Graduate Education

The faculty at the Center for Neural Engineering have expertise in four main research areas: neural computation; neurophysiology; neurodevices and neurotechnologies; and neural data sciences. They collaborate across the boundaries of these areas and together achieve far more than they could independently.

Graduate students associated with the CNE work on joint projects and engage with a variety of perspectives and methods through the center’s research activities, including but not limited to the following brain- and brain disease-related research: epilepsy, depression, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, hydrocephalous, stroke, sleep regulation, neurovascular coupling, the origins and interpretations of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the neural mechanisms of birdsong, functions of basil ganglia, and control-theoretic approaches, among others. Together, these research areas marry computational neuroscience to the observation and control of neural systems.

CNE faculty represent many departments and colleges from across Penn State. Graduate students in individual labs at the center are trained through the traditional disciplinary bounds of their home graduate programs. However, in many cases, faculty are associated with more than one graduate training program, and often take students from more than these listed programs, depending on the expertise needed within a project and the career objectives of the students.

Individual graduate programs:

• Engineering Science and Mechanics (ESM)
• Physics (PHYS)
• Neuroscience (NEURO)
• Mechanical Engineering (ME)
• Mathematics (MATH)
• Electrical Engineering (EE)
• Biomedical Engineering (BME)
• Anthropology (ANTHRO)

Interested students are encouraged to contact faculty to explore best program fit and identify research assistantship opportunities.

Prospective Students: Take a look at current research opportunities »

Current Students: Preview our Cross Disciplinary Neural Engineering Training Program »