Program Overview

Introduction to the Neuroscience PhD Program

The Neuroscience Doctoral Program is an interdisciplinary graduate program composed of doctoral students and faculty members from departments across five divisions and three campuses of Tulane University. As an educational branch of the Tulane Brain Institute, the program is administered through the School of Science and Engineering and governed by the Neuroscience Doctoral Training Committee.

Program Overview

The program provides graduate students with a broad education in both the theoretical and applied aspects of basic research in the neurosciences. Through their coursework and research, students receive diversified training in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroendocrinology, molecular and cellular neurobiology, behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and research methods.

Doctoral Degree Requirements

The pursuit of the PhD degree is a journey with five major milestones:

1. Students must successfully complete a curriculum consisting of core and elective courses taken during the first two years of study.
2. Students complete three rotations in different laboratories, each 6-8 weeks in duration, during the first year of study in order to identify a permanent laboratory.
3. Students must pass written and oral components of a qualifying examination in the third year of study administered by the Qualifying Examination Committees.
4. Students must prepare and defend a dissertation prospectus before their Doctoral Committees in the fourth year of study.
5. Students must complete their dissertation research, prepare a written form of the dissertation, orally defend the dissertation, and receive approval from their Doctoral Committees as the final step toward earning the PhD within five years.

Required Course Work

A minimum of 50 course credits are required for the PhD in Neuroscience. Of these 50 credits, 38 credits are fulfilled by completing core courses (20 credits), research rotations (6 credits), and elective courses (12 credits). Up to 12 additional credits may be satisfied by registration in NSCI 7980 Research In Neuroscience-PhD (1-9 c.h.). Credits earned in NSCI 9990 Dissertation Research (0 to 3 c.h.) do not count toward the 50 required credits.

Core Courses

The completion of core courses is required of all doctoral students, which comprise 20 of the 50 total credits required for the PhD in Neuroscience.

• NSCI 7110 Graduate Neuroscience I (3 c.h.): Offered only during fall semesters, this course encompasses the basic principles of neuroscience at the graduate level, focusing on cellular and molecular neurobiology, neurophysiology and plasticity, and developmental neurobiology.
• NSCI 7120 Graduate Neuroscience II (3 c.h.): Offered only during spring semesters, this course encompasses the basic principles of neuroscience at the graduate level, focusing on systems neuroscience and behavioral neuroscience as well as neuroanatomy.
• NSCI 6030 Brain Institute Seminar (0 or 1 c.h.): Offered every semester, this seminar series is designed to provide students with exposure to contemporary research conducted by neuroscientists at Tulane and from other local and national institutions.
• NSCI 6040 Trends In Neuroscience (1 c.h.): Offered every semester, this course is designed to allow students to learn to critically read and interpret scientific literature and to present and discuss research with their peers.
• PSYC 6090 Univariate I (3 c.h.): Offered only during fall semesters, this course covers experimental design and statistical analyses used in scientific research.
• NSCI 7660 Conveying Neuroscience Research (3 c.h): Offered only during spring semesters, this course will cover fundamental principles of scientific communication, specifically focused on neuroscience.
• INTD 6010 Responsible Conduct of Research (0 c.h.): Offered during the fall semesters by the Tulane University Research Compliance Office, this course is required by the federal funding agencies for students earning doctoral degrees in a biomedical-related discipline.

Elective Courses

A minimum of 12 course credits (4 elective courses) may be obtained for courses with numbers of 6000 or 7000. A list of some appropriate three-credit elective courses follows:

• Molecular / Cellular:
  • NSCI 6200 General Endocrinology
  • NSCI 6220 Neural Microengineering
  • NSCI 6350 Developmental Neurobiol
  • NSCI 6370 Molecular Neurobiology
  • NSCI 6450/7450 Genome Biology
  • CELL 6010 Cellular Biochemistry
  • CHEM 6830 Intro To Biochemistry
• Systems:
  • NSCI 6060 Behavioral Endocrinology
  • NSCI 6070 Neurobiology of Aging
  • NSCI 6330 Neurobiol Learn & Memory
  • NSCI 6340 Neurobiology of Disease
  • NSCI 6530 Psychopharmacology
  • NSCI 6550 Synaptic Organization of the Brain
• Skill Courses:
  • NSCI 7240 College Teaching Pedagogy
  • NSCI 7241 College Teaching Practicum
  • NSCI 7260 Graduate Communications
  • PSYC 4090 Univariate II

Financial Support

All students are guaranteed to receive financial support for five years as long as satisfactory and timely progress is made toward the degree. Financial support includes a full tuition waiver and a stipend paid every other week over twelve months of the year. Students are funded during their first two years by teaching assistantships. After the first two years, students are supported by research assistantships arranged through their major advisors in their permanent laboratories.