"When universities try to recruit students to their programs, they usually put something on their brochures about "opportunities for students to develop meaningful relationships with faculty". Having graduated from a research university with over 50,000 students, I realize that sounds really nice, but it's usually not the case. Luckily, UAB is true to its word, and most of the faculty I've come across are genuinely nice people who enjoy having students around. When you combine this type of atmosphere with research that's gaining increasing national recognition in the neuroscience community, the choice is simple. I joined UAB." 

- Robert Mans, Advanced Student, 2005

"Hello there, my name is Christopher Mazzochi. I first heard of UAB and its Neuroscience program when I was an undergraduate looking at graduate schools with programs in Neuroscience. At that point in time, UAB had over 60 faculty conducting research in neurobiology under UAB's Neuroscience Training Program. Five years later I decided to apply to UAB's Neuroscience Training Program for a few reasons. The primary reason I applied was because UAB had the same amount of neuroscience faculty as when I first learned about it; their faculty numbers had not decreased, indicating stability and commitment. The second reason, equally as important as the first one at the time for me, was the diversity of neuroscience research being carried at UAB. There were many other institutions that didn't have the depth of research interests as UAB had. At the time, many graduate schools had neurobiology departments with a smaller number of faculty than did UAB. At UAB, I was able to enter through the Neuroscience Training Program and select from over 60 faculty for a potential mentor. The combination of both a large and diverse group of neuroscience faculty was what lead me initially to apply to UAB. Additionally, I found the location of Birmingham to be beautiful. The cost of living in the Southeast is also the lowest, which was a definite factor when considering where to live as a graduate student.

During my time as a doctoral student at UAB I was very fortunate to come into contact with leaders in a variety of fields, from X-ray crystallography to physiology, including Dr. Larry Delucas, an astronaut and researcher. In addition, the diversity of seminar speakers was certainly beneficial to exposing me to experts in my field of study and to people beyond my scope of immediate interest.

I believe UAB could be characterized as a "big research institution, with a small school feel". By that, I mean it's a top research institution, but it is small enough so you don't feel you will be lost in the system.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Birmingham while attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham. If given the chance to do it all over again at UAB, I most definitely would without a second thought."

-Christopher Mazzochi, Alumni, 2005