CURRICULUM
Overview
The Neuroscience Graduate Program offers courses that equip students with the background necessary to participate fully in neuroscience. First year students take a series of courses covering Developmental Neuroscience, Cell and Molecular Neuroscience, and Systems Neuroscience, and Grant writing. Second year students enroll in courses on Responsible Conduct of Research, Statistics for Biomedical Sciences, and electives that teach quantitative and computational methods in neuroscience. Additional electives are encouraged throughout remaining years, depending on student interests.
Students from umbrella programs, BSP and MSTP, may take courses out of sequence and have accommodations based on their program specific coursework. Program directors will help students joining from other programs design a curriculum suited to their needs.
Details listed below.
Learning Outcomes for the Neuroscience PhD Program
PhD training | Doctoral education is the foundation of future scholarship and the “engine” of the research enterprise. It trains students to generate and communicate new knowledge, preparing future faculty and leaders in the academy and other areas of industry and society.
Program/Student Learning Outcomes | The PhD program in Neuroscience trains graduate students to become proficient and successful investigators who are able to:
- Demonstrate mastery of central concepts in neuroscience.
- Read and critically evaluate the scientific literature.
- Formulate hypotheses based on current concepts in the field and design, conduct, and interpret their own research projects.
- Present research results in peer-reviewed publications and in a dissertation.
- Communicate research results effectively through oral presentations at scientific seminars, conferences, and other venues.
- Write a competitive application for research funding.
- Develop ancillary skills such coding, data analytics, science communication, patient advocacy, science writing that expand job opportunities beyond laboratory research.
Graduate Certificate in Neural Engineering
The certificate in neural engineering will provide students with focused knowledge in this growing sub-discipline of bioengineering, with a focus on use of engineering techniques to understand, repair, replace, or enhance neural systems.
12 credit hours | open to graduate students in Engineering or Neuroscience at CU Denver and CU Anschutz Medical Campus.
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The first year centers on coursework and laboratory rotations. Course descriptions are below.
Fall Semester
DPT 7806: Biomedical Sciences Core (6 units) This core course provides a unified knowledge of the fundamental principles of biochemistry, cell biology, genetics and molecular biology.
NRSC 7501: Introduction to Neuroscience (1 unit) This course introduces students to the breadth of neuroscience spanning biophysical properties of neurons, neural development, synaptic plasticity, systems and computational neuroscience.
NRSC 7615: Developmental Neurobiology (3 units) This course covers topics in the development of the nervous system, such as neuronal birth, migration, differentiation, and death, axonal pathfinding, cell-cell recognition, and synapse formation, modulation and elimination.
NRSC 7650: Research in Neuroscience (Lab. Rotations I,II,III) (1 unit) Students will perform research in the laboratory of one of the members of the program. Each ~12 week rotation will be followed by an oral presentation.
NRSC 7662: Neuroscience Seminar (1 unit) Seminar series designed to present recent important findings in Neuroscience research. First year students are required to attend all the seminars.
Spring Semester
NRSC 7600: Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (3 units) Covers biophysics, neurophysiology, synaptic transmission and modern molecular tools.
RSC 7610: Fundamentals of Neurobiology “Systems” (3 units) Lectures, laboratories and manuscript discussions to provide basic knowledge of the structure and function of the nervous system, focusing on systems level approaches.
NRSC 7650: Research in Neuroscience (Lab. Rotations II,III) (1 unit each) Students will perform research in the laboratory of one of the members of the program. Each ~12 week rotation will be followed by an oral presentation.
NRSC 7661: Grant-Writing Workshop (1 unit) A practicum in how to read and write a grant proposal with emphasis on the NRSA pre- and post-doctoral fellowship applications.
Rotation Talks
Following the completion of each laboratory rotation, first year students are required to present a seminar on the research conducted in the rotation laboratory. Rotation talks are 10 minutes long, allowing 5 minutes for questions. Talks are rehearsed in advance with members of the Graduate Training Committee, and are evaluated during the formal presentation for the entire NSP community.
Preliminary Examinations
At the end of the first year, students must complete the Preliminary Exam which evaluates a student's fitness to proceed on to conducting thesis research. The NSP Preliminary Exam consists of both written and oral components. For the~45 min. oral exam, the Exam Committee evaluates student knowledge of concepts covered in first-year coursework.
Students in their second years focus on integrating into their thesis laboratories. Required coursework covers Responsible Conduct of Research, Statistics, and an elective in quantitative methods in neuroscience. Students are expected to plan for their Year 3 comprehensive examination.
Fall Semester
BMSC 7811: Responsible Conduct of Research (1 unit) Course covers issues around ethics of research, publication, and reviewing of manuscripts and grants.
NRSC 7650: Section OV3 Research in Neuroscience (1-5 units) Laboratory research (pre-comps) with Neuroscience Training Program faculty.
BIOS 6606: Statistics for Basic Scientists (3 units required, option to take this course in year 2 or 3) This course provides an overview of applied statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, bootstrap methods, permutation tests, nonparametric methods, regression analyses and analysis of variance.
Spring and Summer Semester (Quantitative Elective Options*)
*NRSC 7612: Nervous System Modeling with NEURON (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Alon Poleg-Polsky. Course Description: Nervous system modeling with NEURON platform, including independent projects.
*ELEC 5375: Engineering Neuroscience (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Tim Lei (Department of Electrical Engineering, CU Denver). Course Description: Mathematical formulation of neurobiological concepts and tools spanning equivalent circuit of membranes to dimensionality reduction methods. This course now physically takes place on the CU Denver campus.
