CURRICULUM
The academic year is divided into quarters and, in general, courses are offered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters, with the Summer quarter devoted entirely to research. First-year students are assigned a temporary advisor who will assist in course selection and who will monitor the student's progress. Students must register for a minimum of 12 credit hours each quarter. During the first year the curriculum is composed primarily of required courses that account for approximately 30 of the 48 graded credit hours required to take the examination for Advancement to Candidacy. The remaining 18 graded credits are generally taken during the second year of study, from among the many elective courses available. All students participate in the program's Seminar Series and Journal Club throughout the academic year.
A minimum of 48 credit hours (comprised of required courses, electives, and research credits) are required for graduation. Students must maintain a 3.0 (B) average or better throughout graduate training to remain in good academic standing, and must obtain at least a B in the required courses indicated below. Students have a maximum of 7 years to complete the doctoral degree in any USU graduate program.
It is recognized that some incoming students may have completed equivalent course work at undergraduate or other graduate institutions. The Curriculum Committee will evaluate the suitability of these courses towards fulfilling the course requirements of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Requests for transfer credit will be evaluated by the Director and recommendations forwarded, through the Director, to the Associate Dean for Graduate Education.
At the end of the second year students who have completed all requirements, take a Qualifying examination for Advancement to Candidacy. The examination consists of the preparation of an abbreviated grant proposal (based on a problem chosen by the student and approved by the examining committee), and an oral defense of that proposal. Students advanced to candidacy devote full time to their dissertation research projects, which are supervised by their thesis advisor and an advisory committee composed of program and University faculty. A written thesis proposal is submitted before the end of the third year, and under normal circumstances, students are expected to complete their dissertation within 5 years of matriculation. University regulations require that the dissertation be completed and successfully defended within seven years of matriculation.
The written dissertation may take the form of a traditional thesis, or the synthesis of papers that have either been published or manuscripts that have been submitted for publication. The dissertation defense is composed of a seminar presented by the student and open to the public, followed by a closed oral examination administered by the student's advisory committee.
*Note: USU graduate courses are based on quarter credit hours. One (1) traditional semester credit hour is equivalent to 1.5 quarter credit hours
REQUIRED COURSES (48 CREDIT HOURS)
NSO506 Introduction to Neuroscience
NSO802 Advanced Topics and Techniques in Neuroscience
ATO1012 Medical Neuroscience (part of MS-I Course)
IDO502 Experimental Statistics; 3 QH
NSO601 Neuroscience Seminar
NSO701 Neuroscience Tutorial
NSO901 Neuroscience Research
IDO704 Ethics and responsible conduct of research
NSO508 Neuroscience Journal Club
NSO905 Neurochemistry
NSO531 Principles of Neurophysiology
PHO513 Principles of Pharmacology
PHO516 Neuropharmacology
MCB509 Cell Biology
ELECTIVE COURSES
NSO510 Introduction to Developmental Neurobiology
NSO507 Neurobiology of Disease
NSO903 Neurobiology of Traumatic Brain Injury
NSO520 Molecular Basis of Nervous System Function
NSO530 Behavioral Neurobiology
NSO904 Grant Writing for Graduate Students
BCO520/522 Graduate Biochemistry I & II
NSO903 Traumatic Brain Injury (given every other year)
MCB531 Intro Immunology
MCB504 Eukaryotic Genetics
MCB530 Signal Transduction
MCB000 Advanced Cell Biology
Suggested Course Schedule
LABORATORY ROTATIONS
Students are expected to do at least three twelve-week rotations, chosen on the basis of the interest of the student, the availability of space in individual laboratories, and in consultation with their first-year advisor and the Program Director. Upon completion of these rotations, students may choose a graduate thesis advisor (in whose laboratory and under whose guidance they will perform their dissertation research), or elect to do additional rotations. A graduate thesis advisor must be chosen by the beginning of the second year.
JOURNAL CLUB
A free-ranging journal club is an essential component of the student's education, and is required for the first two years of training in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. The NES Journal Club meets bi-weekly. Students present papers in areas of general interest. Students generally make one presentation each year. For students who have been advanced to candidacy, attendance at Journal Club is optional, but recommended.
SEMINARS
A biweekly Neuroscience Seminar Series features invited speakers from throughout the country who are acknowledged leaders in their fields. All members of the NES faculty have the opportunity to invite and host speakers of their choice, and NES seminars are popular not only with USU faculty and students, but also with scientists from other institutions in the area. Attendance at seminars is mandatory for graduate students in the Neuroscience Graduate Program, and is considered an important function for faculty of the Program.
DISSERTATION
DISSERTATION (15 CREDIT HOURS MINIMUM)
NSO901 Dissertation Research - 15 credits
QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS & ADVANCEMENT TO CANDIDACY
Upon satisfactory completion of the formal, required course work, and no later than the end of the second year of graduate study, a Qualifying Examination shall be taken by the student. The exam consists of a written and an oral component.
