Neuroscience Program Curriculum
Contents of this document:Core Coursework
Neuroscience Program graduates should be as strong in biochemical knowledge, cellular and organismal physiology and formal statistics as graduates of any program in biological sciences. With this in mind, a basic Neuroscience Program Core Curriculum has been designed for all entering students, most of which should be completed with a grade of B- or better within two years as a prelude to doctoral candidacy. Students with deficiencies in certain academic areas may be required to take undergraduate courses. Credit hours are indicated in parenthesis.
- Neuroscience (all courses required as listed)
- NEUSC 6010 Frontiers in Neuroscience (1); to be taken Fall Semester of the first year
- NEUSC 6040 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (4); Additional information for registered student on WebCT
- NEUSC 6050 Systems Neuroscience (4)
- NEUSC 6060 Neuroanatomy for Biomedical Scientists (3);
- NEUSC 6245 Neurophysiology Laboratory (2); one-week course during summer semester
- NEUSC 6250 Molecular Biology Laboratory (2); one-week course during summer semester;
- NEUSC 6900 Neuroscience Rotations (1 per half-semester); Four half-semesters are required
- NEUSC 7750 Developmental Neurobiology (3)
- Quantitative Science (1 course required from the following)
- BIOEN 5070 Bioen Statistics (3)
- PSYCH 5500 Quantitative Methods I (1-4)
- PSYCH 5510 Quantitative Methods II (1-4)
- PH TX 6680 Statistical Methods for Pharmacological Research (2)
- ONCSC 6150 Biostatistics (2-3)
- Ethics (1 course required from the following)
- MBIOL 7570 Research Ethics (1)
- Grant Writing or Scientific Writing (1 course required from the following)
- PH TX 6690 Professional Skills (2)
- NEUSC 7950 Professional Skills (2)
Course requirements for MD/PhD students entering the Neuroscience Program
Course requirements must include:
1 Neuroscience core course (other than Neuroanatomy)
1 other semester of didactic course work (depending upon lab selected).
1 research ethics class (1 credit)
In addition, students are required to attend the weekly RIP/Journal clubs in their department.
If the supervisory committee deems additional coursework to be necessary then the student will be asked to do this.
Otherwise all other Neuroscience Program requirements apply to MD/PhD students (except the supervisory committee, which must meet MD/PhD program guidelines by having one member from the MD/PhD Advisory Committee).
Available Advanced Lecture Courses
Neuroscience Program students are required to take 3 graded elective graduate level courses and 3 credit hours of ungraded, departmental journal club courses beyond the core curriculum. The opportunities are extensive as the Neuroscience Program is an interdepartmental program. Thus any graduate courses (6000-7000 series courses) in the participating departments can be used to augment a student's training. In certain cases, graduate or advanced undergraduate courses in non-program departments may be taken with the prior approval of the advisory and Curriculum committees. The following are abridged listings of possible 6000-7000 series courses. There are many others available including 5000 series. Departmental Journal Club courses are also recommended/encouraged.
- Biochemistry / Molecular Biology / Biology / Biological Chemistry
- BIO C 6500 Biochemical Mechanisms of Signal Transduction (2)
- BIOL 5330 Neural Mechanisms of Behavior (3)
- BLCHM 6400 Genetic Engineering (2)
- BLCHM 6450 Biophysical Chemistry (2)
- MBIOL 6410 Protein and Nucleic Acids Biochemistry (3)
- MBIOL 6420 Genetic and Genome (3)
- MBIOL 6440 Gene Expression (1.5)
- MBIOL 6480 Cell Biology (3)
- Bioengineering
- BIOEN 6000 Principles of PhysiologyI: Cellular, Molecular Physiology (4)
- BIOEN 6010 Principles of Physiology II: Systemic Physiology (4)
- BIOEN 6900 Neural Interfaces Laboratory (1-4)
- Neuroscience
- NEUSC 6100 Visual Neuroscience I (3)
- Pharmacology & Toxicology
- PH TX 7270 Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology (2)
- PH TX 7280 Advances in Neuropharmacology (2)
- Physiology
- PHYSL 6910 Principles and Practice of Physiology I: Electrophysiological Assay Systems (3)
- PHYSL 6940 Nerve Membrane Biophysics (2)
- Psychiatry / Psychology
- PSYCT 6010 Basic Science Foundations of Psychiatry (1)
- PSYCH 5750 Neurobiology of Behavior (4)
Neuroscience Seminars
First year students attend weekly seminars covering various advances in neuroscience. During the Fall Semester of the first year, Frontiers in Neuroscience (NEUSC 6010) is presented by the faculty of the program, updating ongoing research in the Neuroscience Program.
Neuroscience Rotations
Neuroscience Rotations (NEUSC 6900) are the prime mechanisms by which students become exposed to working laboratory science and attempt to match up with prospective mentors. All students complete 4 half-semester rotations in the first year as part of their formal training and to find prospective mentors. Neuroscience Rotations are half-semester "laboratory" courses (1 credit), which translates to about 9 hours of laboratory work per week. Faculty may offer rotations in either or both of two formats: (1) A 1/2S-Rotation is the standard one half-semester format where the student will attend the laboratory for about nine hours per week in whatever format best blends with the academic schedule; (2) An S-Rotation is the condensed summer format where a student will spend five weeks in a laboratory, which converts to roughly half-time attendance every day (four hours). Neuroscience Program students should select prospective rotations from the rotations catalogue and contact the faculty members offering them. Students may also find that presentations in Frontiers in Neuroscience will assist them in finding a mentor.
Teaching requirement for PhD students
All PhD students have to fulfill a minimal requirement for teaching by the end of the 4th year.
Generally, this requirement can be fulfilled by serving as a TA for a didactic undergraduate or graduate course. Students can propose other ways to fulfill the requirement, as long as the following minimum conditions are met:
1) There must be a didactic teaching component (i.e. lecturing). The student cannot simply serve as an assistant to the course director, conduct office hours, or grade papers.
2) There must be direct, written feedback from a faculty member, such as the course instructor.
All students, with input from their mentor and Supervisory Committee, must submit a proposal for fulfilling the teaching requirement for approval by the Curriculum Chair 1 month before the semester of their teaching assignment.
If interested, students can gain significantly more teaching experience through the Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE).
Special Topics Courses
In addition to the formal Neuroscience Rotations, students may also elect to carry out advanced readings courses or small scale research projects under any of the Neuroscience Program faculty at any time (NEUSC 7980 - faculty consultation).
Choosing a Mentor
By the end of the first year of study, each student selects a thesis advisor (by mutual agreement with the Neuroscience Program faculty member) and four other faculty members to form an advisory committee. Together, the student and advisory committee begin to chart the remainder of the academic program and assist in preparing the student for the doctoral candidacy examination. The advisory committee provides regular reports to the Director and Curriculum Committee of the Neuroscience Program regarding student progress.
Admission to Candidacy
Students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree after completing the course and seminar requirements and passing a qualifying examination given by the advisory committee by the end of the second year of training.
Financial Support
All Ph.D. students in the Neuroscience Program are awarded financial support (living stipend and tuition waver) for the duration of their thesis work, provided their progress is satisfactory. First year students are supported by the Neuroscience Program (The stipend amount is $26,000 for the 2012-2013 academic year). After their first year, students are supported from individual departmental resources, by graduate training grants (in genetics, developmental biology, and cancer research), or by research or teaching assistantships. Stipend levels, regardless of the source of support, are the same in all participating departments.
