Campuses:
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Twin Cities Campus
Neuroscience Ph.D.Neuroscience
Medical School
Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information
Department of Neuroscience, 6-145 Jackson Hall, 321 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-626-6474; fax: 612-626-6460)
Email:
neurosci@umn.edu
Website: http://www.neuroscience.umn.edu
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the
General Information section of
this
website for requirements that apply to all major fields.
Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry. The objects of this inquiry, the brain and nervous system, are sufficiently complex and unique among biological systems to require experimental and analytical approaches that cross the traditional boundaries of molecular and cell biology, behavioral biology, biochemistry, genetics, pharmacology, physiology, and psychology. In some instances, neuroscientific inquiry may also encompass computer science, information processing, engineering, physics, and mathematics.
Program Delivery
Prerequisites for Admission
Special Application Requirements:
Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL and obtain a minimum score of 625 (paper) or 107 (Internet); or obtain 6.5 on the IELTS examination. There is no minimum GPA requirement to apply.
International applicants must submit score(s) from one of the following tests:
The preferred English language test is Test of English as Foreign Language.
Key to test
abbreviations
(TOEFL, IELTS).
For an online application or for more information about graduate education admissions, see the
General Information section of this
website.
Program Requirements
24
credits are required in the major.
24 thesis credits are required. Plan A: Plan A requires
23
major credits,
up to
credits outside the major,
and
10
thesis credits.
The final exam is oral.
This program may be completed with a minor.
Use of 4xxx courses toward program requirements is permitted under certain conditions with adviser approval.
A minimum GPA of 3.00
is required for students to remain in good standing.
At least 2 semesters must be completed
before filing a Degree Program Form.
The neuroscience PhD curriculum begins in the summer session with the intensive laboratory course in cellular and molecular neurobiology (NSC 5551), held partially at the Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories.
While taking courses, students explore research opportunities in the faculty's laboratories and thereby select a thesis advisor.
Course Credits
All students are required to complete a minimum of 24 course credits and 24 thesis credits. Students must take the following courses or, with DGS approval, substitute courses to meet these minimums. NSC 8321: Career Skills and Understanding Responsibilities as a Neuroscientist will be taken in each semester of the first year and in the spring semester of the second year (0.5 credit per semester).
Required Coursework (12.5 credits)
NSC 5551 - Itasca Cell and Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory
(4.0 cr)
NSC 5461 - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
(3.0 cr)
NSC 5561 - Systems Neuroscience
(4.0 cr)
NSC 8321 - Career Skills and Understanding Responsibilities as a Neuroscientist
(0.5 cr)
Quantitative/Computational Coursework (3 credits)
Students select one of the following:
NSC 8111 - Quantitative Neuroscience
(3.0 cr)
NSCI 5551 - Statistical Foundations of Systems Neuroscience
(3.0 cr)
Elective Coursework
Students select ELECTIVE courses from the course options below in order to reach or exceed the minimum 24 course credits for the degree. Substitute courses can be used with DGS approval.
Take 2 or more course(s) from the following:
·
BMEN 5411 - Neural Engineering
(3.0 cr)
·
BMEN 8101 - Biomedical Digital Signal Processing
(3.0 cr)
·
BMEN 8501 - Dynamical Systems in Biology
(3.0 cr)
·
BMEN 8502 - Physiological Control Systems
(3.0 cr)
·
BMEN 8511 - Systems and Synthetic Biology
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCI 5521 - Machine Learning Fundamentals
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCI 5523 - Introduction to Data Mining
(3.0 cr)
·
CSCI 5525 - Machine Learning: Analysis and Methods
(3.0 cr)
·
HINF 5660 - Applied Causal Discovery
(3.0 cr)
·
HINF 8220 - Computational Causal Analytics
(3.0 cr)
·
MATH 5447 - Theoretical Neuroscience
(4.0 cr)
·
NSC 5462 - Neuroscience Principles of Drug Abuse
(2.0 cr)
·
NSC 5661 - Behavioral Neuroscience
(2.0 cr)
·
NSC 8111 - Quantitative Neuroscience
(3.0 cr)
·
NSC 8211 - Developmental Neurobiology
(2.0-4.0 cr)
·
NSC 8334 - Laboratory Neuroscience
(1.0-3.0 cr)
·
NSC 8481 - Advanced Neuropharmaceutics
(4.0 cr)
·
NSCI 5501 - Neurodegenerative Diseases, Mechanisms to Therapies
(3.0 cr)
·
NSCI 5505 - Mind and Brain
(4.0 cr)
·
NSCI 5551 - Statistical Foundations of Systems Neuroscience
(3.0 cr)
·
PSY 5063 - Introduction to Functional MRI
(3.0 cr)
·
PSY 5065 - Functional Imaging: Hands-on Training
(3.0 cr)
Thesis Credits
Take at least 24 doctoral thesis credits.
NSC 8888 - Thesis Credit: Doctoral
(1.0-24.0 cr)
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Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | S-N or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Summer |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 0.5 [max 2.0] |
Grading Basis: | S-N or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Spring Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Prerequisites: | 8101 or equiv |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Periodic Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Fall Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 2.0 [max 2.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | Phcl 5462/Nsc 5462 |
Typically offered: | Periodic Spring |
Credits: | 2.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 2.0 -4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 1.0 -3.0 [max 10.0] |
Grading Basis: | S-N or Aud |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | CMB 8481/NSc 8481/Phm 8481 |
Grading Basis: | A-F or Aud |
Typically offered: | Fall Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Course Equivalencies: | Nsci 4501/Nsci 5501 |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 4.0 [max 4.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Spring Even Year |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Grading Basis: | A-F only |
Typically offered: | Every Fall |
Credits: | 3.0 [max 3.0] |
Typically offered: | Every Spring |
Credits: | 1.0 -24.0 [max 100.0] |
Grading Basis: | No Grade |
Typically offered: | Every Fall & Spring |