Neurosciences

OFFICE: Building #1, School of Medicine, Mail code 0662
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/neurosci

Professors

Courses

The Graduate Program

The group in neurosciences accepts candidates for the Ph.D. degree who have undergraduate majors in such disciplines as biology, chemistry, engineering, microbiology, mathematics, physics, psychology, and zoology. A desire and competence to understand how the nervous system functions is more important than previous background and training.

Doctoral Degree Program

Students in this program receive guidance and instruction from a campuswide group of faculty interested in nervous system mechanisms. Each student, in consultation with an advisory committee, selects courses relevant to his or her research interests and goals. The selection will include formal courses listed in this catalog and informal seminars offered by the department. A regular schedule of rotation through the laboratories of faculty members is a feature of the first year; the student is exposed in this way to the various approaches, techniques, and disciplines represented on the campus.

Course Work

By the time of the minor proposition (see below), students are expected to demonstrate competence in the basics of neuroscience by taking five quarters of mandatory course work—three quarters of Basic Neuroscience (Neurosci. 200 A-B-C), and one quarter each of Neuroanatomy Lab (Neurosci. 257) and Statistical Methods and Experimental Design (Neurosci. 225). In addition, students choose among various core elective courses, such as Molecular and Cellular Neuroendocrinology (Neurosci. 222), Neuropsychopharmacology (Neurosci. 277), Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology (Neurosci. 268), Developmental Neuroscience (Neurosci. 263) and approved courses from other graduate departments. Students are also permitted to substitute previous courses that are similar to the Neurosciences core courses. Such a substitution would require approval of the graduate adviser in consultation with the Core Curriculum Committee and course instructor(s).

Minor Proposition

The purpose of this examination is to test the student’s ability to choose a problem in the neurosciences and propose an experimental approach to its solution. The problem should be broad, requiring experimental approaches from more than one discipline. The problem should be outside the area of the student’s anticipated dissertation research. Students will be required to demonstrate a working knowledge of the disciplines involved in the minor proposition.

Oral defense of the minor proposition will be required at the end of the winter quarter of the second year of study. Exemptions may be granted to entering students already holding a master’s degree.

Dissertation

During the second year, students are expected to propose and initiate work on a dissertation problem under the guidance of a faculty preceptor. The neurosciences group at UCSD currently conducts animal research and clinical studies in the fields of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, neurophysiology, comparative neurology, physiology of excitable membranes, synaptic transmission, neuronal integration and coding, nervous system tissue culture, neuroimmunology, brain function, sensory physiology, motor mechanism, and systems analysis as applied to neurological problems.

Qualifying Examination

This examination, a university requirement, focuses on the proposed research that the student will undertake for his or her dissertation. This examination is conducted by the approved doctoral committee.

Dissertation Examination

The required formalities listed in the Instruction for Preparation and Submission of Doctoral Dissertations issued by the Office of Graduate Studies and Research to students should be followed closely. The final examination includes both a public presentation followed by a closed defense of the dissertation with members of the Committee.

Teaching

Students are required to teach and to develop their talents as teachers. To this end, opportunities to lecture and to assist in laboratory exercises and demonstrations are provided.

Ph.D. Time Limit Policies

Students must advance to candidacy by the end of four years. Total university support cannot exceed six years. Total registered time at UCSD cannot exceed seven years.