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Graduate Program in Neuroscience
The University of Alberta

NEW - Snapshot Responsibilities of Graduate Students and Supervisors - click here

Guidelines for Graduate Students and Supervisors - Updated May 2012 - click here

The Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Alberta is a group of more than 90 neuroscientists from 24 departments and 5 faculties. The Centre offers a graduate program that is designed for students who desire a broad training in various experimental and theoretical aspects of neuroscience while maintaining a research program that may be more specialized. This can be achieved by drawing on the expertise of specialists (members of the Centre) from various departments throughout the University who have research interests in neuroscience.The graduate program in Neuroscience offers both PhD and MSc programs with thesis. Applicants who are initially admitted into the MSc program may transfer to the PhD program after the first year, if this is considered appropriate after an evaluation of their progress, successful completion of a thesis proposal and assessment of their suitability for conducting PhD level research.

The following are the regulations governing graduate studies in the Centre for Neuroscience at the University of Alberta. They encompass and, in some cases, may supersede the equivalent regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR). Students and supervisors are referred to the FGSR calendar for further information.

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS

Click here - Application Procedure and Deadlines

The Centre for Neuroscience graduate program accepts students from a wide variety of undergraduate degrees. Students who already possess a Master's degree in an appropriate subject will be considered for entry into the PhD program.

Grade Point Average

The required minimum GPA for students who have completed post-secondary education in Canada or the United States is 3.3 on a 4.0 scale based on the last 20 courses or 60 course credits (usually the last 2 years of study). Minimum GPA requirements for applicants from other countries must be equivalent to a 3.3 based on the last 20 courses or 60 course credits (usually the last 2 years of study).

Applicants who do not meet the minimum requirements for GPA cannot be considered.

English Language Proficiency for Applicants whose first language is not English

The minimum requirement for the TOEFL is an overall score of 100 with no less than 20 in each of the subtests. The minimum requirement for the IELTS is an overall score of 7 with no less than 5 on each of the subtests. These scores must come directly to the Centre office from the IELTS Testing Centre or TOEFL Centre.

No English language proficiency exam is required if your institution’s language of instruction is English. An official letter from your institution stating that this is the case must be submitted.

How to Find a Supervisor

Applicants must have a supervisor and funding in place before they can be accepted into the Neuroscience program. To facilitate this, we strongly recommend that you contact potential supervisors to provide information about your research interests and determine whether they would be willing and able to supervise your graduate program. You do NOT need to apply to our program before you begin contacting supervisors. Alternatively, if you have not contacted supervisors during the application process, we will circulate your application once it is complete and approved to the professors you are interested in working with in an attempt to find a supervisor for your studies although, in our experience, students are much more likely to be successful if they contact potential supervisors directly with details on their research experience, CV, and transcripts.

University of Alberta Transfer Students

Applicants wishing to transfer to the program from other graduate programs within the University of Alberta will be considered on receipt of a letter from the student outlining the reasons for the transfer, two letters of reference, transcripts, and a letter of support from the proposed supervisor. Students who have already completed the PhD Candidacy Examination in another program will not normally be considered.

If you have any further questions on the application process, please read Application Procedure and Deadlines . If you still have questions please contact the Administrator of the Centre for Neuroscience at neurosci@ualberta.ca.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

A limited number of graduate research assistantships are available through the Centre. In addition, graduate teaching assistantships and research assistantships may be available through one of the faculties or departments participating in the graduate program in Neuroscience or from research grants held by individual investigators. Other funding is provided by scholarships awarded to students by federal and provincial agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) and the Provincial Government of Alberta. Many private foundations also have scholarship programs to support graduate students. Students will usually be expected to apply for such external funding once admitted to the program.

ETHICS REQUIREMENT

The academic integrity and ethics training requirement stipulates that all Graduate Students must complete eight hours of structured academic activity in academic integrity and ethics prior to convocation.

Centre for Neuroscience Graduate Students must complete this requirement as follows:

Complete the G.E.T. (Graduate Ethics Training) WebCT course offered by Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGSR). The course may be accessed from the FGSR homepage. Once completed, students must provide the Centre Administrator a copy of their results (an emailed screen shot of results is sufficient).

AND

Participate in the Scientific Integrity Day organized the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry offers the Scientific Integrity Day periodically throughout the academic year. Students can get up-to-date information by periodically checking their website at:

http://www.med.ualberta.ca/Home/Research/Ethics/ESI/registration.cfm.

It is strongly recommended that students complete this requirement early in their graduate program as space availability is limited and fills up quickly. Once the Scientific Integrity Day training is completed, proof of completion will submitted to the Centre Administrator from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.

NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH DAY

One day each year is designated as Neuroscience Research Day (NRD) in which Students and Members of the Centre for Neuroscience get together to find out about the diverse research interests in the Centre. The format of NRD follows that of a typical scientific meeting and typically includes a keynote presentation from a distinguished scientist from outside of the University of Alberta as well as presentations by all of the students of the Centre for Neuroscience. Student presentations comprise a short (10-15 minute) oral presentation describing their research. Students also have the opportunity to present posters to complement the oral sessions. NRD normally takes place in November, following the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience since many students will have already prepared presentations for this meeting.

GRADUATE COMMITTEE

Composition

The Graduate Committee consists of the Graduate Program Coordinator (3 year term), three other members of the Centre (3 year terms) and the Director of the Centre for Neuroscience (ex officio). A graduate student representative (1 year term) will be present as well. The student representative will not participate in meetings where progress of fellow students is discussed or in meetings to evaluate funding applications. The Coordinator acts as the convenor and chairman of the Committee. The coordinator and three other members of the Committee are appointed by the Director of the Centre for Neuroscience.

Duties

Process admissions to the program.
Distribute Centre funds for graduate student support.
Monitor the progress of all students in the program. This will involve continual assessment based on reports from supervisory committees.
Make recommendations to FGSR regarding the composition of supervisory and examination committees.
Administer Thesis Proposal Evaluations, Candidacy Examinations and Final Oral Exams.
Decide on requested transfers to the PhD program from the MSc program.
Address any grievances related to the program.

GRADUATE PROGRAM COORDINATOR