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B. Glenn Stanley, Ph.D., Director
Program Office, 1151 Batchelor Hall
(909) 787-4419; (800) 735-0717
neuro.ucr.edu

Faculty E-mails

Professors
Michael E. Adams, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience/Entomology)
G. John Anderson, Ph.D. (Psychology)
John H. Ashe, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience/Psychology)
Richard A. Cardullo, Ph.D. (Biology)
Christine Chiarello, Ph.D. (Psychology)
Glenn I. Hatton, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Werner G. Kuhr, Ph.D. (Chemistry)
Thomas H. Morton, Ph.D. (Chemistry)
B. Glenn Stanley, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience/Psychology)
Raphael Zidovetzki, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Associate Professors
Curt Burgess, Ph.D. (Psychology)
Margarita C. Currás-Collazo, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Scott N. Currie, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Manuela Martins-Green, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Assistant Professors
Douglas W. Ethell, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences)
Iryna M. Ethell, Ph.D. (Biomedical Sciences)
Peter W. Hickmott, Ph.D. (Psychology)
Gene Huh, Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)
Vladimir Parpura, M.D., Ph.D. (Cell Biology and Neuroscience)

The multidisciplinary interdepartmental graduate program in Neuroscience offers instruction and research training leading to the Ph.D. degree.

The goal of this program is to prepare students for careers in research, teaching and scientific administration. The program is aimed at providing high-quality graduate training for students who come from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds but share a commitment and an intense interest in nervous system research. Students are expected to learn the fundamentals of neuroscience, starting with a required core sequence, become knowledgeable concerning a range of research methods as taught in neuroscience laboratories and demonstrate capability in original research. Graduate student training reflects the research competence and specialties of the faculty. That is, the specific research training received by a graduate student is the responsibility of the major professor/mentor in whose laboratory the student carries out the research projects leading to the degree. Students benefit from an interdisciplinary training approach, tailored by the major advisor but enriched by the readily available expertise and laboratory facilities of program faculty with backgrounds ranging from chemistry to psychology.

Current UCR Neuroscience faculty have major appointments in several different departments but have a considerable degree of common interest in research problems and techniques. Furthermore, the three chief levels of analysis at which nervous systems are currently studied (molecular/cellular, systems, and behavioral) are more or less evenly represented by the interests and expertise of the faculty. Some faculty, as may be expected, carry out research programs that combine two or more of these levels of analysis. These levels of analysis, which characterize the faculty's research, indicate the breadth of integrated neuroscience at UCR but do not represent "fields of emphasis" in which students are to be trained.

Areas that faculty investigate include —

• Physiological actions of ion channel toxins
• Modulation of ion channels by neurotransmitters and hormones
• Synaptic transmission and neural plasticity in mammalian nervous systems
• Signal transduction in excitable cells
• Ionic interrelationships and the process of exocytosis
• Molecular biology of ion channel structure and function
• Receptor channel interactions
• Function of ligand-gated ion channels in neurons
• Influence of specific receptor proteins on function
• Synaptic and non-synaptic mechanisms in neuroendocrine systems
• Plasticity in adult central nervous system
• Cerebral hemisphere asymmetries and hemispheric interaction
• Development of chemical sensors for real-time measurement of chemical dynamics in the brain
• Regulation of genes specifying neuronal connections in developing and mature nervous systems
• Astrocyte neuron signaling
• Molecular mechanisms that trigger dendritic spine formation

Areas involving behaviors and diseases include —

• Neural control of eating behaviors
• Neural basis of language and reading
• Neural networks controlling locomotion in the spinal cord and brainstem
• Neurolinguistics
• Computational models of high-dimensional memory
• Mechanisms of neuronal death in Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and other disorders

Applicants must meet the general admissions requirements of the Riverside Division of the Academic Senate and the UCR Graduate Council as set forth in the Graduate Studies section of this catalog, including completion of an undergraduate degree (B.S. or B.A.). Applicants should have an adequate background in biological and physical sciences, ideally including courses in the following or equivalent areas: General Biology, Genetics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, and Statistics. Additionally, at least 20 quarter-units of courses distributed among the following areas are required, although applicants may be admitted with limited course work deficiencies and required to make up deficiencies as specified by the admissions committee: Biochemistry; Cell Biology; Molecular Biology; Physiology; Behavioral Biology; Learning and Memory; Perception; Computer Science; and Neuroscience, Neurobiology, or Physiological Psychology, with laboratory.

