Senior Year Research
In addition to completing the requirements for the B.S. degree in Neuroscience, students provisionally accepted into the 4+1 Program in Neuroscience must register for three credits of undergraduate research per semester (NSCI368) during their senior year. This undergraduate neuroscience research must be conducted in your 4+1 research mentor's laboratory, and is usually technique-focused and exploratory in nature. However, it is often used also to satisfy the requirements for a Senior Thesis if the student so chooses, and is the foundational "pilot work" that the 4+1 Neuroscience student exploits to set up a successful 4+1 Master's Degree Thesis Proposal and Research Project, as per below.
Summer Research Residency
Upon completing the Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience and achieving graduate student status, students admitted into the 4+1 Program in Neuroscience transition immediately into their Summer Research Residency, for which they must register for six credits of graduate research in neuroscience (NSCI868-Graduate Research). This step is particularly important since summer is a time when graduate students and their faculty mentors can devote the greatest amount of undistracted time and attention to research, particularly to the gathering and analysis of data for one's Master's thesis research. During their Summer Research Residency, 4+1 students must write and defend their Master's Degree Proposal, (deadline August 25) described below, and initiate their Master's Thesis Research.
Master's Degree Proposal
Students will present a concisely written thesis proposal to their Master's Thesis Committee and defend it orally. The Thesis Committee shall consist of the student's faculty mentor and at least two other members of the faculty from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Faculty from other departments or colleges within or outside the University may also serve as a research mentor and serve on the student's thesis committee, by mutual agreement of all parties involved and subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Education in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Fifth Year of Graduate Studies & Research
Students in the 4+1 Neuroscience Program complete graduate course work in Neuroscience, attend area and departmental colloquia each semester (NSCI 866: Neuroscience Colloquium), and complete graduate research in neuroscience (NSCI 868: Graduate Research and NSCI 869: Master's Thesis). Colloquia and seminars are an important forum for faculty, graduate students, and invited guests to present and discuss recent research.
Hence, upon graduation, students in the 4+1 Neuroscience Program will have completed a total of 30 graduate credits beyond the Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience. Please note that neuroscience courses that were taken as an undergraduate cannot be taken again or credited toward graduate work.
Neuroscience Colloquia
Students in the 4+1 Neuroscience Program are required to register for one credit of NSCI866 each fall and spring semester, and regularly attend the Neuroscience "Brown Bag" Colloquia and Seminar Series that meet for one hour each week. These colloquia and seminars are an important forum for faculty, graduate students, and invited guests to present and discuss recent research.
Master's Thesis Completion
The culmination of a successful Master's Thesis research project results in a written Master's Thesis. Expectations for the Master's Thesis research are established by a student's faculty mentor with oversight by the student's thesis committee and must be approved by the Director of Graduate Education. To allow for final revision and submission of the document in time to apply for the June graduation, the Neuroscience Master's Thesis must be submitted to, and orally defended in front of, the students Master's Thesis Committee by April 15th of the second semester of the fifth year.