Neuroscience - PhD

Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services

Department of Psychology

The primary goal of the doctoral program in neuroscience is to provide students with a strong educational and research foundation in cellular, cognitive, and behavioral neuroscience.  Students will apply critical concepts in neuroscience to understanding normal and disordered processes of sensation, movement, cognition, language, and communication across the lifespan.  This goal will be accomplished through a core set of neuroscience courses, advanced electives, and laboratory experiences. For more specific information, see the department’s website at neuroscience.usu.edu.

Applicants must submit to the School of Graduate Studies the following:

• Transcripts from all previous universities attended.
• Three letters of recommendation
• A statement of professional goals and intent
• A curriculum vitae/resume

Admissions criteria include the following:

• GPA for the last 60 credits taken of 3.0 or higher
• Fit with a current faculty member involved in the neuroscience program

Degree Completion Requirements:

• Degree Verification

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited U.S. college or university or a similarly recognized international university is required for admission to and completion of a graduate program.

• Overall Graduate GPA at least 3.0 and no grades of C+ or lower;

Graduate students are required to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for degree-program courses. Grades of C+ or lower will not be accepted for a graduate degree.

• Course Number Acceptability

The Program of Study for a master’s degree or a doctoral degree, if the student has a master’s degree, must include at least 15 semester credits at the level of 6000 or above.

For a doctoral degree, if the student does not have a master’s degree, the Program of Study must include at least 30 credits at the level of 6000 or above.

Credits in the following areas are not acceptable in a degree program: foreign languages (unless included in an approved Program of Study), continuing graduate advisement, individual home study, military science, and courses numbered below 3000.

• Matriculation Start Semester

A master’s degree must be completed within six years of entering the degree program. Additional time may be requested by the student’s committee and submitted to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for review.

A doctorate must be completed within eight years of entering the degree program. Additional time may be requested by the student’s committee and submitted to the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies for review.

• Coursework Validity

Coursework over eight years old at the time of degree completion may not be used for a graduate degree unless it is revalidated.

• USU Residency Requirement
  • At least 33 semester credits for a doctoral (Ph.D.) degree must be taken from Utah State University and be part of an approved Program of Study. At least three semesters, two of which must be consecutive, of full-time registration in residence at Utah State University, is required.
• Dissertation Research Credits 7970
  • A minimum of 12 dissertation credits (7970) is required if the student has a master’s degree, and a minimum of 18 is required if the student has a bachelor’s degree.
• Required for all defense degrees:
  • ​​​​​​​Successful defense and submission of the thesis or dissertation to the library.
• Approval of academic forms required for doctoral students by the School of Graduate Studies.

All Neuroscience Ph.D. candidates must meet the following general core requirements and professional milestones:

• External Professional Presentation
  • All students must serve as the presenting author of a presentation (poster session or oral presentation) at an appropriate external professional conference;
• Peer-Reviewed Paper
  • Each student will make significant contributions to a data-based paper that is submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The preference is for students to graduate with at least one first-author publication. However, given the time constraints of some types of research, there may not be time to design a study, collect data, analyze it, submit a paper, revise it, and get a formal editorial decision during a doctoral program. In such cases, students would not be expected to have a first-author publication before graduation. Most students in the program serve as an author on multiple such articles and generally serve as lead author on at least one publication.
• Teaching:
  • Students will graduate from the program with critical competencies and experience planning and teaching university courses related to their focus area. Each student will have a teaching experience that is appropriate for their discipline. The preference is for students to TA for at least one course and to take primary responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course. However, the faculty realizes that this is outside the norm for some departments.
• Grant Writing
  • Students are expected to complete a grant-writing experience in which they write and submit a student research grant to an external agency or assist their mentor or another faculty member with preparing an external research grant. The preference is for students to write and submit an NSF or NIH doctoral dissertation grant. However, the faculty realizes that not all disciplines conduct the type of research that would be funded by these agencies. In those cases, students should assist faculty in writing an external grant and/or should write a grant to an external agency such as a foundation.
• Completion of a second-year project
  • Students entering with a baccalaureate degree must complete a Second Year Project during the first 5 semesters of the program (fall semester of the 3rd year).
• Completion of a comprehensive exam
• Completion of doctoral dissertation
• Completion of all the required coursework.