Education
Neuroscience Teaching Faculty in The Division of Neural and Anatomical Education Pictured left to right: David R. Kornack, Ph.D., John A. Olschowka, Ph.D., John J. Foxe, Ph.D., Sarah McConnell, Ph.D., Sergiy Nadtochiy, Ph.D., Martha J. Gdowski, Ph.D., Linda Callahan, Ph.D. Not pictured: Diane Piekut, Ph.D.
Neuroscience Graduate Program
The Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Rochester recruits and matriculates the highest quality students from around the United States and from all parts of the world. They participate in a rigorous neuroscience curriculum, attend national and international meetings, and contribute to cutting edge research. Many of our students have published manuscripts in high profile international journals and present abstracts at a host of large and small scientific meetings. In addition, our students participate as members of the curriculum, admissions, and colloquium committees, and annually present their ongoing research to fellow students and to the neuroscience community as a whole.
Department of Neuroscience
The Department of Neuroscience is strongly committed to its major academic missions of research and education. Over 40 faculty (primary and joint) are actively engaged in neuroscience research across broad spectrums of interests. Extensive state-of-the-art instrumentation and methodologies are available for investigators and students, both within laboratories and across a set of departmental and institutional research cores.
Medical Scientist Training Program
The Medical Scientist Training Program incorporates the MD and PhD degrees into a cohesive curriculum, with the goal of endowing a select few with the clinical and basic science skills needed to not only understand disease, but translate that understanding into new therapies. At Rochester, this training is facilitated by outstanding faculty, talented and involved students, and a collaborative research environment. Our standard of excellence has been consistently recognized nationally and by the National Institutes of Health, with the 2018-2019 academic year marking our 60th year training physician-scientists and 45th consecutive year of MSTP funding.
Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Training Program (UR-AADTP)
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) represent a leading public health challenge in the U.S. and worldwide. Over 7.5 million older Americans have ADRD, a figure expected to double in the next 25 years. Already the 5th leading cause of death in older adults, mortality due to ADRD has risen 135% in the last two decades even as deaths due to heart disease and some cancers have decreased. Its impact on the older person, caregivers, and society is great, with associated care costs in the U.S. expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2050. Despite heavy investment in its study, progress in the scientific understanding of ADRD has been slow and still there is neither a cure nor effective means to substantially slow disease progression.
To accelerate progress in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), established strengths at the University of Rochester in foundational and translational research on aging and ADRD have been leveraged to create the University of Rochester Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Training Program (UR-AADTP), a predoctoral graduate training program currently supported by the National Institute of Aging (T32 AG0776455).
Department of Biomedical Engineering Graduate Programs
Affiliated with both the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine and Dentistry, the University of Rochester graduate program in biomedical engineering emphasizes the application of engineering skills to biomedical problem-solving at both the master’s and doctoral level.
Brain and Cognitive Sciences Graduate Program
Because students come to the brain and cognitive sciences (BCS) discipline with a wide range of backgrounds, the PhD program is designed to introduce students to parts of the field they might not previously have studied, and to prepare them for advanced work. This core curriculum covers a range of topics in perception, action, cognition, language, learning, and development, each examined from the perspectives of behavioral, computational, and neural science. According to the most recent National Research Council rankings, the graduate program in BCS at the University of Rochester is ranked as high as fourth nationally among 236 PhD programs in cognitive science and psychology (based on both the S-range and R-range measures). The BCS faculty ranked as high as third nationally for research according to the Faculty Research Activity measure. For more information see the Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs and the sortable list of rankings.
Brain and Cognitive Sciences Undergraduate Programs
The department offers majors in brain and cognitive sciences, and neuroscience.
The BCS major offers a rigorous but accessible program for students interested in the brain and how it enables us to perceive, think, and learn. Both the bachelor of arts (BA) and bachelor of science (BS) degrees are built around a common curriculum that integrates biological, behavioral, and computational approaches to the study of perception, language, thinking, learning, and the development of these capacities.
Students in our neuroscience program will receive a BS in biological sciences: neuroscience. This program provides students interested in biology with an opportunity to explore the molecular, cellular, and physiological bases of behavior.