The requirements for a PhD in Neurosciences are exciting
and challenging.
First Year
During the first year, PhD students are expected to
complete the first year core curriculum of the graduate school. Students
also explore research opportunities in the department through elective
laboratory rotations. After the first year, students will select the
area in which research and preparation of the dissertation will be accomplished.
To aid in this, the student will attend a weekly seminar (seminar/journal),
where concepts and introductory methodology involved in neuroscience
are presented. In addition, all students are encouraged to undertake
special projects with members of the faculty before selecting
an advisor.
Second Year
During the second year, students will take PHYSO-731
and PHYSO-741. Students may elect to take other courses in neuroscience
and cell and molecular biology, to provide additional breadth of knowledge,
as well as specialized in-depth learning experience in areas pertinent
to the research problem.
Once each year, all students are required to present
a seminar dealing with the dissertation research or other topic. The
qualifying examination for admission to degree candidacy will normally
be administered beginning in the Summer session of the second year of
the program. This examination will be in two parts: written and oral.
Course Overviews
In addition to participation in the common curriculum course that all first year PhD students are required to take, the department offers several advanced courses:
View course overviews
In addition to these graduate level courses, there are additional course offerings in Neurosciences that the department teaches within the Colleges of Medicine and Dentistry.
Qualifying Examinations
The qualifying examination will consist of both a written and
an oral component. While each component will be administered separately,
the examination is designed to be an integrated process.
Written
Examination
| Prerequisite |
Prior to this examination, the student must satisfactorily
complete the first year graduate school curriculum and the core Neuroscience
program curriculum and be in good academic standing (3.0 overall
GPA or better, and a GPA of at least 3.0 for the program courses
that have been taken). This examination will ordinarily be taken sometime
between the end of the fourth semester and the beginning of the sixth
semester of the program. |
| Objective |
- To assess the student's general knowledge base in the Neurosciences
- To examine the ability of the student to integrate information
in that knowledge base
|
| Committee members |
Each year, a qualifying examination committee will be appointed by the
department chair. The committee will consist of 4 faculty members
from the Department of Neurosciences. The committee will put together
the written qualifying examination for that year's students. |
| Examination Format |
The qualifying examination committee will solicit examination questions
from the departmental faculty involved in graduate education. The
submitted questions will be reviewed and selected by the committee.
All students will take the same examination at the same time. The examination
will ordinarily be taken in the month of May at the end of the
fourth semester of the program (not including summer). The examination
will be administered over a 3-day period. Each day, students will
be given 3 questions, from which they must answer 2. One of these
questions will be a required question that all students must answer.
Each day's testing will consist of a 4-hour morning and afternoon
session with a 1-hour break for lunch. Typically, the required
question would be given during the morning session and the optional
questions
given during the afternoon session. The faculty member who wrote
the particular question will grade the student's answer.
|
| Committee Feedback |
At the completion of the examination, the examination committee will
meet to evaluate the performance of the student. The committee
will
make a recommendation to the departmental faculty as to whether
the student may proceed to the oral examination. The departmental
graduate faculty will then vote on whether the student has passed
the written examination.
Once the student has passed the written examination, a summary
of the strengths and weaknesses of the student's performance will
be compiled and forwarded to the appropriate oral examination committee
along with the student's graded examination questions.
A critique of the student's performance on each examination question
will be provided to the student. However, an individual grade for
each
question will not be provided; only an overall pass/fail for the
entire examination. |
| Failure of Examination |
If a student fails the written qualifying examinations, the student must
petition the departmental examination committee to be allowed to retake
the examination. The student's progress in the program will be a major factor
in determining whether a student will be permitted to retake the
examination. Other factors will include the recommendation form the student's
advisor, an evaluation of the student's grades, the student's participation
in seminars and research committee meetings, and evidence for research
progress. The format of the written re-examination will be determined
by the examination committee. The decision to deny a student the opportunity
to retake the written examinations must be unanimous. If the examination is failed
after the second attempt, the student will be dismissed from the
Neurosciences doctoral program. |
Oral
Examination
| After successfully completing the written examination,
the student will take an oral examination with their advisory committee.
This examination will typically last 2-3 hours. The oral examination must be completed
by the beginning of the fall semester. |
| Committee |
Each student will have an individual oral examination
committee. Typically, this committee will also serve as the student's
dissertation committee, but the student may elect to make changes
in the makeup of the dissertation committee after successfully completing
the oral examinations. The oral examination committee will consist
of a minimum of 4 faculty members, of whom at least 3 must be members
of the graduate faculty and in the Department of Neurosciences. |
| Purpose |
- To test the ability of the student to think on his/her feet
- To explore weaknesses in their knowledge base that were identified
in the written examination
The committee will also have the prerogative to request one or
more non-committee faculty to attend the oral. Following the oral
examination,
the committee will vote on whether the student passed the oral examination.
It is important to view the written and orals as an integrated examination.
