Due to our program reorganization, the information below applies only to students who joined the Neuroscience Program prior to Fall 2017!
Prospective students, please click here to find a listing of our current reorganized Programs and here for the latest Neuroscience Program information.
Contact Person
Dr. Harel Shouval
713.500.5708
harel.shouval@uth.tmc.edu
Course Requirements
In addition to the general GSBS course requirements, the core requirements of the program are:
- Molecular Neurobiology
- Cellular Neurophysiology
- Systems Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
In addition to completing the core requirements of the Program, students may choose to complete requirements for a particular track as follows:
- Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Track
- Seminar in Molecular Neuroscience
- Elective courses from GSBS curriculum as well as those from Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and University of Houston
- Note: Each student’s complete course schedule will be determined in consultation with their individual mentor, their advisory committee, and with the graduate advisor for the track, Dr. Andrew Bean
- Systems and Cognitive Neuroscience Track – Electives (choose four different courses to fulfill the intermediate and advanced requirements)
- Advanced Cognitive Neuroscience
- Advanced Topics in Systems Neuroscience
- Experimental Analysis of Behavior
- Visual Science I
- Topics in the Neurobiology of Disease
- Advanced Seminar in Learning and Memory
- Seminar in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
- Seminar in Neural Coding and Behavior
- Theory, Content and Executive in Cognitive Neuroscience
- Note: Students may also petition to have other courses satisfy elective requirements, including courses taught at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University
- Note: Each student’s complete course schedule will be determined in consultation with their individual mentor and their advisory committee
- Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience Track
- Theoretical Neuroscience: Cells Circuits and Systems
- Theoretical Neuroscience: Learning, Perception and Cognition
- Note: Elective courses from the GSBS curriculum as well as from Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and University of Houston are taken
- Note: Each student’s complete course schedule will be determined in consultation with their individual mentor, their advisory committee, and with the graduate advisor for the track, Dr. Harel Shouval
- Visual Neuroscience Track
- Course recommended for most students in this track: Visual Science I
- Additional courses available include, but are not limited to:
- Cellular Neurobiology: Biophysics
- Advanced Cognitive Neuroscience
- Theory, Content and Execution in Cognitive Neuroscience
- Advanced Topics in Systems Neuroscience
- Topics in the Neurobiology of Disease
- Seminar in Neural Coding and Behavior
- Theoretical Neuroscience: Cells, Circuits and Systems
- Theoretical Neuroscience: Learning, Perception and Cognition
- Note: Students may also petition to have other courses satisfy Neuroscience elective requirements, including courses taught at Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University
- Note: Each student’s complete course schedule will be determined in consultation with their individual mentor, their advisory committee, and with one of the graduate advisors for the track, Drs. John O’Brien and Daniel Felleman
Additional notes:
- The neuroscience core courses must be taken for credit and a grade of “B” or better must be obtained. All other courses may be taken for a grade of “B-“ or better. If a student receives a grade of “C+”, the option of either repeating the course or taking a different course from the list of electives exists. Each student has the responsibility to remediate any poor grades within one year.
- MD/PhD Students affiliated with the program: Some neuroscience core courses may be required if so advised by your advisory committee
Candidacy Exam Format: On- or Off-Topic Exam
The candidacy exam is to be taken during the spring semester of the student’s second year. The exam must be passed by the end of the summer of the second academic year. The exam is designed to meet two objectives:
- To evaluate the student’s ability to develop a hypothesis, write a proposal that tests that hypothesis, write a proposal and defend an original research project.
- To evaluate the breadth of student’s general neuroscience knowledge as gained from the Core Courses taken in the first year of study.
The candidacy exam requires the student to select a research problem in the neurosciences and propose an experimental approach to solve it. The research problem should be broad, requiring experimental approaches from multiple disciplines, and may be outside the area of the mentor’s laboratory and student’s anticipated dissertation research. Although most breadth questions will be derived from the research proposal, the student will be responsible for all areas covered in the core curriculum.
There are four phases to the candidacy exam:
- Selection of a topic approved by the advisory committee and production of a one-page abstract submitted to the program manager and the Academic Standards Committee
- Writing a proposal in NIH small-grant format
- Passing an oral examination based on the submitted proposal consisting of a 15-20 minute presentation followed by a period of open questioning by a five-member committee.
- The chair of the student’s examination committee will submit an evaluation form to the GSBS Academic Standards Committee describing the outcome of exam.