Program of Study
This curriculum provides students with exposure to the full breadth of the discipline, and provides a solid foundation for laboratory research and advanced training in specific areas. The comprehensive coverage is especially helpful for students entering with limited experience in biology, such as those with backgrounds that emphasized computer science, engineering, chemistry, or psychology.
Core courses taken in the first year of graduate study provide an integrated, multidisciplinary view of modern neuroscience.
First semester courses:
- Cellular Neurobiology (Bio 5571) covers the essential principles of electrophysiology, molecular neuroscience, neurohistology, and neural development.
- Graduate Research Fundamentals (Bio 5098) introduces the foundational skills, knowledge, and habits of mind required of successful, independent biological scientists.
- Coding and Statistical Thinking in the Neurosciences (Bio 5648) introduces students to programming, data analysis, and statistics.
Second semester courses:
- Neural Systems (Bio 5651) covers systems neuroscience and the neurobiology of disease.
- 1st Year Fundamentals (Bio 5646) introduces grant-writing.
In their second year, students take a short course in Oral Presentation of Scientific Data (Bio 5565), which provides training in teaching and lecturing, and a course in scientific ethics.
Specialized elective courses are offered to advanced students in later years of their training.
Through rotations, students gain experience in a variety of research approaches and techniques. Following two to three rotations of 10 to 12 weeks each, students have greatly broadened their expertise and are in an ideal position to choose the most suitable laboratory for thesis work.