The Ph.D. program in Behavioral Neuroscience is committed to training exceptional students for independent neuroscience research careers in academic, governmental, or industrial settings. Our program provides training in the biological foundations of behavior, with a particular focus on sensation, learning and memory, affect, development, and neural plasticity. Our philosophy is that students are best trained for research careers by emersion in intense research training from the very beginning of their studies. We use a mentor-based model, in which students work closely with a faculty member on empirical research. However, students are also encouraged to conduct collaborative research with more than one faculty member and with other graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. Core courses required of all students are minimal. This leaves students free to design individualized curriculums to enhance general and specific knowledge of their particular field(s) of interest. Students are expected to publish their research in prominent scientific journals and to present their research at national scientific meetings. Students further develop their oral presentation skills by giving one or more research presentations per year to the behavioral neuroscience faculty and students. In addition, students develop teaching skills by serving as teaching assistants and course instructors. Advanced students are encouraged to submit grant applications to support their research training and/or dissertation research. Taken together, these training activities provide students with the expertise in research, teaching, and grant writing, that is needed for successful academic or research careers.
The research interests of the Behavioral Neuroscience Faculty and/or their departmental collaborators can be found by selecting the Behavioral Neuroscience filter on the Research Projects webpage or on the faculty profiles pages. These links provide more detailed information concerning research training opportunities in the Behavioral Neuroscience Program.
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