Academics

Curriculum and Degree Requirements

The Department-wide graduate degree requirements and courses for the psychology program are listed in the University Bulletin. Specific requirements for the Behavioral Neuroscience program are available in the Student Faculty Handbook.

For more information on our graduate training program, please contact the Director of the BNS area: Marvin Diaz, PhD

Graduate Training in Behavioral Neuroscience

The faculty in Behavioral Neuroscience take a vested interest in the success of our students and strive to provide them with the critical ingredients for a successful career in this rapidly changing and highly competitive field. To do this, our program emphasizes three principal areas of scientific training:

Breadth of knowledge is provided by intensive coursework, the theoretical framework provided by each student's mentor and regular interaction with visiting scholars in our colloquium series.
Analytical and methodological skills include the ability to critically design, evaluate and execute high-quality scientific experiments.
Scientific communication skills are addressed because the success of our students will ultimately depend on their ability to communicate ideas and discoveries through effective writing (e.g., grant applications and manuscripts) and speaking (e.g., colloquia and poster-style presentations).

General Timeline for Degree Completion

The graduate program in Behavioral Neuroscience offers a combined Master of Arts and Ph.D in Behavioral Neuroscience, and is supported by 11 faculty who are highly active in path-breaking neuroscience research. Because our program is situated largely within the Psychology Department, most research labs include a strong emphasis on delineating neural substrates of behavior. The program of study includes a classic blend of intensive coursework, program-oriented activities to support career and professional development, and individualized research training within the mentor’s laboratory, culminating in a highly-individualized experience tailored to meet the needs and aspirations of the student. Moreover, the highly collaborative culture of our program provides ample opportunity to cross-train in adjacent labs with common scientific interests. Together, these elements provide strong critical thinking and analytical skills that can be applied in a wide variety of career options either directly or indirectly related to neuroscience research. Most students complete their Ph.D. within 5-6 years (national average is ~5.5 years).

Mentorship

All graduate students are expected to meet program milestones (described below), and the BNS area takes great care in the mentorship of students throughout the course of their graduate training. Of course, each student has a primary faculty mentor who is selected at the time of admission and with whom they will work for the duration of their doctoral studies. Faculty mentoring styles are as diverse as our student body, underscoring the importance of faculty-student matching, though we all strive to adhere to best practices in mentoring.

In addition to their primary mentor, each student forms a committee of 3-4 faculty (including their primary mentor) who oversee their progress in the program, review their Masters and Doctoral theses/dissertations, and serve as secondary mentors throughout their time in the program. These committees adapt and change to meet the needs of the student and to provide the best expertise available for the projects as they evolve. Many students also spearhead collaborations with other labs, where they have the opportunity to learn new techniques and approaches, as well as gain exposure to new theoretical ideas from other mentors, to advance their training.

In this way, the BNS area approaches graduate student mentorship as a team sport, with multiple faculty members available to support your scientific, professional, and personal growth during your entire tenure in our program.

Research Expectations

Of course, all students are expected to conduct extensive research during their entire graduate training period. Students defend their first project for the Masters degree at the end of year 2 in the program. Most students publish these data in peer reviewed journals. More papers are published as the research continues; students in our program have an average of 3 to 5 empirical data papers by the time they graduate with a Ph.D. Students are encouraged to apply for the NIH-NRSA and other Research Assistantships. Please see the funding page for more information.

Teaching and Outreach

Most graduate students will serve as a Teaching Assistant for a year or more, where they learn valuable skills in how to administer a course, work with students, and establish a professional presence in the classroom. A unique feature of our PhD program is the requirement to teach one course as Instructor of Record. This usually occurs after completion of the Masters degree, during either a winter or summer session, and is supervised by a senior faculty member. This opportunity to design and deliver an entire course to undergraduates prepares our Doctoral students for the possibility of teaching as a faculty member in the future. In addition to teaching course, we encourage our students to participate in Community Outreach, such as Brain Awareness Week activities in the local schools and other public venues.