Doctoral Degree

Core requirements include:

1. NRSC 200A/PSYC 200A, NRSC 200B/PSYC 200B, NRSC 200C/PSYC 200C
2. One Research Methods course selected from CHEM 125, CHEM 221A, CHEM 221B, CHEM 221C, CHEM 221D, NRSC 211, PSYC 211, PHYS 139L
3. Two courses or one course sequence selected from the following: BCH 110A, BCH 110B, BCH 110C, BCH 241/CHEM 241, BIOL 177, BIOL 200/CMDB 200, BIOL 201/CMDB 201, BIOL 203, BMSC 210A, BMSC 210B, BMSC 220, ENTM 206 and ENTM 206L, PSYC 203A, PSYC 203B, PSYC 203C

   The course option most appropriate to the student's career goals is determined by the student in consultation with his/her guidance committee.

4. During each quarter in academic residence every student enrolls and participates in the Colloquium in Neuroscience (NRSC 257 or NRSC 287), and, until passing the oral qualifying examination, every student takes at least two seminars, Special Topics in Neuroscience (NRSC 289, 2 units), during each year of academic residence. One seminar per year is required after the qualifying examination is passed.
5. After completing the course requirements and no later than the ninth quarter in residence, the student is given a two-part qualifying examination, one written and one oral.
6. Regardless of whether financial support comes from fellowships or research assistantships, etc., students are required to be teaching assistants for at least two quarters in Neuroscience or related-area courses, such as those taught by their mentors.
7. Within three months of advancement to candidacy, the student is required to submit a written dissertation proposal to the dissertation committee for comments and approval. Before the dissertation is given final approval, the student must present a public lecture on the dissertation research to faculty and students in the program. Following the public lecture, the student meets with the dissertation committee for an oral defense in accordance with the regulations of the Graduate Division.

Normative Time to Degree 16 quarters

GRADUATE COURSES

NRSC 200A. Fundamentals of Neuroscience. (3) Lecture, three hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. The fundamentals of neuroscience in molecular and cellular mechanisms, neural and hormonal systems, and neural control of behavior. Cross-listed with PSYC 200A.

NRSC 200B. Fundamentals of Neuroscience. (3) Lecture, three hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor; NRSC 200A/ PSYC 200A. The fundamentals of neuroscience in molecular and cellular mechanisms, neural and hormonal systems, and neural control of behavior. Cross-listed with PSYC 200B.

NRSC 200C. Fundamentals of Neuroscience. (3) Lecture, three hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor; NRSC 200B/ PSYC 200B. The fundamentals of neuroscience in molecular and cellular mechanisms, neural and hormonal systems, and neural control of behavior. Cross-listed with PSYC 200C.

NRSC 211. Selected Techniques in Microscopy. (5) Lecture, three hours; laboratory, six hours. Prerequisite(s): CBNS 101; second-year standing in a graduate program recommended. Concerned with the experimental analysis of cells and cellular components. Introduces the principles of light and transmission electron microscopy with applications to cell biology. Emphasizes sample preparation and the use of electron microscopy, but also illustrates the use of other kinds of microscopy. Laboratory work includes projects and techniques of special interest to the student.

NRSC 287. Colloquium in Neuroscience. (1) Colloquium, one hour. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. Oral reports on current research topics in neuroscience with presentations by visiting scholars, faculty, and students. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC). Course is repeatable. Cross-listed with BCH 287, BIOL 287, BMSC 287, CHEM 287, and PSYC 287.

NRSC 289. Special Topics in Neuroscience. (2) Seminar, two hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing or consent of instructor. An interdisciplinary seminar consisting of student presentations and discussion of selected topics in neuroscience. Content and instructor(s) vary each time course is offered. Letter grades will be assigned to students presenting formal seminars; others will be graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC). Course is repeatable. Cross-listed with BCH 289, BIOL 289, BMSC 289, CHEM 289, ENTM 289, and PSYC 289.

NRSC 290. Directed Studies. (1-6) Individual study, three to eighteen hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing; consent of instructor. Individual study, directed by a faculty member, of specially selected topics in neuroscience. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC). Course is repeatable.

NRSC 297. Directed Research. (1-6) Outside research, three to eighteen hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing; consent of instructor. Research and experimental studies conducted under the supervision of a faculty member on specially selected topics in neuroscience. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC). Course is repeatable.

NRSC 299. Research for the Thesis or Dissertation. (1-12) Outside research, three to thirty-six hours. Prerequisite(s): graduate standing; consent of instructor. Original research in an area selected for the advanced degree. Graded Satisfactory (S) or No Credit (NC). Course is repeatable.