The exam will require the student to write a 10 page proposal, similar to a grant proposal, on a topic of the student’s choice. This is often the topic that the student intends to pursue for their thesis research.
The oral examination will consist of a brief, 20-30 minute presentation by the student of the project, followed by a period of questions from the examining committee. The committee will ask questions relevant to the proposal to elicit a demonstration of the student’s understanding of the background, hypothesis and the experimental plan. However, the committee will not be restricted to the material in the proposal for the subject areas of their questions.
A simple majority vote of the examining committee will determine satisfactory performance.
ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY
The following are required to be admitted to candidacy and enroll in dissertation hours:
- Admission is no later than two years after initiation of program of study
- Completion of a minimum of 48 credit hours of formal coursework
- A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
- Completion of laboratory rotations
- Successful completion of the Qualifying Examination
- The dissertation advisory committee is formed, consisting of approved graduate faculty and graduate faculty scholars.
DISSERTATION DEFENSE
Original experimental work is an essential part of graduate training. After a student has advanced to candidacy, he/she will present a Departmental seminar annually based on his/her original research project. In addition, the student will meet with his/her Advisory Committee semi-annually to assess and ensure progress towards completion of the research project. Summaries of those meetings will become part of the student's academic file. A written dissertation, based on the student's original experimental work, shall be prepared by the student under supervision of the student's major faculty advisor and with the concurrence of the student's Advisory Committee.
A Dissertation Examination Committee that consists of the student's Advisory Committee will read the dissertation to certify the documents acceptability by the criteria of scope and quality. This Committee will also conduct the dissertation defense examination.
The defense of the dissertation will consist of a public seminar and will be followed by an oral examination that is closed to the public.
ADMISSION
International Students will be considered if they have earned a baccalaureate degree from a United States College/University.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
- A complete employment history.
Additional Application Requirements
APPLICATION DEADLINES
Deadline for full consideration of applications for the Fall Quarter is December 1st. Receipt of applications by this deadline will allow prospective students to be considered for financial support.
FINANCIALS
TUITION AND FEES
Tuition: $0
Fees: $0
Equipment: $0
Tuition and fees are waived for students. Civilian students do not incur service obligation to the United States government after the completion of their graduate studies.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
USU provides an attractive package of financial support to students, which will be administered as a part-time Federal salary for your position as a Research Associate. Total compensation is highly competitive with other local universities. As an Administratively Determined (AD) Federal employee, your salary is subject to standard taxes and withholdings.
As an AD employee, you will receive standard Federal benefits including contributions towards health insurance, retirement, and transit costs. Additionally, you have the option to decline certain benefits, which will increase your net income. Students are supported as Federal employees for the first 3 three years of their enrollment. After this period, students transition to employment as Research Associates by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation (HJF). These positions are supported by grants awarded to mentors or by fellowships awarded to students.
There are no tuition charges for graduate students at USU, nor is there any requirement in the form of government or military service. Most required textbooks are provided without charge.
FELLOWSHIPS
The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine annually provides support for 1-3 graduate fellowships. The fellowships are competitively awarded annually to outstanding USU civilian graduate student doctoral candidates in the USU School of Medicine who meet the following criteria:
- The student's USU-supported funding has ended or will end in August of the year of the award
- The student has advanced to candidacy and is in good academic standing
Applicants must provide information on their research plan and progress, and have the support of their Program Director. Selections are made in June and announced prior to 1 August of each year.
Graduate student fellowship support is also competitively available from many other sources, such as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Foundation, and various private foundations such as the American Heart Association, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, etc. Check with the USU Office of Research and/or the Graduate Education Office for various opportunities to compete for extramural funding.
DOCTORAL STUDENT RESEARCH FUNDS
USU maintains a special fund to finance doctoral student research. This resource is designed to provide funds to graduate students in addition to those provided by their major advisor. Funds are available to graduate students who have completed two years of graduate study at USU or who have been advanced to candidacy and are devoting a majority of their time to their dissertation research. Graduate research funds are currently available for two academic years. Funding beyond two years is evaluated on a case by case basis and must be approved by the Graduate Education Committee. In recent years, the maximum amount of funds available each year to eligible graduate students has varied between $1,500 and $2,500.
Forms to apply for USU graduate research funding are available from the GEO and will be sent to those students eligible in July of each year. These applications are relatively short if the funding requested is part of an already accepted University protocol by a major professor. If the research funding represents an entirely new protocol, the normal USU research review procedures must be followed. Information on which course of action is appropriate is available in the GEO. These protocols are administered by the Office of Research Administration at USU. You, your advisor, and your Program Director will receive notification when the funding is approved.