Neuroscience Doctorate

Specializations: Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience; Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience; Computational, Neurorehabilitation and Neuroimaging Neuroscience

Neuroscience is the interdisciplinary study of the function of the nervous system, encompassing a broad spectrum of approaches from cellular and molecular function to anatomical circuitry to behavior, disorders and treatments. The neuroscience doctoral program is designed with interdisciplinary research training and curriculum, research writing and analysis skills toward preparing students for doctoral-level interdisciplinary career opportunities in the growing arena of neuroscience research and industry. The program involves faculty from the Departments of Biological Sciences; Biomedical Engineering; Biomedical Sciences; Physical Therapy-Exercise Science; Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science; Philosophy; and Psychology. The program is designed to provide students with research training and didactic course work that includes a broad foundation in neuroscience that can then be complemented with specialized courses within subfields. 

Specializations

BEHAVIORAL AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

Students in this specialization acquire a foundational background in behavioral and cognitive processes and their neuroanatomical and neurophysiological foundations. Areas of focus include: perception, attention, learning, memory, executive functioning, social and affective functioning, reward, stress, mental health and disorders, development, aging and dementia.

Behavioral and cognitive neuroscience students must complete a minimum of 14 credit hours from the following list:

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

Students in this specialization acquire a foundational background in core neuroscience concepts including a strong understanding of both neuronal and non-neuronal cells of the nervous system, electrical/chemical mechanisms of synaptic signaling, structure/function of the nervous system, and behavioral, physiological, and cognitive outputs of the healthy and dysfunctional nervous system. Areas of focus include: fundamental processes underlying drug and alcohol addiction, stress, depression, schizophrenia, learning and memory, obesity and eating disorders, neurodegeneration, circadian biology, ion channel function and spinal cord injury. 

Cellular and molecular neuroscience students must complete a minimum of 14 credit hours from the following list:

Computational, Neurorehabilitation and Neuroimaging Neuroscience

Students in this specialization acquire a foundational background in computational modeling, neurorehabilitation and/or neuroimaging. Computational modeling explores processes from single neurons to neuronal networks including neural interconnections, neural signal processing, and synaptic plasticity. Neurorehabilitation explores the mechanisms and clinical and laboratory methods for studying neural disorders and the treatment strategies to address them. Neuroimaging neuroscience explores imaging physics, mathematics, and methods toward problems in basic and applied neuroscience. Areas of focus include: statistical models for magnetic resonance imaging, computational models of gene regulatory networks, predictive models of neurophysiological processes and clinical outcomes, human visuomotor processing, functional neuroimaging, brain structural and functional connectivity, spinal cord imaging and human motor control, neural and neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and rehabilitative strategies.

Computational, neurorehabilitation and neuroimaging neuroscience students are required to complete a minimum of 14 credit hours from one of the focus areas. See course lists for each focus, below:

Computational

 Neurorehabilitation

 Neuroimaging

ACCELERATED BACHELOR'S-Doctoral DEGREE PROGRAM

The Graduate School offers a combined bachelor’s-doctoral program available to outstanding Marquette University biomedical sciences undergraduate students. This program enables students to complete their undergraduate degree within the first year of the neuroscience graduate program, allowing them to complete their doctorate in less time than traditional graduate students. Biomedical sciences undergraduate students can apply for early admission to the neuroscience doctoral program in the first term of their junior year. The cellular and molecular neuroscience specialization must be chosen. Students may request permission to move to another specialization, though requests are not guaranteed.

Students accepted into this program are eligible to enroll in up to 17 credits of graduate neuroscience courses in their senior year that can be used to fulfill both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements. Interested students should contact their adviser early in their undergraduate career to plan the curriculum for the biomedical sciences major accordingly. Students must submit an application to the Graduate School, indicate their interest in the accelerated degree program and meet all other admission criteria as stated in the Application Requirements section on the Graduate School's ADP webpage. If accepted to the ADP, students must notify the Graduate School upon successful completion of bachelor’s degree, and their admission as a full-time graduate student is then activated.