Columbia University is one of the largest Neuroscience Centers in the US. There are numerous clinical and basic departments as well as interdisciplinary research centers all comprising a geographically concentrated neuroscience research community. The community supports rich opportunities for personal enrichment and career development in the neurosciences that all supplement the individual lab experience. Within this community the department of psychiatry has a large collaborative basic science research program focusing on the neurobiology of mental illness on molecular, cellular, circuit, and systems levels. Diverse patient populations allow for easy collaboration between basic and clinical neuroscientists.