Degree Requirements

Master of Science in Neuroscience

This degree has two tracks: a research track and a coursework-only track. Students in both tracks must complete thirty semester hours of coursework. Required courses for both tracks include two core courses in neuroscience (Neuroscience 482T, Principles of Neuroscience I, and Neuroscience 383T, Principles of Neuroscience II), a statistics course, and elective courses tailored to the student's interests and background. Students who select the research track must take at least six hours of thesis coursework, and they must submit a thesis based on their individual research during their final semester in the program. All coursework must be approved by the student's faculty supervisor and program graduate adviser. 

Doctor of Philosophy

Students must complete a core curriculum that includes Neuroscience 482T, Principles of Neuroscience I; Neuroscience 383T, Principles of Neuroscience II; a statistics course; an ethics course; four graduate elective courses in neuroscience; and a graduate seminar in neuroscience. A qualifying exam is taken in the spring of the second year in which the student prepares a written proposal and defends it before an examining committee made up of Institute for Neuroscience faculty members who are experts in the scientific areas covered by the proposal. All eligible students must submit a predoctoral fellowship application by their third year of study, and all students must serve as teaching assistants for undergraduate or graduate courses.

Dual Degree Program

Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Medicine

The graduate program in neuroscience participates in a dual degree program with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Applicants must apply separately to and be admitted to both the PhD program in neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin and the medical school at UTMB; this program is not accepting new applications. Students accepted into the dual degree program spend their first two years in the medical school at UTMB, followed by three to four years of doctoral work at UT Austin and eighteen months of clinical rotations. The degrees are conferred separately by each institution. Additional information may be found at the MD-PhD dual degree program Web site .