The vision of the Neuroscience major program is to teach students the fundamental principles of neuroscience in the context of a research-focused curriculum so that each student will be well prepared to pursue a career in the field of neuroscience, cognitive psychology or an allied health field. Neuroscience students are broadly trained in the foundational disciplines of biology, psychology, chemistry and statistics while also providing depth in training at multiple levels of neuroscience in four neuroscience courses: 1) Intro to Neuroscience, 2) Neurochemistry and Neuropharmacology, 3) Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology and 4) Cognitive Psychology/Neuroscience. Students then have the opportunity to tailor their major by selecting 1) the most appropriate cognate courses in computer science, engineering, physics and philosophy and 2) upper level biology or psychology courses, which best suite their specific career goals. Finally, students have the opportunity to apply their foundational knowledge to novel problems in neuroscience in a collaborative research capstone experience in their junior or senior year.
In order to maximize student’s interdisciplinary training, we offer a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience. This major requires completion of 63-67 credits. As noted above, students have several options within the curriculum to tailor their degree program to fit their specific interests. Therefore, it is important that all students considering a major in neuroscience talk with a faculty member in the program as early as possible when planning their degree program.
Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in cellular, molecular, or systems neuroscience or professional studies in a health-related field should take the following to fulfill admission requirements for their intended post-graduate program:
the General Chemistry series, either CHEM 125/CHEM 126, CHEM 127/CHEM 128 OR CHEM 131/CHEM 132. Sophomore students with prior experience in high school chemistry are encouraged to enroll in CHEM 131/CHEM 132.
one year of Organic Chemistry, CHEM 221/CHEM 255, CHEM 231/CHEM 256
at least one semester of Biochemistry, CHEM 311
Those students intending to seek advanced degrees in clinical psychology or other cognitive-related disciplines should consider taking CHEM 103.
Some neuroscience graduate programs may also require Calculus, MATH 131
Students who choose not to take Calculus should take MATH 311/MATH 312 after they have completed Research Methods or the General Biology Series.
Students wishing to take BIOL 355 , BIOL 348/394, BIOL 370 or BIOL 442 must have taken the Introductory Biology Sequence. BIOL 105/BIOL 106, BIOL 107/BIOL 108.
Students may apply 1-4 credits of BIOL 490, CHEM 490, PSY 490, NSCI 490, Independent Research Credit toward this elective.
*PHYS 106/PHYS 108 has a prerequisite of PHYS 105/PHYS 107 and PHYS 122/PHYS 142 has a prerequisite of PHYS 121/PHYS 141.
Students interested in pursuing professional studies in a health-related field are highly recommended to take one year of physics. Some neuroscience graduate programs require one year of physics.
Those students interested in computational neuroscience are highly encouraged to take the CSCI 195/BIOL 195 courses or CSCI 225.
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