Neuroscience constitutes a truly interdisciplinary area of scientific study and research that incorporates physiology, molecular and cellular biology, pharmacology, development, psychology and cognitive sciences, computer sciences and network modeling, biochemistry and behavior. FAU offers a graduate Certificate Program in Neuroscience that has been designed to provide incoming Masters and PhD students with an integrated background in the Neurosciences. This is a 14-credit graduate certificate program that provides students with an understanding of the essential principles of neuroscience and elective concentrated study in Theoretical and Dynamical, Molecular and Cellular, Cognitive, and Behavioral Neuroscience. While administered through the Dean’s Office of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, the program consists of a multi-departmental curriculum comprised of selected courses from Departments within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
Admission to, and completion of this program is organized by the Dean’s Office of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For admission, the applicant must satisfy the following criteria:
1. Acceptance into a Masters or Ph.D. training program in any of the following departments or programs:
Biological Sciences
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Electrical Engineering
Mathematical Sciences
Psychology
Biomedical Sciences
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Integrative Biology
Physics
2. Obtain approval from the Certificate Program Coordinator prior to taking courses to satisfy the 14-credit Certificate requirement.
The certificate courses are taught by faculty from three Colleges within Florida Atlantic University, and represent a select subset of all graduate neuroscience-related courses offered. These courses cover introductory neuroscience, cellular and molecular principles and their relationship to brain diseases and disorders, systems-level analysis of sensory and motor systems, higher cognitive function, theoretical and computational approaches, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, behavior, and methods of neuroscience research.
1. Certificate requirements are the successful completion (with at least a B average) of four 3-credit courses (two of which are PSB 6345 and PSB 6346 – Neuroscience 1 and 2, respectively),, plus satisfactory achievement in two semesters of the 1-credit Neuroscience Colloquium for a total of 14 credits. Course details are found below.
2. All students in the Neuroscience Graduate Certificate program are also expected to participate in the FAU Neuroscience Research Day held each spring semester.
1. Neuroscience I (PSB 6345, 3 credits) and Neuroscience II (PSB 6346, 3 credits) in Year one.
2. Two 3-credit elective courses from the following four concentrations. (Note that, to gain an interdisciplinary exposure to the Neurosciences, one of the elective courses should be from outside the student’s “home” program area. For example, a PhD student in the Integrative Biology program should select from a course in any of the areas other than Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience.)
Theoretical and Dynamical Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
3. Neuroscience Colloquium (ISC-6930, 1 credit/semester, required to enroll two times). The Neuroscience program sponsors a public seminar series with distinguished speakers from outside and inside of FAU. Students will also present their own research in the form of a seminar talk given to the other students in the program and interested faculty. Each student in the Certificate Program will be required to give at least one seminar during the two semesters that they are enrolled. Attendance is mandatory for all students. The Neuroscience Colloquium serves several purposes: it gives the students in the program exposure to established neuroscientists and their research, it exposes the students to the on-going projects of their fellow program peers, and it gives all students an opportunity to present their own research in a low stress venue before a friendly audience of their peers.
Department of Biological Sciences (Charles E. Schmidt College of Science)
Department of Biomedical Science (Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine)
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Charles E. Schmidt College of Science)
Department of Computer Sciences (College of Engineering and Computer Science)
Department of Electrical Engineering (College of Engineering and Computer Science)
Department of Mathematical Sciences (Charles E. Schmidt College of Science)
Department of Physics (Charles E. Schmidt College of Science)
Department of Psychology (Charles E. Schmidt College of Science)
Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
