����̽̽

Program Overview

The program encompasses the following areas of neuroscience: Molecular and Cellular; Developmental, Plasticity, and Repair; Behavioral, Cognitive, and Systems; Human Neurobiology. The NGP is designed to create a dynamic graduate education environment that leverages the diversity of neuroscience research at ����̽̽.  The strong curriculum and research environment and the excellent students that they allow us to attract, results in a low attrition rate, good student productivity, relatively short time to degree, and success in placing graduates in competitive post-doctoral programs.

The Neuroscience Graduate Program awards M.S. degrees only to students who have matriculated into the Ph.D. program but whose academic and research progress is deemed by their advisory committee to be suitable for a M.S. rather than a Ph.D. degree, or to students requesting to leave the program prior to completion of the Ph.D. degree.

Training is accomplished through:

• Core courses that establish a solid foundation of knowledge in molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral neuroscience.
• Advanced courses that emphasize in‐depth study of current neuroscience topics and concepts, critical thinking and effective communication.
• Basic science and translational research, where mentors provide personalized attention and foster independence in thinking as students create and undertake hypothesis‐based approaches to research.
• Lab rotations that allow students to learn a variety of techniques and approaches to studying the nervous system while exploring their interests before committing to a dissertation laboratory.
• Undergraduate teaching opportunities that help students to become effective teachers and communicators of neuroscience. Students choose at least two undergraduate assignments, and they give class presentations in their advanced course work.
• Graduate Student Journal Club and a Neuroscience Seminar Series that develops skills in analytical thinking and logic in the evaluation of one’s own work as well as that of others.
• Community outreach that allows students to make a direct and meaningful impact in the community.

Faculty

NGP faculty members are highly qualified to teach and mentor graduate students.  All presently hold the highest level of degree attainable in neuroscience; the PhD, MD, or combined MD, PhDs.  At present, there are 53 faculty members designated as research mentors. It is notable that 22 have a life-time h-index of 20 or more and 6 have h-indices of >40 (the two top are at 55 and 71). These 22 are full professors and those with h-indices at 10 and below (n=14) are, in general, junior faculty who have yet to accumulate enough citations to make an impact on their h-index. In addition to publishing papers that are well cited, NGP faculty members are successful at obtaining extramural funding. Total direct costs in extramural funding for NGP faculty in FY2015 were $10.2 million and total awards were $14.7 million.  This represents approximately 14% of the total research awards received by ����̽̽ in 2015. Training of NGP students is broadly distributed across the faculty members; 39% have mentored or co-mentored at least one NGP student; 67% have supervised an NGP student for a research rotation; 18 50% have participated in an NGP qualifying exam or dissertations committee; 42% have taught a course that an NGP student had taken; and 14% saw themselves as available for NGP training and/or education but had not yet participated.  Of the faculty who had been a primary advisor of an NGP student, the number of students they advised ranged from 1-4 with a mean of 1.7.

Concentrations

Students can choose between the standard track and biobehavioral track (which covers more behavioral and cognitive neuroscience) within the NGP curriculum. In the standard track, the first year curriculum includes courses covering neural science, anatomy, cell biology, physiology and pharmacology.  These courses integrate information from basic science with translational and medical knowledge to teach students about how the nervous system regulates human physiology and behavior. The second year curriculum consists of Statistics, the Biobehavioral Proseminar (which covers learning and memory), Responsible Conduct in Research, and two advanced selectives in the field of the chosen dissertation project. The biobehavioral track is similar, except Biobehavioral Proseminar (covering learning and memory) and a course in biobehavioral psychology (behavioral neuroscience) are substituted for some coursework on physiology and pharmacology in the first year, and a biobehavioral course is then taken during each of the next three years. 

Curriculum

Seminar

All students participate in Student Journal Club every semester they are in the program. This course includes mentored guidance in presentation skills and data analysis and interpretation.

The provides students the opportunity for in-depth discussions on recent papers in neuroscience.  Students presenting papers work closely with peer mentors as well as faculty mentors to develop professional presentation skills necessary for a career in science.  Because the choice of article is at the discretion of the student, the topics covered are wide ranging and provide ample opportunity for dynamic and discussions involving students and faculty alike.  Journal Club also provides an avenue for developing scientific writing skills. Students not presenting the paper are asked to write a summary paragraph outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen paper and feedback on the writing is provided by members of the faculty.

Teaching

In addition to the coursework, NGP students are required to teach at least two semesters. All students must complete teaching assignments in both their first and second years in the program. Teaching develops student knowledge of neuroscience and is required regardless of source of stipend support.

Research

Laboratory rotations start in the first semester of the first year and last for 9-12 weeks. A minimum of two rotations is required. Students present an oral summary of their rotation work in Student Journal Club in the spring semester. In order to advance to candidacy for the PhD, NGP students must pass a qualifying examination that includes writing a research proposal in an area related to, but not identical to his/her dissertation work. After the proposal is submitted to the examination committee, which consists of 3 faculty members representing different fields of neuroscience (and excluding the advisor), the student takes an oral exam. The oral exam typically lasts 2-3 hours and the student is responsible for facts, concepts, and principles of methodology covered in the research proposal through a series of question posed by the examination committee. Once a student advances to candidacy, a separate dissertation committee is formed. Students write and then defend their thesis proposal which becomes the framework for their dissertation work. The proposal is in the form of an NIH R01 grant proposal. The average time to PhD is 5.4 years. This is shorter than the national average and the outcomes of the graduates are excellent.

Tracking

Student progress is monitored by a Tracking Committee composed of three faculty members and the Director.  All records of student exams, committee meetings, courses taken, and annual Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are kept in a secure folder accessible to the Director and Tracking Committee.  The tracking committee reviews and reports on student progress at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters.  The Director communicates the findings of the Tracking Committee to the student and their mentors and, if required, recommends corrective measures.

Admissions

It is recommended that an incoming student have a Bachelor’s and/or Master’s Degree in a biological science, neuroscience, chemistry, physics, engineering, psychology, mathematics, communication sciences or computer science. Research experience is strongly recommended.

More

Outreach

The NGP is involved in a variety of outreach programs including:

• Brain Awareness Week
• Mentors to local high school students

Did you know?

• The Neuroscience Graduate Program at ����̽̽ is a multidisciplinary, Ph.D. granting program
• We have more than 50 faculty mentors across 9 departments and 4 colleges
• Each student receives personal attention in a friendly and interactive environment
• Students develop skills in scientific thinking, teaching, communication, and writing
• We have Core Facilities for Imaging, Microarray, DNA sequencing, Proteomics
• Our training is rigorous in neuroscience-related research and prepares students for a variety of science related careers in addition to tenure-stream academic careers
• All matriculating students receive financial support