The PhD, in either Psychology or Neuroscience, is a research-based degree, normally conducted over a period of 3 years (or 6 years if taken on a part-time basis), under the supervision of one or more members of the School's academic staff, leading to a thesis of no more than 80,000 words and an oral examination (viva). The School of Psychology and Neuroscience offers PhD and MSc (by research) programmes. Research in psychology and neuroscience typically fall into one of four key themes: cellular and developmental neuroscience, origins of mind, perception, cognition and action , social and group processes.<br>Members of this grouping are investigating the neural control of a broad range of behaviour patterns and cognitive processes, including locomotion, attention, reward processing, spatial memory, and social learning, and the effects of early steroid hormone exposure on behavioural and brain development. The research has enhanced our understanding of a range of human neurological disorders, including motor neurone disease, drug addiction and Alzheimer's.