Graduate: Masters – 4 + 1 Program

Office: 3053 Percival Stern Hall
Phone: (504) 862-3305 or 314-7548
Fax: (504) 862-8744
Email: brain@tulane.edu, bwee@tulane.edu
Gary Dohanich, Ph.D., Beth Wee, Ph.D.

The purpose of a 4+1 M.S. Program in Neuroscience is to provide students with training at the graduate level for one additional year beyond the baccalaureate degree. Students accepted to the 4+1 program may follow one of two tracks toward completion of an M.S. in Neuroscience.

For the Thesis Track option (24 credit hours), students will take courses relevant to their interests in neuroscience or related fields and complete an empirical master's thesis under the supervision of an advisor who is a member of the Neuroscience Graduate program. Because completion of an empirical master's thesis normally requires more than one year, students accepted into the 4+1 program must be active in research at the undergraduate level. Each student will be encouraged to develop a master's thesis that is a continuation or extension of his or her undergraduate honors thesis or independent study. The thesis advisor will provide guidance in the selection of courses and in all aspects of the master's thesis. For the Non-Thesis Track option (30 credit hours), students will take courses relevant to their interests in neuroscience or related fields but are not required to complete an empirical master's thesis.

Admissions

Tulane students working toward the B.S. in Neuroscience or a related major may apply for admission. To be considered for admission, students should submit a Graduate School application form; SAT, ACT, GRE, or MCAT scores; an official transcript; a letter from a faculty member who is a member of the Graduate Neuroscience Program confirming his or her commitment to supervise the student; and one additional letter of reference written by a full-time member of the Tulane Faculty who has had the student in a science course. Acceptance into the program will be competitive and based on the decision of the 4+1 Neuroscience Program Committee comprised of 5 faculty members of the Neuroscience Graduate Program, including two from each campus. Applicants will need a minimum of 1100 on their GRE and 3.0 undergraduate GPA. The deadline for receipt of the COMPLETED APPLICATION, INCLUDING ALL SUPPORTING MATERIALS is June 1 to start in the fall semester and October 15 to start in the spring semester.

Program Committee:

Gary Dohanich - Psychology
Fiona Inglis - Cell and Molecular Biology
Guyong Wang - Structural and Cell Biology
Brad Taylor - Pharmacology
Beth Wee - Neuroscience

Contact Dr. Wee regarding specific admission procedures.

Costs

The cost of the 4 + 1 Masters Program for the 2007-2008 Academic Year is $12,500 for tuition and approximately $800 for fees. In addition, all students are required to have health insurance while enrolled at Tulane. Students may elect to enroll in the Tulane sponsored health insurance plan which is $1893 this year. Estimated personal expenses are about $1400.

Thesis Committee and Prospectus

Master's thesis research is the central element of the 4+1 Thesis Track degree. The thesis normally is an extension of research conducted at the undergraduate level and tied closely to the research advisor’s interest and expertise. A student conducting a thesis in partial fulfillment of the 4+1 degree in Neuroscience will assemble a thesis committee of three faculty members, two of whom must be members of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. The student will prepare a written thesis prospectus for the committee, not to exceed 5 pages. The prospectus should describe briefly the specific hypotheses, the most relevant literature, the proposed methodology and data analysis, and the expected outcomes and significance of the project. Within one week after submission of the prospectus to committee members, the student will meet with the full committee for comments and guidance. The meeting should occur prior to October 1 of the 4+1 year of study. Upon completion of the thesis, the committee will read and review the final thesis document and evaluate student performance at a formal thesis defense. The final document submitted to the Science and Engineering Graduate office following the thesis defense is due in late March for spring graduation or late July for summer graduation. The exact dates vary from year to year. Contact Dr. Wee or Dr. Dohanich for additional information.