*BIOE 5053: Optics and Microscopy in Biomedical Research (3 units elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Emily Gibson. Course Description: Principles of optics and fluorescence for applied biological microscopy.
*NRSC 7657: Workshop in Advanced Programming for Neuroscientists (1 unit) | Course Directors: Drs. Dan Denman and John Thompson. Hands-on workshop using individual projects to extend on the programming fundamentals learned in coursework in Year 1. This course is offered in the summer.
*MOLB 7950: Practical Computational Biology for Biologists: R (1 credit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Directors: Drs. S. Jagannathan and N. Mukherjee. Course Description: Genomic bioinformatics computational analysis with R. It is recommended that this course be taken along with MOLB7900- Python-based analysis course.
NRSC 7617: The Biophysics of Ion Channels (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Directors: Drs. John Bankston and Ming-Feng Tsai. Course description: Covers bioelectricity, kinetic analysis of channel gating, thermodynamics, and ion channel structure and pharmacology
Fall Semester
BMSC 7811: Responsible Conduct of Research (1 unit) Course covers issues around ethics of research, publication, and reviewing of manuscripts and grants.
NRSC 7650: Section OV3 Research in Neuroscience (1-5 units) Laboratory research (pre-comps) with Neuroscience Training Program faculty.
BIOS 6606: Statistics for Basic Scientists (3 units required, option to take this course in year 2 or 3) This course provides an overview of applied statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, bootstrap methods, permutation tests, nonparametric methods, regression analyses and analysis of variance.
Spring and Summer Semester (Quantitative Elective Options*)
*NRSC 7612: Nervous System Modeling with NEURON (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Alon Poleg-Polsky. Course Description: Nervous system modeling with NEURON platform, including independent projects.
*ELEC 5375: Engineering Neuroscience (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Tim Lei (Department of Electrical Engineering, CU Denver). Course Description: Mathematical formulation of neurobiological concepts and tools spanning equivalent circuit of membranes to dimensionality reduction methods. This course now physically takes place on the CU Denver campus.
*BIOE 5053: Optics and Microscopy in Biomedical Research (3 units elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Director: Dr. Emily Gibson. Course Description: Principles of optics and fluorescence for applied biological microscopy.
*NRSC 7657: Workshop in Advanced Programming for Neuroscientists (1 unit) | Course Directors: Drs. Dan Denman and John Thompson. Hands-on workshop using individual projects to extend on the programming fundamentals learned in coursework in Year 1. This course is offered in the summer.
*MOLB 7950: Practical Computational Biology for Biologists: R (1 credit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Directors: Drs. S. Jagannathan and N. Mukherjee. Course Description: Genomic bioinformatics computational analysis with R. It is recommended that this course be taken along with MOLB7900- Python-based analysis course.
NRSC 7617: The Biophysics of Ion Channels (1 unit elective, fulfills requirement in Quantitative Neuroscience; option to take course in year 2 or year 3) | Course Directors: Drs. John Bankston and Ming-Feng Tsai. Course description: Covers bioelectricity, kinetic analysis of channel gating, thermodynamics, and ion channel structure and pharmacology
Students in Year 3 will take their comprehensive exams, described in detail below. Any remaining required courses should be completed this year.
Pre-comps third years, should register for NRSC 7650. Post-comps third years and beyond should register for NRSC 8990. The number of credits to register for will vary depending on what other courses are taken that semester.
Comprehensive Exam
Students will choose a thesis mentor at the beginning of the second year of study and begin preparing for the Comprehensive Exam. The examination will focus on the thesis research proposal written by the student using the format of an NIH NRSA grant application. In an oral exam before a Comprehensive Exam Committee, chosen by the student, the student must demonstrate the ability to support the proposal through deep scientific background and technical knowledge, as well as satisfy the overall requirements for the examination as set forth by the Graduate School. Passing the Comprehensive Exam formally advances students to Candidacy for the Neuroscience PhD.
More information on the Comprehensive Exam can be found in the Student Handbook.
Post-Comps Year 3 and Beyond
In these years, students are expected to focus primarily on completing their thesis research. The Neuroscience Program encourages students to take elective courses as their interests and availability permits. Examples include:NRSC 7670: Advanced Topics in Neuroscience (1 unit) | Course Director: Dr. Nathan Schoppa. Course Description: The offerings under this course number vary from semester to semester. Students are informed by the curriculum committee prior to each semester what courses are being offered. Example recent topics have included Neuroethology, Neurobiology of visceral pain, Communicating Neuroscience, The Cerebellum, and Neuromodulation.
Graduate Teaching
All graduate students are strongly encouraged to be a Teaching Assistant for one semester during their graduate training. This assistantship may be in the Medical Neurobiology class or arranged with the Course Director in the Neuroscience Core courses.
Doctoral Thesis
Students will give annual reports on the progress of their thesis research to the Neuroscience faculty in the form of 30 minute seminars, and meet every 6 months with their Thesis Committee. Upon completion of a body of original research that constitutes a significant contribution of new knowledge to the field of Neuroscience, students will write a PhD thesis containing this information, and defend this document at an oral examination.
For additional information on dissertation formatting, view the Graduate School "Format Guide for Theses and Dissertations" on the Graduate School Resources page.
Program Handbook
Please review the Neuroscience Program Handbook for more information about program curriculum.