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.
The faculty are committed to graduate education.