Princeton Neuroscience Institute

The Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience is designed for students that want to do a Ph.D. primarily based on another discipline, but with a neuroscience component. Students graduate with a Ph.D. degree in "X and neuroscience," where X is their home department – for example, "psychology and neuroscience," or "molecular biology and neuroscience," or "philosophy and neuroscience." The program is designed for maximum flexibility. Students apply to a home department and follow the Ph.D. rules and requirements of that home department. Further requirements to qualify for the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience are very simple – see the Plan of Study section below 

Which should I apply to? The Ph.D. in Neuroscience or the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience? 

The Ph.D. in Neuroscience is designed as an integrative Ph.D., running all the way from molecules to the human mind. Following this philosophy, students are required to take a year-long, very intensive, Core Course that goes from synapses and electrophysiology to human fMRI. If you are interested in being trained across the breadth of neuroscience, then the Ph.D. in Neuroscience is for you. In contrast, if you are only interested in parts of this – for example, you are studying viruses that infect neurons, your primary interest is in neurovirology, and it would be far better for you to learn about how viruses infect cells than to spend your time learning about the difference between episodic memory and semantic memory, then the Joint Degree Program, with molecular biology as your home department, would be right for you.

Understanding how the brain works and how it gives rise to mental function is one of the most exciting challenges in science. This effort is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing upon developments in cellular and molecular biology, genetic engineering, and psychology, and leveraging methods from chemistry, engineering, mathematics, and physics to better measure and understand neural function. To help prepare the next generation of neuroscientists for these challenges, Princeton offers an interdisciplinary program leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in molecular biology and neuroscience, chemistry and neuroscience, engineering and neuroscience, applied and computational mathematics and neuroscience, philosophy and neuroscience, physics and neuroscience, or psychology and neuroscience. Joint degrees with other relevant departments are also possible. The program encourages the serious study of molecular, cellular, developmental and systems neuroscience as it interfaces with cognitive and behavioral research. Current examples at Princeton include: molecular, genetic and pharmacologic analysis of learning and memory; the role of neural stem cells in the adult brain; viral infections of the nervous system; optical and electrical recordings of neuronal function; brain imaging studies of cognitive functions such as attention and memory in humans; and mathematical and computational analysis of neural network function. A more extensive listing of research opportunities in neuroscience is available online at neuroscience.princeton.edu.

Admission

Candidates should apply to one of the cooperating home departments, which include chemistry, ecology and evolutionary biology, molecular biology, philosophy, physics, psychology; departments in the School of Engineering; and the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. The candidate should fulfill the admission requirements of the chosen department.

Plan of Study

Upon entering the program, students select an advisor who is normally a member of the student’s home department and also an affiliate of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Students must satisfy the normal pre-general examination requirements and pass the general examination of their respective home departments. In addition to meeting their home department’s Ph.D. requirements, students in the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience must meet all of the following requirements: at least one member of the student’s thesis committee must be a core faculty member of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute; the student’s Ph.D. thesis research should have a significant neuroscience component; and the student must take one of the following four courses: NEU 501a, NEU 501b, NEU 502a, or NEU 502b. Additionally, all students in the joint program are expected to participate in the neuroscience seminar (NEU 511), which meets several times per semester.

Interested students should register as members of the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience after their general exam. This is done by obtaining approval from (a) their advisor; (b) the director of graduate studies (DGS) of their home department; (c) the DGS of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute; and then sending these approvals to the Student Services Manager for the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Financial Assistance

Fellowship awards and assistantship appointments are made by the University after recommendation by the cooperating departments and with the concurrence of the committee.

Pertinent Graduate Courses

Chemistry
514 Molecular and Biomolecular Imaging

Computer Science
551 Introduction to Genomics and Computation Molecular Biology

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
502 Fundamental Concepts in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior 1

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
511/512 Experimental Methods I and II
541/APC541 - Applied Dynamical Systems
546 Optimal Control and Estimation

Molecular Biology
504 Cellular Biochemistry
506 Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes
507 Developmental Biology
508 Advanced Topics in Neurobiology
510 Introduction to Biological Dynamics
514 EEB Biolological Dynamics
515 Methods and Logic in Quantitative Biology
537 Computational Neuroscience
549 Laboratory in Neuroscience

Physics
557 Electronic Methods in Experimental Physics
561/562 Biophysics

Psychology
500, 501,502 Proseminar in Basic Problems in Psychology
(Cognitive, Social and Neuroscience)
503 Quantitative Analysis in Psychological Research
516 Neural Basis of Goal-Directed Behavior
 

Undergraduate Courses of Interest

Applied and Computational Mathematics
350 Methods in Partial Differential Equations

Chemical Engineering
448 Introduction to Nonlinear Dynamics

Computer Science
402 Artificial Intelligence
487 Theory of Computation
494 Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
311 Animal Behavior
314 Comparative Physiology

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
345 Robotics and Intelligent Systems

Mathematics
201 Multivariable Calculus
202 Linear Algebra with Applications
203 Advanced Multivariable Calculus
204 Advanced Linear Algebra with Applications
305 Mathematical Programming

Molecular Biology
342 Genetics
345 Biochemistry
348 Cell and Developmental Biology
408 Cellular and Systems Neuroscience
431 Advanced Topics in Developmental Genetics and Neurobiology
437 Computational Neuroscience

Operations Research and Financial Engineering
201 Computer Methods for Problem Solving
245 Fundamentals of Engineering Statistics
307 Optimization
309 Probability and Stochastic Systems
411 Operations and Information Engineering

Philosophy
315 Philosophy of Mind
322 Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences

Psychology
306 Memory and Cognition
330 Introduction to Connectionist Models: Bridging Between Brain and Mind
407 Developmental Neuroscience
437 Computational Neuroscience