Hey,
I'm trying to decide between applying for a pharmacology/ neuroscience PhD in the US (found a few interesting programmes at Yale and John Hopkins) or in London (having looked at the projects offered this year it'll probably be between UCL, King's and the rotational London Pain Consortium PhD). I'm currently doing my undergrad degree in London and love living here, but there a couple of places in the US which sound like quite an opportunity. The advantage of staying in London would be definitely good first hand information on prospective supervisors as well as shorter duration of the PhD, also being an EU student, it'll be easier to get funding than in the US. However, I've been told that whether I want a career in research or in industry, it's very well seen to have versatile experience and staying in London would be a waste of time and a missed opportunity.
On the other hand, as one of my tutors pointed out to me, going to the US means spending 5 years in the same lab, learning the same skills, and she regarded it would be a waste of time. I've so far heard quite different opinions, so would appreciate any comparison of PhD programmes in the UK/ US in terms of quality of the PhD itself, funding, working environment, and the PhD being worth the time (especially in the US as it's at least 2 extra years).
Thanks,
K.

I'm not a scientist, so a lot of this may not be applicable to your field, but I'll make a few points that I've learnt about the US v UK difference:

The timescales are a little misleading, a UK PhD often runs into a 4th year (or sometimes longer), and a US PhD can be completed in 4 years, so you have to be careful about assuming there will be a defined 2 year difference and you are 'wasting' two years.

A US PhD offers more than a UK PhD, (eg it's more structural, more teaching/training etc) you simply won't be getting the same learning experience - this is not to say the US PhD is better, although many US academics will argue that, and this is not helped when the likes of the THES keep harping on about UK PhDs being 'dumbed down'.

US PhDs are more competitive, tbh I would have thought getting into Yale or John Hopkins (and winning funding) with just a UK undergrad degree would be a difficult task.

This issue of changing uni's for versatility is nonsense (and often raised on this forum) - if you are happy with your university in London, then there is no reason not to stay. The only strong reason to favour the US would be if you plan to work there.