Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Dr. Lila Landowski explores the fascinating workings of the brain, making complex neuroscience accessible and inspiring for any audience.
Let Lila be your catalyst to positive life change.
I want to find out more about the neuroscientist Dr Lila Landowski
Visit the About Lila page
What is a neuroscientist and what do they actually do? Are there many jobs, and what is the typical starting salary?
A neuroscientist (“brain scientist”) studies the nervous system (which includes the brain and the spinal cord, as well as the nerves that span out into the body) to understand how they work, develop, and cause diseases. They may use a range of approaches, including lab research, imaging, clinical trials and computation to investigate everything from basic functions like memory and emotion to conditions like Alzheimer’s, stroke and depression, aiming to improve understanding of those sytems and/or develop treatments. They may work across various settings, including academia, medicine, research institutes, and tech, performing experiments, analyzing data, developing potential drugs.
Their goal is to understand the biological basis of behavior, cognition, and emotion, and to find solutions for neurological and psychiatric conditions, ultimately improving human health and understanding what it means to be human
Core Activities & Responsibilities:
- Research: Designing and conducting experiments on neural circuits, cells, and systems using animal models, humans or human data.
- Data Analysis: Analyzing complex data from experiments using computational models, statistics, and software.
- Imaging: Using fMRI, PET scans, confocal microscopy, histology, immunohistochemistry, optogenetics and other techniques to map brain structure and activity.
- Drug Development: Investigating how systems work to identify where new therapies can be targeted, or seeing how compounds affect neural function to create new therapies.
- Technology: Developing diagnostics, creating brain-computer interfaces and prosthetics.
- Writing & Communication: Publishing findings in journals and collaborating with other scientists.
Areas of Focus:
- Cognitive Neuroscience: How the brain produces thought, learning, and creativity.
- Neurological Disorders: Studying diseases like Parkinson’s, epilepsy, stroke, and dementia.
- Computational Neuroscience: Building models to simulate brain networks.
- Neurobiology: Focusing on the biology, anatomy, and chemistry of neurons.
Dr Lila Landowski studied neurobiology (understanding how neurons connect and communicate, and understanding how they decide where to grow), peripheral neuropathy (studying injury to the nerves in the skin, testing potential drug delivery into the skin, and discovering a natural protein/peptide that regenerates nerves in the skin), dementia (studying neuron outgrowth in Alzheimers disease, the most common type of dementia), stroke (studying what happens when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts), nanotechnology (optimising drug delivery to the brain), and fatigue (understanding why we are tired, seemingly without reason!). She currently lectures at University and is working to better understand the neuroscience of learning and memory.
Jobs in neuroscience are highly competitive and considered an unstable career choice. In Australia, approximately 1 in 10 research projects submitted to the NHMRC Ideas scheme (the main source of research funding) recieve funding. This is not because the other 9 out of 10 grant appliations are poor quality; rather, the majority of these grants are consistently rated outstanding by international standards. That means a neuroscientist can be highly trained, publish well, teach well, collaborate well, and still be without research funding, and spend months (or years) stitching together contracts, fellowships, casual teaching, or moving cities for subsequent employment. Many Australian neuroscientists leave to the EU or USA for better research funding opportunities.
An average starting salary for a neuroscientist in Australia in an academic institution in 2026 (assuming they have a degree and a PhD/Doctorate in neuroscience or relevant field) is around AUD$90,000.
How can I learn faster, using neuroscience?
Listen to Lila’s Viral TEDx Talk on “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”.
This talk is used in classrooms worldwide, and is available with captions in English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Turkish and Arabic.
Click the ⚙️ > Subtitles/CC > change to your preferred language
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of how social media affects the brain, specifically how addictive design theory is used in social media and on online platforms? Why are teens brains more vulnerable to addictive design on social media?
Listen to Lila’s video here
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of pain
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode with Anaesthetist Dr Harry Laughlin
Why do teenagers seem to tune out when they hear their mom’s voice?
