Elective Courses

In order to provide training both in an area of specialization and in related areas of neuroscience, a student is required to take nine semester hours of Elective Courses from the list below. Since new courses become available each year, the list below is only partial, and some courses may be discontinued depending on the situation of the instructor. Selection of Elective Courses should be done in consultation with and approval of the Student Advisory Committee. It is strongly recommended that the elective requirement be satisfied prior to taking the Comprehensive Examination.

Elective Courses (Total of 9 s.h. required): Partial Listing
002:124	Animal Physiology
002:150	Endocrinology
002:184	Seminar in Neurogenetics
002:255	Molecular Developmental Neurobiology
003:218	Psycholinguistics
003:230	Speech Perception
003:230	Aphasia
027:160	Motor Control
031:219	Psychology of Language
031:220	Proseminar in Cognition and Perception
031:223	Neural Networks in Psychology
031:226	Visual Perception
031:228	Auditory Perception
031:229	Advanced Topics in Cognition
031:330	Seminar: Cognitive Psychology
031:333	Seminar: Memory
031:335	Seminar: Cognitive Neuroscience
031:338	Seminar: Advanced Topics in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
031:370	Seminar: Health Psychology
071:207	Neuropharmacology
071:235	Topics in Pain and Analgesia
072:243	Biophysics and Excitable Membranes
072:274	Exercise Physiology Seminar
101:277	Mechanisms of Pain Transmission
101:326	Analysis of Scientific Literature
132:209	Receptors and Signal Transduction
132:240	Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience*
132:241	Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience
132:244	Behavioral Neuroscience
156:201	Principles in Molecular and Cell Biology**

*Required course for cognitive track students

**Required course for molecular track students

In addition, all students register for 132:265 Neuroscience Seminar and 132:305 Neuroscience Research each semester until they graduate.

Statistics Requirement

All students will be required to take one semester of statistics for graduation. Students will be encouraged, but not required, to take the statistics course before the Comprehensive Examination. Students with an extensive background in statistics can petition the Student Advisory Committee for an exemption to this requirement. The student will be expected to consult with his/her thesis mentor to determine whether there is a further need for more advanced courses in statistics. A partial list of appropriate statistics courses includes: Introduction to Statistical Methods (07P:243), Design of Experiments (07P:246) Introduction to Biostatistics (063:161), and Biostatistical Methods (171:201). Students are encouraged to consult with other students and with the Student Advisory Committee to determine the best statistics course for their program of study.

Seminar

The Neuroscience Seminar Series provides a weekly forum for research presentations by faculty and students of the Program, and by invited guest speakers. The Seminar is attended by all students in the Program, and by many faculty and guests from other Departments and Programs on campus. Graduate student attendance is required. Each semester, students will have 2 unexcused absences from the Seminar.

High-spirited discussions are encouraged. Presentations are screened by the director of the seminar series, Johannes Hell, PhD, to ensure a uniformly high level of quality. The format encourages student-faculty interactions. Faculty and invited guest speakers are introduced by a neuroscience graduate student, who provides a brief overview of the field in which the presentation is being delivered, as well as a personal introduction of the speaker. Invited guest speakers are scientists with national and international prominence. The Seminar meets throughout the year (with lesser frequency during the summer months).

There is an annual “Rotation Day” seminar. Towards the end of their first year, the first-year students select one of their three rotation projects and describe the goals and results of the research in a 15-minute presentation, which includes a short question-and-answer session. From the second year on, students are required to give a full one-hour presentation approximately once per year. These presentations are carefully rehearsed by Prof. Johannes Hell and the student’s mentor.

• Responsible Conduct of Research

All students will be required to receive training in ethics and the responsible conduct of science. Our Program fully concurs with the National Institutes of Health that responsible conduct is an essential part of being a scientist. Thus, all students receive instruction in a number of topics related to the responsible conduct of research. This training is provided in multiple educational settings, and over an extended period of time.

Course in Ethics
The focus of this course is 1) to outline major issues in different areas of Ethics and Science and 2) expand participants' ability to recognize and resolve problems they may encounter during a career in science. Classes are two hours long. They begin with a brief introduction lecture on a topic. Weekly readings on the various topics will be assigned. Readings and cases will be discussed in small groups.

The Social Context of Science

How the public's perception of science influences the conduct of scientists. The role of funding agencies in determining the focus of scientific investigation. The public's view of science and fraud over the last 50 years.

• Scientific Misconduct
How misconduct is defined. Is it usually blatant? What situations are most likely to foster scientific misconduct? Who engages in misconduct? What to do if you discover instances of "misconduct".

• Issues in the Use of Humans in Research
Major historical trends leading to current human research guidelines. How does the UI's Human Subjects Committee operate and what guidelines cover conducting experiments in humans?

• Issues in Authorship and Publication
Requirements for authorship. Issues in collaborative research. What constitutes an abuse of authorship? Plagiarism vs. self- plagiarism. Senior vs. Junior author issues.

• Issues in Mentoring and Training
What are the obligations of mentors and trainees to each other? How responsibilities of trainees and students change over the course of career development.

• Conflict of Interest
Federal grant funding has decreased. What are the major issues in conducting research funded by alternative agencies such as industry? Research also has become considerably more complex and often requires collaboration across laboratories. What are potential conflicts of interest across laboratories?

• Ethical Treatment of Animals in Research
What is the historical development of society's current view of animals in research? Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare? Can the use of animals be justified to alleviate human suffering? Review of the major guidelines for protection of animals.

• Ethical Issues in Genetic Research
Genetic research has advanced tremendously and has had major influences in recent court cases. What issues do scientists face when generating genetic information? Current research guidelines for conducting experiments using genetics in humans.

• Ethics in the Core Curriculum
Training in ethics and the responsible conduct of research is included in each of the Core courses inwhich the course director provides instruction in ethics and then leads the students in a discussion of an ethics case related to the subject matter of the course.

• Instruction in the Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association
Formal instruction regarding the Ethical Principles of the American Psychological Association (APA) is provided via the Benton Neuropsychology Laboratory lecture series, led by Dr. Daniel Tranel. Students receive instruction regarding the ethical use of human participants in research, and in the responsible conduct of scientific research (including issues of authorship, data reporting, citation, etc.). Case presentations are used to illustrate particularly challenging ethical dilemmas. Legal issues are also presented.