Field guide

How to become a neuroscientist

A neuroscientist studies the brain and nervous system, usually in a university, hospital research center or drug company. To lead research you normally need a PhD, an MD, or both, followed by postdoctoral training.

Median pay (US)
$103,410
Middle 50%
$79,840 to $139,380
Employed (US)
172,340
Usual entry level
Doctoral or professional degree

BLS has no separate code for neuroscientists. The pay here is for "medical scientists, except epidemiologists", the group most research neuroscientists fall into.

What the work looks like

The field covers wet-lab work on cells and animals, human imaging studies and heavily computational modeling. Many projects now rely as much on code as on lab skill, so programming is close to essential.

The official O*NET job description lists tasks such as:

  • Follow strict safety procedures when handling toxic materials to avoid contamination.
  • Evaluate effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, parasites, and microorganisms at various levels.
  • Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.

The route in

  1. Major in neuroscience, biology, psychology or a quantitative subject.
  2. Join a research lab early and learn to analyze your own data.
  3. Decide between a PhD and a joint MD-PhD, which is longer and aims at clinical research.
  4. Plan on a postdoc before faculty or senior industry posts.
The catch. The training is long and the number of faculty posts is small compared with the number of PhDs. Your computational skills are the strongest insurance if you end up leaving academic research.

Pay in the US

The May 2025 national figures for medical scientists, except epidemiologists run from $64,800 at the 10th percentile to $177,780 at the 90th, with a median of $103,410 and a mean of $116,840. BLS projects employment growth of 13% over 2025-35 (much faster than average), with about 10,500 openings a year.

If you do a PhD in this area

In 2025 the median research doctorate recipient in biological and biomedical sciences took 8.0 years from bachelor's degree, 6.3 years from starting graduate school and 5.7 years from starting the doctoral program.

In 2025, of 9,950 research doctorate recipients in biological and biomedical sciences, 5,460 reported a definite postgraduation commitment and 3,588 of those were postdoctoral study positions in the United States. That is 65.7% of those with a commitment.

In the UK

UK neuroscience PhDs are often funded through four-year doctoral training programs, and some include rotations before you commit to a lab.

ONS ASHE 2026 (provisional) gives median annual gross pay of £49,121 for full-time employees in SOC 2020 group 2113, biochemists and biomedical scientists. This is a provisional figure from a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide.

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Related fields

Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, SOC 19-1042, May 2025, national, all industries, retrieved 2026-11-03. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, retrieved 2026-11-03. NSF NCSES, Survey of Earned Doctorates 2025, Table 1-12 (NSF 26-326), retrieved 2026-11-03. NSF NCSES, Survey of Earned Doctorates 2025, Table 6-1 (NSF 26-326), retrieved 2026-11-03. ONS ASHE Table 14.7a (Occupation SOC20 4-digit, Annual pay - Gross, Full-Time sheet) and 14.7b (CV), retrieved 2026-11-03. Tasks from the O*NET 31.0 Database by USDOL/ETA, used under CC BY 4.0.