In addition, this oral examination is separate from the oral defense
of the student's dissertation proposal, and should cover a broad
array of topics. |
| Failure of Examination |
If the student fails his/her oral examination, the same appeal
process as described for failure of the written examination will
be followed with the exception that the petition will be directed
to his/her oral examination committee. |
Defense of Dissertation
Proposal
| Prerequisite |
Prior to the defense, the student must have successfully passed
the written qualifying examanation. The defense of the dissertation
proposal will ordinarily be taken no longer than 6 months after the
written qualifying examination. |
| Committee Members |
The dissertation committee will consist of a minimum of 4 faculty
members, of whom at least 3 must be members of the Department of
Neurosciences. The student's major advisor normally chairs
this committtee. |
| Written Proposal |
The student's committee will have
a major responsibility to ensure that the student is as ready as
possible to submit a well-thought-out proposal and to defend that
proposal and demonstrate a knowledge of neuroscience and experimental
design. The proposal will be written in National Institutes of
Health grant format (Individual National Research Service Award
Application; Form PSH 416-1). The Web address for the appropriate
forms is http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/416/phs416.htm
- Specific Aims. State the specific purposes
of the research proposal and the hypotheses to be tested.
- Background and Significance. Sketch briefly
the background to the proposal. State concisely the importance
of the research described in this application by relating the
specific aims to broad, long-term objectives. This section should
be 4-7 pages (a little longer than recommended for actual grants
to allow more space for demonstrating a knowledge of the relevant
literature). The literature survey should include relevant information,
but need not be exhaustive. Literature citations should be by
author and year in this section (two authors or et al., as necessary).
Do not number citations.
- Preliminary studies (1-4 pages). This will
vary a great deal because some students will be further along
by the time they complete this section.
- Research Design and Methods. Provide an outline
of:
- Research design and the procedures to be used to accomplish
the specific aims.
- Tentative sequence for the investigation.
- Statistical procedures by which the data will be analyzed.
- Any procedures, situations, or materials that may be
hazardous to personnel and the precautions to be exercised;
and Any courses planned which support the research training
experience.
- Potential experimental difficulties should be discussed
together with alternative approaches that could achieve
the desired aims.
- Literature Cited: Maximum 6 pages. Citations
should be listed alphabetically by first author and include titles.
|
| Oral Presentation |
- A 30-40 minute seminar presentation of the proposal by the student
followed immediately by an oral discussion.
- The discussion (2 hours maximum duration) will begin with questions
from all those
in attendance and then proceed to questions from committee members.
All of the doctoral committee members must be present. Questions
may
broadly
cover
aspects of
neuroscience
and
research design, but primarily will be oriented towards the proposal.
After this phase of the examination, the dissertation committee
will adjourn to discuss the candidate's performance and to vote.
The candidate may be questioned further during this second phase
of the examination. In the event a student fails the proposal
defense, the committee will either recommend the student be given
an opportunity to reschedule the defense, or the student will be
dropped as a Ph.D.
candidate in the Neurosciences Program (a terminal M.S.
would be
possible). At least three months must elapse between a failed
defense and the re-scheduled defense. The proposal defense
may be taken a maximum of two times. Two failures result in termination
of enrolment in the
Graduate School.
Careful scheduling of the proposal defense is very important to
enable board participation by the members of the department. Dissertation
proposals must be distributed to the doctoral committee and
be available to the entire program faculty at least two weeks before
the examination. |
Final Defense of Dissertation
After the dissertation committee has accepted the dissertation
proposal, the student will keep the committee informed about the progress
of the dissertation research through semi-annual meetings, culminating
in the dissertation defense. The student's committee will have a major
responsibility in ensuring that the student is ready to submit a well-written
dissertation in the area of experimental neuroscience and
to defend that dissertation orally.
Final dissertation copies must be distributed to the
doctoral committee and be available upon request to the entire program
faculty at least two weeks before the defense. After the committee members
have read the dissertation, they will provide the student with oral and/or
written feedback that may require revisions to the document. When the
dissertation is submitted, the date and location of the defense should
be carefully scheduled in order to enable broad participation by the
faculty. The defense is public and the time and place will be announced
to the MUSC community via a memorandum.
All of the doctoral committee members must be present
at the defense in accordance with the Graduate School rules. The defense
consists of a seminar-style presentation of the dissertation research
by the candidate (30-45 minutes) followed by questions. All those in
attendance are invited to question the candidate. In addition to questions
about the dissertation research, questions in relevant fields of neuroscience
may be entertained. After this phase of the defense, all those who are
not members of the graduate faculty are excused and the candidate is
questioned further. The candidate is then excused and the dissertation
committee proceeds to discuss and vote on the candidate's performance.
Thesis Requirement in the Masters
program for Neuroscience:
Masters Candidates will submit an original manuscript of their work to a peer
reviewed scientific journal as a requirement for completion of the program
of study. This manuscript should be written by the student as first author
and with guidance from the major advisor. The manuscript will be submitted
to the advisory committee for their critique and approval.
Master of Science
While the graduate program is primarily oriented toward
obtaining a PhD degree, a program of study leading to a Master's Degree
is offered on a more limited basis. This program can be completed within
two years, and consist of successful completion of selected coursework
and an original research program. While the graduate school does not
provide stipend support for MS students, support is sometimes available
from research grants awarded to departmental faculty.
