“I will always treasure the time I spent at the MRC CBU, and think myself lucky to have been given the opportunity to study there. Aside from the appeal of the building with its excellent facilities and bucolic setting, it was the human environment that made it special for me. Throughout my studies I felt fostered, supported, encouraged – and challenged.

One of the great strengths of the MRC CBU from my point of view was the breadth of approaches it supported to the subjects of cognition and brain science, and this meant regular opportunities for cross-pollination of methods and ideas across labs and specialisms. At the same time, theoretical and methodological rigour was encouraged, supported by well-established processes of vetting and oversight.

Most of all today I am grateful for the convivial warmth of the MRC CBU and the personal connections I made over the course of my time at the MRC CBU that I can confidently expect to endure. I hope the MRC CBU will continue to flourish, and I would strongly recommend it as an excellent choice of research institution.”

— Alex Kaula, April 2023

“The more academics I talk to, the more I realise just how special the Cognition & Brain Sciences Unit is. What could be better than designated tea times twice a day and celebrating Tuesday with copious amounts of cake? If I had to describe the CBU in a single word, it would be ‘warm’. From the moment I walked in the door I have always felt genuinely welcomed and supported by staff and students at all career stages. Being able to talk openly with PhD students, post-docs, programme leaders, and a wide variety of technical staff is one of the highlights of working here. It has given me the confidence to be curious and explore new ideas.

Dementia research is a topic which has always had my heart and, though it hasn’t always been easy, the mix of a supportive work environment and area of study I genuinely love means I’m always excited to come in on a Monday. Granted sometimes I want to throw my laptop out of the nearest window (who doesn’t?) but at the CBU I’m always confident I’ll pick it back up again. Maybe after a tea break.”

— Rebecca Williams, April 2023

“I quite vividly remember my first days in Cambridge & the CBU or as some simply say the unit. I definitely felt some pressure when I sat down for the first time in the tea room under the watching eyes of previous directors and giants of the field as their portraits were hanging on the wall but the pressure was lifted because I was also very excited and made feel welcome by  everyone at the same time.

It must be one of the first Chaucer Club lectures that I ever attended that left a lasting impression on  me. The speaker, who also spend time at the unit as a young researcher, just came for a visit and gave a presentation at the weekly lecture series. The speaker described at length how special and magical the unit was for them. This is a recurrent theme among people who come back for a visit. Honestly at first I felt these exclamations of love were a bit cheesy. Now however since I graduated myself and look back at my time at the unit I can see what they mean: the unit is indeed sort of a magical place in academia.

This magical place gave me the space and support to grow academically and as a person. There I met a  community of excellent scientists and I had a time I will never forget. I found friends, mentors,  collaborators and the people that I never want to miss in my life at this wonderful institution.”

— Alexander Quent, March 2023

“When I started the PhD program at the CBU I constantly heard that the unit is a special place to belong to. It is not a common occurrence that the heart of a world-class research unit lies inside an old Victorian house with a nice garden. And even though the unit houses about 150 members, you soon feel like you are all one big family. You meet all your fellow students during an annual graduate retreat. And you meet everyone else in the large common room during coffee breaks, in the garden for games and barbeques and when you participate in the unit’s long-held tradition of a Christmas pantomime!

What continues to amaze me is how graduate student training is a main driver of the unit’s operations. As a student here, I had the opportunity to be supervised and interact with some of the leading experts in my field. Many of my projects involved utilizing a new type of MRI-based brain imaging pipeline that was never tried in Cambridge before. A dedicated MRI-methods team helped me set up the MRI sequences and the unit’s IT team helped to resolve unexpected technical issues. In hindsight, it all went smoothly, but I only realized later that I was lucky to have had this level of support and access to many cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience tools all under one roof.

Living in Cambridge is also fun. When I first moved here (from a metropolitan city) I thought I would be bored. But to my surprise, the university’s colleges had several events running almost every day, from parties to talks from world leaders to sports societies …. The list is long and I quickly had no time to attend many events. Not to mention that London is only a one hour train ride away!

As I write this during the COVID-19 pandemic, I recognize that much of what I have just said is temporarily on hold. The unit has always placed a special emphasis on the students’ mental well-being and we were never short of help channels during these challenging times.

It thus no longer surprises me that many of the founding pioneers, as well as previous and current leaders in the fields of human psychology and neuroscience, were affiliated with the CBU at some point in their careers. Its world class research and mentoring continue to be a magnet for the best minds. Now that I have just completed my PhD, I can confidently tell anyone that this unit is indeed a special place.”

— Moataz Assem, PhD Student, November 2020