Dept of Neuroscience - Undergraduate Program

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Dept of Neuroscience > Undergraduate NSci Home > Major Requirements

To earn a B.S. degree in Neuroscience, students must complete at least 120 credits, including at least 78 credits in the College of Biological Sciences. Requirements, as listed below, include courses in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. A sample program for completion of the Neuroscience degree in four years, and a curriculum planning worksheet are available to help you schedule classes. In order to view these files, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download).

LIBERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

Neuroscience majors must complete the basic requirements in English communication, second language, and liberal education. See the Liberal Education page for a list of these requirements.

COLLEGE REQUIREMENTS

Quantitative Requirements (For students admitted Fall 2007 or later)

Math 1271 or 1281 (preferred )

Complete one of the Following: Math 1272 Calculus II, Math 1282 Calculus II, Stat 3011 Introduction to Statistical Analysis, CSci 1901 Structure of Computer Programming I, or CSci 3003 Introduction to Computing in Biology.

Chemistry
a. General Chemistry - Chem 1021, 1022
b. Organic Chemistry - Chem 2301, 2302 and 2311 (laboratory)

Physics - Choose sequence A or B:
Sequence A ( preferred )
Phys 1301W, 1302W - Introductory Physics for Science and Engineering I-II

Sequence B
Phys 1201W, 1202W - Introductory Physics for Pre-Medicine and Biology I-II

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES REQUIREMENTS

General and Organismal Biology (For students admitted Fall 2007 or later)

General Biology Biol 2002 and 2003 Foundations of Biology

Complete one of the following: Biol 3211 Animal Physiology, Phsl 3051 Human
Physiology, Phsl 3061 Principles of Physiology and Biol 2005 Animal
Diversity Lab; or Biol 2012 General Zoology.

Biology Core
BioC 3021 - Biochemistry
or   BioC 4331 - Biochemistry I: Structure, Catalysis & Metabolism in Biological Systems
Biol 4003 - Genetics
Biol 4004 - Cell Biology
Biol 3407 - Ecology
or   Biol 3409 - Evolution
or   Biol 3411 - Introduction to Animal Behavior
or   Biol 3811 - Introduction to Animal Behavior

Major Requirements (for printable version see CBS website)
a. NSci 3101 (Fall - 3 cr)
NSci 3102W (Spring - 3 cr) OR NSci 4100 (Fall - 3cr) - recommended grade B or better in NSci 3101
NSci 4105 (Fall - 2 cr) - ranked for permission based on grade in 3101 and GPA
b. A minimum of 2 credits from NSci 4994 AND/OR NSci 4794W AND/OR NSci 4167
c. A minimum of 9 credits from Groups A - C with at least one course from each group:

Group A - Cell and Molecular Biology
Nsci 4100 – Development of the Nervous System (Fall 3cr)
NSc 5201 - Computational Neuroscience I: Membranes & Channels (Fall - 3 cr)
NSc 5461 - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (Fall - 4 cr)
GCD 4034 - Molecular Genetics (Spring - 3 cr)
GCD 5036 - Molecular Cell Biology (Fall - 3 cr)
EEB 5221 - Molecular and Genomic Evolution (Spring - 3 cr)
PHCL 4001 - Mechanisms of Drug Action (Fall - 2 cr)
Other courses must be approved by the DUGS ( requires petition )

Group B - Neural Systems and Behavior
NSci 3102W Introduction to Neuroscience II – Biological Basis of Behavior (Spring – 3 cr)
Nsci 4100 – Development of the Nervous System (Fall 3cr)
NSc 5202 - Theoretical Neuroscience: Systems & Information Processing (Spring - 3cr)
NSc 5462 - Neuroscience Principles of Drug Abuse (biennial, Spring odd years - 2 cr)
NSc 5561 - Systems Neuroscience (Fall - 4 cr)
NSc 5661 - Behavioral Neuroscience (Spring - 3 cr)
EEB 5321 - Evolution of Social Behavior (Fall - 3 cr)
EPSY 5200 – Psychological Foundations: Mind, Brain, Education (spring – 3cr)
PSY 5036W - Computational Psychology (biennial, Fall even years - 3 cr)
PSY 5038W - Introduction to Neural Networks (biennial, Fall odd years - 3 cr)
Other courses must be approved by the DUGS ( requires petition )

Group C - The Scientific Method: History & Philosophy
HSci 3211 - Biology and Culture in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Fall - 3 cr)
HSci 3242 - The Darwinian Revolution (Spring - 3 cr)
PHIL 3601W - Scientific Thought (Every term - 4 cr)
PHIL 4607 - Philosophy of the Biological Sciences (biennial, Fall even years - 3 cr)
PSY 2801 - Introduction to Psychological Measurement and Data Analysis (Fall, Spring - 3cr)
STAT 3011 - Introduction to Statistical Analysis (Every term - 4 cr)
Other courses must be approved by the DUGS ( requires petition )

NOTE: Nsci 3102W and Nsci 4100 cannot be used to fulfill both the core requirement and the distribution requirement. If you take both courses, you may use one of them for Group A or Group B

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