In most areas like ion channels, development, sensory systems, motor systems, plasticity, molecular genetics, etc, we have an amazing breadth of faculty as well, so students have many options in their choice of faculty, approaches, and experimental preparations. Students do not choose a dissertation lab until the end of their first year lab rotations. Indeed, because of the breadth of research interests in the program, students frequently find that they have become interested in areas of neurobiology that they had not been exposed to previously. Unlike some other schools, most Neurobiology and Behavior professors at UW are rather informal and are willing and even eager to exchange ideas with each other and with students from other labs. As you will note on your visit, students and faculty usually are on a first name basis.
Many professors collaborate with each other.
In addition, students pass freely between labs to learn new techniques and discuss ideas. In the first year, there is a 3-quarter core course that introduces neuroscience from the molecule to the mind. In the first or later years, each student also must select at least 5 additional neuroscience-related courses from a large list of possibilities offered throughout the campus. There are ample opportunities to TA in the field of neuroscience. First, there is a Neuroscience undergraduate major at UW and Neurobiology and Behavior graduate students have first dibs on those courses.