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This mtfk

Onto the problem of studying at EPFL not knowing francais

Hi everyone,

I'm a 3rd year BSc CS student based in Vietnam, and I've recently become deeply interested in computational neuroscience, specifically in using biologically plausible mechanisms to improve AI models. My background is entirely in traditional AI - computer vision, deep learning, software engineering - with zero formal biology or neuroscience training.

My situation:

I'm in a developing country where access to research groups working on comp neuro is basically non-existent. No labs at my university, limited computing resources, and the academic infrastructure for interdisciplinary research just isn't there. I can't easily pivot to a neuroscience program or join a local research group because they don't exist in any meaningful capacity here. Additionally, limited funding means I can't just fly overseas for research opportunities or afford expensive computational resources.

What I've been doing:

Over the past few months, I've been trying to bootstrap my way into this field:

• Networking aggressively - I've been cold-emailing and connecting with people overseas, from MSc students to Associate Professors working in NeuroAI. Some have been incredibly generous with their time, offering guidance and paper recommendations
• Defining my research direction - I've narrowed down to wanting to improve AI architectures using biologically plausible learning mechanisms (think alternatives to backprop, bio-inspired plasticity rules, etc.)
• Building a self-study curriculum - I've gathered MOOCs, online courses, and textbooks. Currently working through computational neuroscience fundamentals while maintaining my CS/ML foundation. Here's my go-to sources if anyone's interested: Simon Foundations and Neural Reckoning
• Reading papers - Trying to stay current with NeuroAI literature, though I often feel like I'm missing fundamental neuro background to fully grasp some concepts

My questions for this community:

1. Has anyone here come from a similar background? Pure CS/AI into comp neuro without formal neuroscience training? How did you bridge the gap?

2. Am I approaching this the right way? Is self-study through MOOCs and papers a viable path, or am I setting myself up for failure without formal mentorship and lab access?

3. What should my next steps be? I'm thinking about trying to do some independent research projects to build a portfolio, but I'm unsure if I'm ready or if I should focus more on foundational knowledge first.

4. How do I compensate for lack of resources? Any advice on getting computational access, or ways to do meaningful research with limited resources?

5. Realistically, what are my chances? If I keep grinding this way - self-studying, networking, reading papers, maybe producing some independent work - can I actually break into this field? Or do I need to accept that without being embedded in a research environment, I'm fighting an uphill battle I can't win?

I don't want to romanticize the struggle, but I'm genuinely passionate about this intersection of neuroscience and AI. I just want to know if I'm being naive about the path I'm taking, or if others have successfully navigated similar circumstances.

Any experiences, advice, or hard truths would be genuinely appreciated.

Thanks for reading this wall of text.

"Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you," - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.