Neuroscience, PhD

Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, PhD
Director, Neuroscience Center of Excellence

The multidisciplinary graduate program in Neuroscience is an important educational program of the LSU Neuroscience Center of Excellence that prepares students for careers in teaching and research in academic institutions, the biomedical industry, or government agencies. The training program consists of course work, seminars, and the development of independent research ability. In the first two years, students take all required basic biomedical science and Neuroscience graduate courses. Advanced courses and individual directed research are undertaken to fulfill the particular educational needs of the graduate student. At the beginning of the second year of graduate school, students are expected to choose a particular area of research and a major professor who will supervise their doctoral research.

Applications to the graduate program in Neuroscience are reviewed by a faculty committee. To be considered for acceptance into the program, applications should be received by February 1st of the year in which the students intend to enroll. Usually all accepted students receive a graduate stipend. Minimum requirements for admission to the program include a degree from a university or its equivalent and achievement of a 2.5 grade point average overall and a 3.0 average in science courses as an undergraduate. Applicants are expected to have taken the GRE and to have obtained a minimum combined score of 1200 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the exam (approximately 315 on the new scoring system). An advanced GRE examination in a science area must also be taken prior to acceptance to the graduate program in neuroscience. Foreign students are required to achieve at least 550 on the TOEFL exam. In the fall of the first year all students are expected to take Investigative Neuroscience, which provides an introduction to neuroscience and a broad overview of both fundamental and important clinical areas of neuroscience. Other courses that are required for the curriculum are listed. After passing the examinations for admission into doctoral candidacy, students have the opportunity to fulfill their individual course requirements in the areas that they specifically need.