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B.S./M.S. Program in Neurosciencenew five-year program jointly sponsored by The College and the School of Medicine and Dentistry offers University of Rochester students pursuing a B.S. degree in Biological Sciences: Neuroscience the opportunity to earn a research-oriented M.S. degree in Neuroscience with one additional year of study. This B.S./M.S. program builds on the strong preparation students receive in our existing B.S. Neuroscience track and draws upon existing courses and research opportunities associated with the University's Interdepartmental Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience. A goal of this new program is to provide our best undergraduate students with a more sophisticated background in the neurosciences and give them the opportunity to design, execute, and defend an independent piece of scientific work. As such, the B.S./M.S. program in Neuroscience can serve as an important bridge for students contemplating more advanced graduate or professional study as well as provide a competitive edge to those entering a changing and increasingly demanding job market in science and technology. Admission to the B.S./M.S. Program in NeuroscienceT ypically, students apply for admission to the B.S/M.S. program in Biological Sciences: Neuroscience by the end of their third year by which time they must have completed (or be concurrently enrolled in) NSC 201/BCS 240: Introductory Neuroscience and at least 2 other neuroscience core or elective courses (including NSC 203/BCS 203: Laboratory in Neurobiology). Admission is selective; students must have a 3.2 GPA in all courses applied to their B.S. neuroscience track (including the allied fields). A faculty member also must sponsor the student's application as their research mentor. Students will be notified of admission early in the summer following their third year. F or application materials and information contact:
Course Requirements for the M.S. Degree in NeuroscienceS tudents in the B.S/M.S. Program in Neuroscience need to complete all of the requirements presently associated with the B.S. degree in Biological Sciences:Neuroscience. Additionally, students in this program must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours at the graduate level (i.e., courses numbered 200 or higher). No more than 12 of these hours can come from Independent Research courses associated with the student's Master's thesis. Among the remaining 18 credits, at least 12 must come from graduate courses numbered 400 or higher, and at least 8 of those 12 credits must be in NSC courses, or approved BCS courses. It is recommended that some of these graduate course requirements be met during the student's fourth year, but courses counted towards the B.S. track cannot also be counted towards the M.S degree. During both semesters of their fifth year B.S./M.S. students must enroll in the NSC 592: Neuroscience Journal Seminar which can count towards their graduate course requirement (2 credit hours total). Research Requirements for the M.S. Degree in NeuroscienceT he primary aim of the B.S./M.S. program in Neuroscience is to extend the students' opportunities for research training in the discipline. Thus, successful completion of the program entails the preparation and defense of a Master's thesis based on independent research conducted in the laboratory of a faculty mentor. Prospective mentors include over 70 faculty associated with the Undergraduate B.S. track in Neuroscience, as well as the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Neuroscience. The expertise represented by these faculty encompasses the areas of Sensory and Motor Systems; Behavior and Cognition; Molecular and Cell Signaling; Plasticity, Development and Aging; Psychoneuroimmunology; and Neurobiology of Disease. S tudents begin research with their faculty mentor no later than the Fall semester of their fourth year. Many students have already engaged in research by this time in the context of Independent Research courses associated with the B.S. track in Neuroscience. Students submit a proposal outlining their plans for M.S. research at the beginning of the Spring semester during their fourth year. The proposal is evaluated and discussed with the student by an advisory board of three faculty members who also serve on the student's M.S. thesis committee. At the end of their fifth year B.S./M.S. students submit a written thesis based on their completed research and defend the thesis by oral examination (according to the Plan A requirements outlined by the University). Sample B.S./M.S. ProgramBeginning in Fall 2011, the department will no longer be offering its own statistics course (the old BCS 200). Students will fulfill the statistics requirement for the major by taking STT 212. Multiple sections of that class are offered in both Fall and Spring semesters. First Year
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Fifth Year
† Courses used towards the M.S. degree. |