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode, originally airing on Andy Park’s ABC Radio National Drive program
What is the neuroscience behind the link between wealth inequality & stress and education, health and crime?
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode, originally airing on ABC Radio Hobart Drive program
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of happiness, what is happiness, can we measure it?
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode (originally aired on ABC Radio National Life Matters)
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of dementia (which is caused by conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease), and i want to understand how to reduce my risk of dementia?
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode (originally aired on ABC Radio National Life Matters and ABC Radio Sydney Drive)
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of depression
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode with Psychiatrist Dr Xavier Mulenga:
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of how social media affects the brain
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode, originally airing on ABC radio
I want to understand a bit more about the neuroscience of the cognitive effects on perimenopause
Listen to Lila’s podcast episode with Perimenopause GP Dr Hannah Chapman
I want to watch, read and listen to more of Lila’s work. Where can I find it?
LISTEN: Podcast, Radio & Media Interviews
WATCH: TV interviews
READ: Writing, Print & Books
Social media links:
La charla TED viral de la Dra. Lila Landowski, “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”, ya está disponible con subtítulos en español.
Es imprescindible para cualquiera interesado en el crecimiento personal, el aprendizaje, la educación o la neurociencia. Mira la charla TEDx viral de Lila, “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”, con subtítulos en español aquí:
A continuación, haz clic en ⚙️ > Subtítulos/CC > cambia al idioma que prefieras
Dr. Lila LandowskiのバイラルTEDトーク 「Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience」 は、日本語字幕付きで視聴できるようになりました。
自己成長、学習、教育、神経科学に関心のある方にとって必聴の内容です。日本語字幕付きでLilaのバイラルTEDxトーク 「Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience」 をこちらからご覧ください：
次に、⚙️ > 字幕 > お好みの言語に変更 をクリックしてください
Talk TED viral Dr Lila Landowski, “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”, kini tersedia dengan teks (caption) dalam Bahasa Indonesia.
Ini adalah tontonan wajib bagi siapa pun yang tertarik pada pengembangan diri, pembelajaran, pendidikan, atau ilmu saraf. Tonton TEDx Talk viral Lila “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience” dengan teks Bahasa Indonesia di sini:
Selanjutnya, klik ⚙️ > Subtitles/CC > ubah ke bahasa pilihan Anda
Lila Landowski 博士的爆款 TED 演讲 “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience” 现已提供 **中文（简体）**字幕。
这是一场适合所有关注个人成长、学习、教育或神经科学的人必听的演讲。点击这里观看 Lila 的爆款 TEDx 演讲 “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”（**中文（简体）**字幕）：
接着点击 ⚙️ > 字幕/CC > 选择你偏好的语言
محاضرة TED المنتشرة للدكتورة ليلا لاندوفسكي “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience” أصبحت الآن متاحة مع ترجمات (Captions) باللغة العربية。
إنها مادة لا غنى عنها لكل من يهتم بالتطور الشخصي، والتعلّم، والتعليم، أو علم الأعصاب. استمع/شاهد محاضرة TEDx المنتشرة لليلا “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience” مع ترجمات باللغة العربية هنا:
بعد ذلك، اضغط ⚙️ > Subtitles/CC > ثم اختر لغتك المفضّلة
Dr. Lila Landowski’nin viral TED konuşması “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience” artık Türkçe altyazıyla izlenebilir.
Kişisel gelişim, öğrenme, eğitim veya sinirbilimle ilgilenen herkes için mutlaka izlenmesi gereken bir konuşma. Lila’nın viral TEDx konuşmasını “Brain hack: sharing the secrets to productive learning, backed by neuroscience”, Türkçe altyazıyla buradan izleyin:
Ardından ⚙️ > Altyazılar/CC > tercih ettiğiniz dili seçin
Dr Lila Landowski - Neuroscientist, Speaker and Thought Leader 