Graduate Catalog | 2005-2007
Intercollegial Programs

Neuroscience

Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy

Facilities for Graduate Work

The Institute for Neuroscience offers excellent opportunities for multidisciplinary study in the neurosciences at both graduate and postdoctoral levels. Facilities include those maintained by the participating programs in the Colleges of Pharmacy, Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Education, and Communication. Training grants and federal and state grants to investigators in the institute provide stipends and support research. Faculty members throughout the institute participate in interdisciplinary seminars and a year-long, broadly based neuroscience course. The goal of the institute is to train students to employ multidisciplinary approaches in their careers in neuroscience research and teaching. Toward this end, the faculty seeks to provide a diverse, cohesive, and interactive atmosphere and a flexible curriculum that meets the needs of each individual.

Areas of Study

Neuroscience encompasses behavioral neuroscience, neurobiology, neuropharmacology, and cellular/molecular neuroscience. Studies in these areas are centered primarily in the graduate programs in psychology; pharmacy (medicinal chemistry and pharmacology); cellular and molecular biology; ecology, evolution, and behavior; biomedical engineering; kinesiology and health education; microbiology; biochemistry; linguistics; and communication sciences and disorders.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee in the spring semester 2004-2005.

Admission Requirements

The requirements of the Graduate School for admission into a Doctor of Philosophy degree program must be met. However, the qualifications of most admitted applicants exceed these minimum requirements. All applicants must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, usually in biological science, chemistry, experimental psychology, kinesiology, pharmacy, zoology, or biomedical engineering. Undergraduate preparation should include one year of chemistry, one year of biology, mathematics through calculus, one semester of cell biology, and one semester of experimental psychology. However, students without some of these prerequisites may be admitted on the condition that they make up any deficiencies during the first two years of study.

Degree Requirements

Master of Arts. The master's degree student must complete thirty semester hours of coursework and must submit a thesis based on individual research. The thirty hours include the core courses in neuroscience: Neuroscience 382T, 383T, 185, 186, a statistics course, and an ethics course.

Doctor of Philosophy. At least eighty-one semester hours of coursework are required, including Neuroscience 382T, 383T, 185, 186, a statistics course, and an ethics course. One goal of this requirement is to help the student prepare for the qualifying examinations, taken in the spring of the second year.

Dual Degree Program

Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Medicine

The graduate program in neuroscience participates in a dual degree program with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Applicants must apply separately to and be admitted to both the PhD program in neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin and the medical school at UTMB. Students accepted into the dual degree program spend their first two years in the medical school at UTMB, followed by three to four years of doctoral work at UT Austin and eighteen months of clinical rotations. The degrees are conferred separately by each institution.

For More Information

Campus address: Institute for Neuroscience, Pharmacy Building (PHR) 2.222A, phone (512) 471-3640, fax (512) 471-0390; campus mail code: A8000

Mailing address: The University of Texas at Austin, Institute for Neuroscience, P O Box F, Austin TX 78713-7266

E-mail: INS_UTA@psy.utexas.edu

URL: http://www.utexas.edu/neuroscience/