Curriculum

NRSC Student Advisory Committee

Dr. Andrew Fuglevand
fuglevand@arizona.edu
520-621-6983

Dr. Erika Eggers
eeggers@arizona.edu
520-626-7137

A. Overview 

Year 1

  • Complete core curriculum, take some elective and minor courses
  • Complete three research rotations, 10 weeks each
  • By the end of the year:
    • Select a mentor
    • Select committee members

Year 2

  • Complete all course work
  • Fulfill teaching requirement
  • Select comprehensive exam committee members, schedule first committee meeting
  • It is encouraged the student take the comprehensive exam by the end of year 2 to achieve “Advanced Candidacy” (passed both exams) before fall of year 3

Years 3-5

  • Meet at least annually with thesis committee
  • Complete dissertation work in subsequent years 3-5
  • Write dissertation and defend thesis no later than by the end of year 5

B. Required Credits

The Graduate College requires at least 63 units of graduate work, including major and minor coursework, rotation research (NRSC 700) and dissertation research (NRSC 920). The combination of major and minor coursework must total a minimum of 36 units; at least half of these units must be taken for letter grades. 

  • 36 units are required to become eligible for taking the comprehensive exam
UNITSCOURSES
8 units

Neuroscience core courses (NRSC 560 and 588)

5-6Statistics, Writing and Ethics courses
2Neuroscience Colloquium (NRSC 695F)
9Research rotations (NRSC 700)
3-6Neuroscience elective courses (see Table 3)
9Minor courses
≥ 36 units(at least half of the units must be taken for a letter grade)
  • Another 36 additional units are typically required to graduate (after reaching Advanced Candidacy). These can be derived from:
    • NRSC 900 Research (additional research rotation)
    • NRSC 920 Dissertation research
    • NRSC 599/699 Independent study
  • A total of 72 units is required for graduation
  • Students must take a minimum of 12 units per semester in their first year. After their first year, students must be enrolled in 6 units each semester to meet minimum enrollment requirements.

NRSC students are expected to maintain an overall grade-point average of at least 3.0 (B) and to have no more than a total of 2 grades of C; failure to achieve such a record can result in conversion to non-degree status and dismissal from the program at any time. 

C. Required Courses (Table 1) 

Students must achieve a grade of B or better in each of the core courses; failure to achieve a grade of B or better will result in probation, and possible dismissal from the Program and conversion to non-degree status.

Core curriculum courses are NRSC 588, NRSC 560, two semesters of NRSC 695F, one Statistics course, one Writing and one Ethics course, and three research rotations (see below).

At least three research rotations (NRSC 700) must be completed in three different laboratories (10 weeks each). The first rotation can start earlier during the summer.  A total of 9 units is recommended.  After rotations, students should join a lab or add a 4th rotation.

TABLE 1: CORE COURSEWORK (*  indicates required core courses)

SemesterCourseUnitsFaculty coordinator
Fall core*NRSC 588 Principles of Cell & Mol Neurobiology 4Bhattacharya
*NRSC 700 Research rotation 3-4 NRSC faculty
*NRSC 695F Neuroscience Colloquium NRSC faculty
(NRSC elective or minor course to reach total ≥ 12 units per semester) varies Faculty 
Spring core *NRSC 560 Systems Neuroscience Fuglevand 
*NRSC 700 Research rotation 3-4 NRSC faculty 
*NRSC 695F Neuroscience Colloquium NRSC faculty
(NRSC elective or minor course to reach total ≥ 12 units per semester) varies Faculty 

*Ethics

 

HSD 649 – Survival Skills and Ethics Sawyer/Hoit (spring

PHCL 595B – Scientific Writing, Presentation & Bioethics

2Streicher, Largent-Milnes (spring)
MCB 695E - Science, Society and Ethics1Mouneimne (spring)
*Writing/ CommunicationsIMB 521 – Scientific Grantsmanship2Wilson, Riegel, Streicher
2nd year PhD students only (spring)

IMB/NRSC 575 – Scientific Writing for Predoctoral Fellowships Workshop

1Bhattacharya & Bhattacharya, 7.5 week course (fall) 
SLHS 696a – Topics in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences1-3Plante (Spring)
Alt (fall)
*Statistics See Table 2 below for options 3-4 -----

Statistics Courses

At least two units of statistics are required. Students may choose from the list below, or request the NRSC Graduate Advisory Committee to have an equivalent course considered for meeting the requirement.

TABLE 2: Statistic Courses (* request instructor approval for enrollment)

Courses in statisticsFaculty Offerings
EIS 513Applied BiostatisticsAn4 units, fall 
BIOS 576B Biostatistics for Research Roe 3 units, spring 
PSY 510 Statistics Fundamentals Flores 4 units, fall 
Otherby approval of the NRSC Program Graduate Advisor  3-4 units 

For help choosing a stats course: Learn More

Additional stats courses: Learn More

Teaching 

Because teaching is an important element in academic careers in Neuroscience, supervised experience in university-level teaching is considered essential. Each student is therefore required to serve as a Teaching Assistant for at least one semester during the first 3 years. Please contact Kirsten (kirstencg@arizona.edu) to arrange for teaching opportunities.

