Graduate: PhD – Program Description

The Neuroscience PhD Program is an interdisciplinary graduate program comprised of graduate students and faculty from 13 departments across four schools at Tulane University, including the Schools of Science and Engineering, Medicine, Public Health and Tropical Medicine and Liberal Arts. The Neuroscience faculty research programs are well funded by grants from federal and state funding agencies in the areas of stress disorders, sensory-motor disorders, pain mechanisms, cortical structure and function, signal transduction mechanisms, neuropeptides, learning and memory, and developmental neurobiology. Graduate students perform cutting edge research in a small and productive research environment that fosters intimate instruction and training leading to publication in upper-tier scientific journals.

The major goal of the Neuroscience Program is to provide graduate students with broad education in both the theoretical and practical aspects of research in neuroscience. Our students receive a diversified training in neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, molecular and cellular neurobiology, and research methods in neuroscience. In addition, the students have the opportunity to obtain experience in teaching and in presenting research results. Our goal is to produce Ph.D.s who will engage in neuroscience research as postdoctoral fellows, and eventually as researchers in academia or industry.

The curriculum is designed to prepare the students for active research careers. Core courses include Graduate Neuroscience, Methods in Neuroscience, Trends in Neuroscience, Neuroscience Seminars, Univariate Statistics, and Professional Issues. Students also take a variety of specialized electives, while performing research, beginning in the first year of the Program. All course work is completed in two years, allowing the students to concentrate full time on research from their third year on.

Each student's program is guided closely by an advisor and a dissertation committee. To obtain the Ph.D., each student takes a qualifying exam following completion of his/her course work, prepares a prospectus of his/her dissertation research proposal, and prepares a Ph.D. dissertation and oral dissertation defense.

All students accepted into the Neuroscience Ph.D. Program are supported by a teaching assistantship and/or research assistantship, which include a competitive stipend a full tuition waiver, and a health insurance supplement.

Deadlines

All Ph.D. application materials must be received by the Neuroscience Graduate Program by February 1st. Applications are reviewed as they are received; therefore, applicants are encouraged to submit all required materials as early as possible. Applications arriving after this date will be considered by the admissions committee only if positions remain available.

Application Requirements

Students who wish to be admitted to the Neuroscience Graduate Program should apply online (see application). The program will not consider any student for admission until all the following documents have been received:

- Application form (must be submitted online)
- A statement of career objectives not to exceed 500 words
- Three letters of recommendation
- An official copy of all post-secondary academic transcripts
- Official score of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or MCAT
- Official score of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam (international applicants only)

Please send all required materials in one large envelope to:

Tulane University
Neuroscience Graduate Program
2007 Percival Stern Hall

6400 Freret Street
New Orleans, LA 70118

**All transcripts and other documents and material required for application for admission become the property of the Neuroscience Graduate Program and are not returnable either in original or photocopied form.

GRE Test Score Requirements

All applicants to the Doctoral Program are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test. A minimum combined score of 1100 (Verbal 550 + Quantitative 550) is required for the applicant to be considered. The GRE subject test is not required. For GRE information, visit the GRE web site or contact the Educational Testing Service (ETS). When requesting ETS to send your score to the Neuroscience Graduate Program, please use our university code (6173) and departmental code (0213).

Non-Native English Speakers

In addition to admissions requirements, applicants who are not native speakers of English must demonstrate an adequate command of the English language. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores or other evidence of English proficiency are required. A minimum TOEFL score of 600 points on the written exam, 250 on the computerized exam, or 90 on the internet-based exam is required. For more information about the TOEFL, visit the TOEFL website or contact ETS. When requesting ETS to send your score to the Neuroscience Graduate Program, please use our university code (6173) and departmental code (0213).

Contact Information

Sherrie Calogero

Senior Program Coordinator

sherrie@tulane.edu

504-862-3305

Jeffrey Tasker, Ph.D.

Director, Neuroscience Program

tasker@tulane.edu

504-862-8726