Curriculum for the Neuroscience area of concentration
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Core courses and requirements for all areas of concentration. All students in the School must meet all UM Graduate School requirements for completing a Ph.D. degree including minimum number of total credit hours, minimum number of credit hours per semester for full time status, maximum time limit to formation of a thesis committee, and maximum time limit to passing of qualifying exam. In addition, all students matriculating into the program will take 2 core courses: bioethics/scientific conduct; and biostatistics and bioinformatics.
Biocomputing: a course in bioinformatics and biostatistics (3 credits). Material to be covered in the course includes database structure, construction, and analysis, including spatial statistics; introduction to scripting languages and computer programming; mathematical modeling of biological processes; statistical models of complex traits. Specific examples will be used but with guidance given to application of the models to alternative fields of study. Course will use a team-based problem solving strategy.
Bioethics and Scientific Conduct (1 credit). Material to be covered in the course includes ethical concepts and resolution of ethical conflicts including those involved in scientific conduct; plagiarism; use of animal and human subjects; access to and limits in the use of both public and private databases; interfacing with society. In addition to readings students will be provided with current federal guidelines the deal with these subject areas as guidance for appropriate scientific conduct.
Rotations. Research is the critical component of any GSBS student’s graduate training and it therefore critical that a student achieve the best possible match with his or her mentor. All students will perform three laboratory rotations, each of one half to one semester duration. To increase the exposure of the students to the research options, rotations should involve at least two institutions (rotations in the Functional Genomics program also require that rotations be in at least two different disciplines). All rotations should be completed by the end of the student’s first calendar year and no later than the end of their third semester, at which time they must have established an agreement with at least one faculty member to serve as their mentor (the Functional Genomics program requires two mentors for each student).
An exception to this rule will be applied to students recruited by and supported by an individual faculty member or institution who nevertheless wish to obtain a degree in Biomedical Sciences. Such students would not be required to do a rotation in another laboratory.
Course requirements specific to the Neuroscience area of emphasis.
The program will require a minimum of 30 hours selected from the following courses, or from substitutions approved by the student’s program advisory committee.
One course each from the following groups:
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
BIO 574 Neurophysiology
BIO 587 Advanced Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
PSY 465 Hormones, Brain and Behavior
PSY 466 Cognitive Neuroscience
PSY 551 Advanced Physiology Psychology
Developmental Neuroscience
PSY 520 Biological Bases of Infant Development
BIO 510 Advanced Developmental Biology
Graduate and Thesis Research credits
Other sources of credits may include relevant journal clubs, colloquia, current topics, short courses at TJL, courses at UNE or MMCRI and/or courses listed in the other graduate group curricula on the website as approved by the student's thesis committee including:
PSY 540 Advanced Statistics and Research MethodsI
PSY 541 Advanced Statistics and Research Methods II
PSY 611 Scientific Inquiry in Psychology
MAT 531 Mathematical Statistics I
MAT 532 Mathematical Statistics II
BIO 462 Principles of Genetics
BIO 456 Evolution
BIO 479 Endocrinology
BIO 480 Cell Biology
BIO 588 Advanced Cellular Biology
PYS 556 Advanced Perception
PYS 567 Advanced Cognitive Pyschology
BMB 400 Molecular Genetics
BMB 460 Advanced Biochemistry
BMB 510 Laboratory in Molecular Biology
BMB 525 Proteins and Enzymes
BMB 530 Cellular Signal Transduction Mechanisms
CHY 531 Structure and Mechanism in Biological Chemistry
CHY 551 Topics in Advanced Organic Chemistry
Additional courses will be as required by the student’s thesis committee.
Minimum Total Credits = 30 (including thesis research credits)