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2026 Q2
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USA
Having difficultly deciding how to proceed with switching fields (Anatomical Neuroscience --> Computational Neuroscience) + current difficulties with my lab in Japan, what is the best way to proceed?
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Hello! I have lost my way and I've been wanting to find my passion. I want to engulfed by my research. I am extremely envious of those that have that. I was going to go to med school, but as I finishe
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Hello! I have lost my way and I've been wanting to find my passion. I want to engulfed by my research. I am extremely envious of those that have that. I was going to go to med school, but as I finished my degree I just didn't think I was aiming for med school because I wanted to actually go. I decided to pivot to neuroscience, as I was always interested in the brain. However, I ended up going to an anatomical Neuroscience lab in Japan for my masters. I had not nearly known enough. My father recommended me to go straight to PhD, but I have a habit of not believing in my abilities, regardless if I actually have them or not. So I insisted that I think I won't get into a PhD program and even if I did that I wouldn't survive. So I found a masters program in Japan, why Japan? I had done an exchange program and a connection with a professor who recommended to a lab. Unfortunately, I do have some difficulties with Japan's academic system. It's very hands off, and I feel completely lost. A lot of my proposed ideas for projects were shot down or put off until they were shot down. During the first year, I lost a lot of motivation. As I just didn't know what I should be doing. I am getting more help now, however, as deadlines near it has made it very stressful. I also learned that I don't know if wet lab type experiments are really my thing. I really like tinkering, theory-crafting, and thinking. I struggle a lot with technical hand work like surgeries as my hands shake, I am slow, and maybe I accidentally nudge the machine and head mount shifts. And after doing the same repetitive wet lab experiments I don't really feel very passionate about it either. As I had time due to no project, I started to learn some analysis techniques, python and a bit of math in the meantime as I thought they would be valuable skills. I noticed that I was enjoying it a lot more, this type of puzzle solving work. It has faster feedback, I can think more not just repeat and do work with my hands, the answers seem more clear. So, I've been thinking about how to proceed. When I finish this masters what should I do next? My gut feeling is saying I should switch to a field I am more certain I will enjoy. However, I am not as young anymore. I am 1-2 years old than the average masters student already due to a gap year/exchange program. So time is a concern as well as money. However, I am EU/US dual citizen so EU should be more affordable? If I make the leap to switch to computational neuroscience, how can I do that smoothly? I've been thinking a lot about options. 1. Second Masters 2. Online post-bacc program like the one offered by Tufts 3. Find a Job where I will learn overtime? I am a very anxious person so making decisions where I don't really know the outcome makes it hard. Any advice or tips is really appreciated!
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