Students must pass a qualifying exam to progress in the program. The overall goal of the qualifying exam is to ensure that all neuroscience doctoral students possess the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the Ph.D. dissertation process, including:
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A strong, basic understanding of neuroscience.
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The ability to write a cogent review paper.
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The ability to defend orally the topic of the paper, with special emphasis on demonstrating mastery of both methodology and theory.
The qualifying exam consists of both a general and specialized knowledge exam. The general exam, taken at the end of the first year, is an oral exam in which students are expected to demonstrate a general knowledge of the field of neuroscience and concepts that have been covered in the Principles of Neuroscience I and II courses. The specialized exam, taken at the beginning of the 2nd yr, is comprised of both written and oral elements in which students must write a brief review paper, given an oral presentation on the paper, and pass an oral examination on the specialized knowledge related to the area of research of the paper.