student can take advantage of these opportunities – all internships come with a guaranteed subsidy, and every exchange programme includes a grant.
Does this page answer your questions about the programme's content and academic matters? If not, contact med-mdp@utu.fi.
University of Turku (est. 1640) is among the top one percent of all universities in the world. Turku is well known particularly for its PET Centre which provides several state-of-art PET and MRI scanners for human studies. With a long research tradition in neuroscience, strong research groups and excellent facilities, Turku is a great place to study neuroscience. Turku has a unique, compact campus area with two universities, a university hospital and a strong cluster of medical and technology companies nearby, which creates an inspiring environment to study and work.
The programme is run by the Turku Brain and Mind Center (TBMC) in collaboration with experts from three faculties (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Faculty of Technology). TBMC provides a multidisciplinary context for comprehensive theoretical and practical education in human neurosciences. University of Turku has excellent research facilities for non-invasive brain imaging including PET, MRI, fMRI, EEG, TMS, and optical imaging. Researchers of TMBC have a wide network of connections within the Turku area, in Finland and internationally. This provides the students sample opportunities to work and learn in practical research projects.
Master’s thesis (40 ECTS) is an important part of the Programme’s curriculum. Students will write a research plan, participate in a research seminar, conduct practical research work and write a theoretical report of their results. The thesis will be based on analyses of behavioural and/or brain-imaging data conducted in collaboration with research groups or companies in the Turku area or elsewhere.
Examples of Master's thesis topics in MDP in Human Neuroscience:
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Structural Abnormalities in Gambling Disorder Using Voxel-Based Morphometry
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An Eye for AI: A Multimodal Bottleneck Transformer Approach for Predicting Individual Eye Movements : Towards Foundation Models for Human Factors & Neuroscience
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The Relationship Between Personality and the Perception of the Ambiguous Necker Cube Stimuli
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Predicting Speech Disfluency in Five-Year-Olds using Gray Matter Volume
Career prospects
In the Master’s Degree Programme you will
- learn to understand and measure complex brain functions at systems level
- learn to measure human cognition, perception and behaviour
- learn to integrate brain-level and behavioural measurements to investigate human performance in different contexts
- gain knowledge and skills suitable for pursuing a scientific career
- design and manage your research project
- analyse behavioural and imaging data
- work in international and interdisciplinary research groups
The interdisciplinary Master’s Degree Programme in Human Neuroscience provides you with broad knowledge to use behavioural methods, non-invasive brain imaging and structural brain measures as indices of the complex brain–behaviour relationship in different settings.
The Programme gives a strong basis to pursue a career as a human neuroscience expert. For example, graduates of the Programme can
- work in medical companies
- work in health and game industries
- continue studies and research towards a PhD
Master of Science degree provides you with eligibility for PhD studies. Graduates from the Programme are eligible to apply for a position in the University of Turku Graduate School, UTUGS. The Graduate School consists of doctoral programmes, which cover all disciplines and doctoral candidates of the University.