Curricula

The Thesis Track degree will require 24 credits at the graduate level, and the Non-thesis Track degree will require 30 credits at the graduate level. Up to 12 credits may be earned prior to the fifth year of study at the 600 and 700 levels, but only 6 of these credits may be applied toward both the baccalaureate and master's degrees. Students who accumulate more than 120 credits prior to earning the baccalaureate degree may apply additional graduate level credits to the M.S., provided these credits are not needed for the baccalaureate degree. The curriculum is flexible and specific to each individual student. However, the course plan must be developed in consultation with Dr. Wee.

Elective Courses

NSCI 600/601 (F,S)	3,1	Methods in Neuroscience	Wee
NSCI 603 (F,S)	1	Neuroscience Seminar	Tasker
NSCI 604 (F,S)	1	Trends in Neuroscience	Tasker
NSCI 611	3	Brain and Language	Howard
NSCI 631 (F)	3	Cellular Neuroscience	Tasker
NSCI 632 (S)	3	Systems Neuroscience	Schrader
NSCI 634 (S)	3	Neurobiology of Disease	Cronin
NSCI 635 (S)	3	Developmental Neurobiology	Inglis
NSCI 637 (F)	3	Molecular Neurobiology	Inglis/Cronin
NSCI 651 or PSYC 709 (F)	3	Biological Psychology	Colombo
NSCI 653 or PSYC 710 (F)	3	Psychopharmacology	Dohanich
NSCI 655 (S)	3	Behavioral Neuroendocrinology	Dohanich/Wee
NSCI 657 or PSYC 703 (F, S)	3	Cognitive Neuroscience	Golob
NSCI 663 (F)	3	Cellular Neurophysiology	Staff
NSCI 710 (F, S)	0-4	Special Topics in Neuroscience	Staff
NSCI 711 (F)	3	Graduate Neuroscience	Tasker
NSCI 798	1-6	Research in Neuroscience	Staff
CELL 601 (F)	3	Cellular Biochemistry	Hopkins
CELL 608	3	Advanced Developmental and Cell Biology	Muneoka
CELL 611	3	Cells and Tissues	Staff
CELL 613	4	Embryology - Lecture and Lab	Muneoka
CELL 616 (F)	3	Developmental Biology	Cserjesi
CELL 621 (F)	3	Cellular Physiology	Cronin
CELL 701 (F, S)	3	Cell Biology	Dotson
CELL 711 (F, S)	3	Molecular Biology	Thien
PSYC 609 (F)	3	Univariate Statistics I	Corey
PSYC 611 (S)	3	Univariate Statistics II	Corey
PSYC 613 (F)	3	Multivariate Statistics	Corey
EBIO 708	3	Biostatistics and Experimental Design	Dyer
ANAT 719*	2	Advanced Neuroanatomy	Staff
GBCH 601*	4	Graduate Biochemistry	Wimbley
GBCH 724*(F)	2	Structural Immunology	Landry
GPHR 704*	2	Neuropharmacology	Taylor
GPHR 721*(F, S)	1	Advances in Pharmacology	Kadowitz
GPHR 723*	4	Principles of Pharmacology	Beckman
HMGN 702*	3	Human Genetics	Narumanchi
MCBP 607*	3	Advanced Cellular Biology	Morris

*Tulane Medical School. Additional relevant electives are offered by other departments and programs. However, only courses at the 600 and 700 levels receive graduate course credit.

Example Curriculum (Thesis) 6 credits at undergraduate level		Example Curriculum (Non-thesis) 6 credits at undergraduate level
Fall	Spring	Fall	Spring
NSCI 711 (3)	Elective (2-3)	NSCI 711 (3)	Elective (3)
NSCI 603 & 604 (2)	Elective (2-3)	NSCI 603 & 604 (2)	Elective (3)
Elective (2-3)	NSCI 798 (3)	Elective (3)	Elective (2-3)
NSCI 798 (3)		Elective (2-3)	Elective (2-3)
		Elective (2-3)

View a list of all graduate courses available to graduate students in neuroscience.