The Department of Neurobiology offers a program of graduate study leading to a Ph.D. degree in neurobiology. The goal is to train scientists for academic positions in research-oriented institutions. Major strengths of the program include an interdisciplinary faculty and a curriculum that can be as minimal or as expansive as suits a student's needs.

The program is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of cellular, molecular, systems, cognitive, and developmental neurobiology. Each of these areas is well represented by the neurobiology faculty, and graduate training is interdisciplinary and interactive. Students complete a core curriculum that covers the major concepts of contemporary neurobiology, but are generally free to pursue with the help and counsel of faculty advisorsa course of study tailored to their needs, backgrounds, and individual interests.

Students should be able to complete the Ph.D. degree in five or six years. Specific course requirements are the core curriculum taken during the first year. (See curriculum for details.) In the first year students do course work and laboratory rotations. Each student selects a thesis mentor at the end of the first year, begins research in the second year, and submits a thesis proposal-which serves as the exam for advancement to degree candidacy-by the end of the second year.

The program was founded in 1988-90, has reached a current enrollment of about forty-five students, and graduates about five students a year. Seventy students have now completed the Ph.D. degree. Most are doing postdoctoral fellowships; three are completing medical residencies, and ninteen have accepted faculty positions.

Students interested in combining graduate work in Neurobiology with Cognitive Neuroscience should consult the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience website for more information on the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Cognitive Neuroscience.