Opportunities For Students

The Neuroscience Department at Williams offers student many opportunities and programs for learning outside the classroom.

Research Opportunities

Students who would like to become involved in research are encouraged to contact the faculty whose research area they find most interesting. Descriptions of the faculty research programs can be found by clicking on the Faculty/Staff link.

If you are interested in summer or senior honors research, be aware that the application process starts in January, and applications must be submitted in early February. You should start by meeting with faculty whose research programs you find interesting; they will provide you information on how to apply for a summer research position and/or for the opportunity to do an honors thesis.

The Neuroscience Program is fortunate to have funding from the Mary Elizabeth Groff Charitable Trust to support honors research.  This funding is used to purchase supplies and materials for thesis research.

Jobs, Internships, and Fellowships

Neuroscience faculty periodically receive announcement of research assistant positions from lab heads (or from former students who are moving on to medical or grad school and know that their position will be opening up). We will send all such announcements out to senior concentrators!

Patricia Goldman-Rakic Prize

The Patricia Goldman-Rakic Prize in Neuroscience was established in 2008 by Toni Ianniello and George Chuzi, parents of Sarah Chuzi (’07), in recognition of Patricia Goldman-Rakic for her contributions to the field of neuroscience and her support of neuroscience education at Williams College. This prize is awarded annually to a student who has demonstrated exceptional achievement in research within the field of neuroscience.

  • 2008: Erika Williams
  • 2009: Katherine Jordan
  • 2010: Jennah Durham
  • 2011: Marijke DeVos
  • 2012: Mark Springel
  • 2013: Sierra Germeyan
  • 2014: Jenna Adams and Megan Trager
  • 2015: Anuj Shah
  • 2016: Kathryn McNaughton
  • 2017: Rachel O’Sullivan
  • 2018: Jacob Sperber
  • 2019: Anna Leonard
  • 2020: Carl Porto
  • 2021: Andrea Orozco
  • 2022: Victoria Saltz
  • 2023: Yuichi Fukunaga