Registration Information 

Schedule of classes: see UAccess Website

On-line course registration: see UAccess website

D. Neuroscience Elective Courses 

Elective and required courses (Table 3) must add up to a minimum of 36 units (not including dissertation research and independent study). At least half of the 36 units must be taken for a letter grade (not pass/fail). Additional courses of interest that are not listed in Table 3 can be accepted after confirmation with the student's Advisory Committee or the Graduate Advisor. The Graduate College discourages cross-listing of classes, hence some of the courses listed in the table below do not carry the 'NRSC' prefix. Irrespective of the prefix, all these courses will be accepted as Neuroscience electives.

TABLE 3: Coursework for the Neuroscience Electives

Specific courses selected to fulfill the core requirements cannot also be counted as electives.

Foundational Electives

Sem.

Course # 

Title  

Units  

Instructor  

Spring

NRSC 695D

Advanced Analysis of Human Genetic Disease (spring-even years)

3

Restifo

Spring

NRSC 572

Neurodevelopment in Action (spring-odd years)

3

Madhavan

Spring

NRSC 694

Teaching Course-Based Research Experiences (CURES) 

3

Bhattacharyra

Additional Electives

Sem.

Course # 

Title  

Units  

Instructor  

Fall

BIOC 565

Proteins and Enzymes

3

Walti

Spring

BIOC 568

Nucleic Acids, Metabolism and Signaling

4

Cordes

Fall

CMM 518

Fundamental Genetic Mechanisms 

3

Ellis/Maggert 

Spring

CMM 565A

Fundamentals of Light Microscope and Electronic Imaging 

3

Padilla-Rodriquez

Fall

CMM 577

Principles of Cell Biology 

Team taught

Spring

CMM 595H

Problems in the Biology of Complex Diseases

2

Vercelli

Fall/Spr

COGS 517

Introduction to Cognitive Science

3

Dornhaus

Fall/Spr

COGS 595

Cognitive Science Colloquium

1

Andrews-Hanna

Fall

GENE 670

Recent Advances in Genetics

2

Ellis

Fall/Spr

INFO 521

Intro to Machine learning

3

Palacios

Spring

MATH 571B

Design of Experiments 

3

An

Spring

MCB 546

Genetics & Molecular Networks

4

Buchan

Fall

MCB 572A

Cell Systems

4

Weinert

Fall

MCB 580

Introduction to Systems Biology

2

Capaldi

Fall/Spr

MCB 595

MCB Journal Club 

1

Tax

Fall/Spr

NRSC 
599-057

Neuroscience and Audiology 

1

Musiek

Spring

PATH 515

Mechanisms of Human Disease/ Basic Pathology

4

Briehl

Spring

PCOL 630 A/B

Cellular Communications & Signal Transduction

3

Smith

Fall

PHCL 530

Pain/Neuropharmacology

2

Vanderah

Fall

PHCL 601A/B/C

Pharmacology: General Principles

2

Team taught

Spring

PHCL 553

Neuropharmacology

3

Yin

Spring

PHCL 545

Drugs of Abuse

3

Largent-Milnes

Spring

PHCL 552

Substance Abuse Disorder and Addiction

3

Riegel

Fall

PS 503

Cellular & Molecular Physiology

Eggers Ronaldson Pires

Fall

PSIO 572

Quant. Modeling of Biol. Systems  

Secomb 

Spring

PSIO 603A

Human Physiology 

Team taught

Fall/Spr

PSY 504A

Human Brain-Behavior Relationships

3

Grilli

Fall

PSY 595A

Cognition and Neural Systems Colloquium

1

Ekstrom

Students and faculty are welcome to consult with the Graduate Student Advisor to determine whether neuroscience-related courses that are not listed might be acceptable as electives.

E. Minor coursework for Neuroscience students (at least 9 units are required).

Predoctoral students can pursue a minor in any established program, as determined by the guidelines of the respective program. Alternatively, the student may choose a minor in Neuroscience option that offers a flexible curriculum tailored to the student’s interests.

The minor should be selected in consultation with the dissertation advisor and must be approved by the NRSC Graduate Advisory Committee. Contact the NRSC Program Coordinator for a “Statement of Minor” form to submit for review and approval.

Examples of established programs for consideration include but are not limited to:

  • Biochemistry
  • Cell Biology & Anatomy
  • Entomology and Insect Science
  • Immunology, Genetics
  • Molecular & Cellular Biology
  • Medical Pharmacology
  • Physiological Sciences
  • Psychology
  • Speech & Hearing Sciences

F. Minor in Neuroscience for graduate students in other programs (at least 9 units are required)

The minor in Neuroscience requires:

  • Passing one of the core course NRSC 560 OR 588 (4 units)
  • 5 additional units in courses that are cross-listed in NRSC. The NRSC Colloquium course NRSC 695f is valid for the minor.

The provided information may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the Executive Committee of the Neuroscience GIDP.

Last update 4/2025