The International Doctoral Program in Neuroscience of the University of Porto (i-PDN-UP) is a tailor-made program that enables students from multiple backgrounds to acquire the basic theoretical and practical skills necessary to develop a PhD thesis in various fields of neuroscience.

As such, it offers a broad, multidisciplinary education guaranteed by the collaboration of numerous first line research units inside and outside the country and a large high profile faculty from the Universities of Porto, Coimbra, La Sapienza di Roma, Autónoma de Madrid and Crete.

The entire training is developed in a rich international research environment both during the first, curricular year and the preparation of the PhD thesis.  During the first year, students attend a short core curriculum covering the fundaments of neurobiology, followed by a variety of optional units encompassing the main research topics in neuroscience, the methodologies available and a number of related subjects from the engineering and mathematics domains.

In addition, the students are asked to participate in international advanced courses, to rotate through different national or international laboratories and to attend a large assortment of seminars. Medical doctors may opt for a clinical neuroscience curriculum specifically designed to train students on clinical research.

The program awards a doctoral degree by the University of Porto or a double doctoral degree by the University of Porto and one of the international participating universities, depending on the type of research project the student is engaged on.