I wonder how can a Physicist work with live animals as a PI without collaborating with biologists.
In my Institution, there are many Physicists who work with live animals. In fact, we host an undergraduate B.Sc.in Biophysics, in which undergraduates attend both Maths, Physics, Biology courses, then go on to multidisciplinary training during their M.Sc. and Ph.D. Sure enough, experimental approaches benefit from Physicists working together with Biologists, and contemporary Science requires ever more transdisciplinary collaboration across multiple fields.
Several Neuroscience areas are interdisciplinary and require the expertise of Phyisists. For example, studies on brain activity with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging involve biologists, physicians, and physists. Physists play also a key role in the analysis of the functioning of neuronal networks. So, it is possible to have Physists as PI in Neuroscience projects, but I bet they likely have biologists in the team.
As Albertino mentioned, there is a great deal of interaction between physicists and neuroscientists in functional MRI, and MRI in general. Many imaging facilities are run by physicists. If you have live animal experience and training, you could certainly do live animal imaging. There are not many facilities that currently do live animal fMRI, but it is a growing field in terms of imaging in general.
Remember the story of the old scientist Edoardo Boncinelli, at a theoretical level, Mauro C
Hi Krishnashish. Your concern is certainly something that can be solved with hard work and appropriate planning. I think it is worth pointing out that it depends which country you intend to carry your research in, as to how you obtain the relevant qualifications. For example, the United Kingdom has strict licensing laws, but most academic institutes offer incredibly high quality training for obtaining the proper qualifications to work with animals. I know of a few physicists that have obtained these qualifications to pursue neuroscience research and I can put you in touch with them if you would like - please just message me.
Thank you everyone for your kind and helpful answers.
It definitely increases my confidence of continuing my work with calcium imaging and electrophysiology of live animal brains.
Other than working with animals, another fear I have is to be caught in a situation where I am unable to join as a faculty in a biology department as I can't teach biology to students. It's not that I want to teach in a university, but it is hard to be a PI and not do any teaching.
The answer to your question depends on what kind of neuroscience research you are interested in pursuing. If it is bench research then you need to have your doctorate in neuroscience. Studying the brain through imaging is a rapidly growing field where most of the physicists work. You will have to collaborate with a neuroscientist or a neurologist or a neuropsychologist. You can have positions in both the physics and the neurosciences/neurology departments (with no teaching required in the neurosciences/neurology/neuropsychology departments as you will need the appropriate degree in them to teach) simultaneously. This has been my experience as an academic neurologist. thanks.
Dear Mustafa,
Thank you for your answer. I wonder what you mean by "bench research". With my diverse background, I am capable of pursing research projects in molecular, computational and systems Neuroscience at the same time in parallel. My PhD in molecular biophysics has already imparted me the basic skills needed for the former two. As a postdoc, I am developing my skills required for systems Neuroscience. Once I am done with it, I expect to be able breed and train animals myself followed by using my skills in live brain imaging, electrophysiology, super-resolution microscopy of fixed brain slices, coarse-grain modelling & simulation of neural networks, molecular modelling & structure determination of biomolecules related to the nervous system. I think that would be a sufficient package to rule out the need for collaboration, unless I am short of funding & resources.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Collaboration