The Director of the Institute, Dr. Israel Hanin, is supported by a NSAI secretary and the NSAI has office space in the Medical School. The overall goal of the Neuroscience Graduate Program is to train outstanding neuroscientists who have high standards of both scientific excellence and scientific integrity. Such individuals will possess a broad, comprehensive knowledge of the field coupled with detailed, in-depth knowledge of their own particular area of research interest and the ability to communicate their knowledge to others. To achieve these goals, the program has several requirements. Students take a broad array of required courses, including Graduate Bio-chemistry, Medical Neuroscience, Neurochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Behavioral Neuroscience, Cellular Biochemistry, Principles of Pharmacology, Applied Principles of Pharmacology, Statistics, and Ethics in Research in the Sciences.
Students also take elective courses in their area of specialization.
In addition, each semester students take the Neuroscience Seminar course, during which they make one presentation. They take a written comprehensive exam at the end of their third semester, and, after passing this, the emphasis shifts from the classroom to laboratory research. Lab rotations during the first year and first summer help students select an advisor, an event that usually occurs in the third semester. A thesis outline is submitted during the third year. Students average five years in all to complete their degree and receive a Ph.D. in Neuroscience.