Curriculum
The INP curriculum includes both class work and laboratory rotations. Students work with their faculty advisory committee to create an exciting and appropriate schedule across the 1-year of the program.
Faculty Advisory Committee
Each trainee is assigned an advisory committee that is appointed by the INP Executive Committee prior to the trainee’s matriculation in the program. The committee consists of two participating faculty members.
Students meet with their faculty advisory committee, upon matriculation, to select a curriculum from approved course options, and a rotation schedule. Subsequent meetings occur at the end of each quarter during the year. At each meeting, lab and course performance for the just completed quarter are discussed and classes/lab rotations for the upcoming quarter are adjusted as necessary.
The spring quarter meeting is used to evaluate student performance in classes and rotations throughout the year, and to review choices for dissertation advisor.
INP Completion
A trainee is judged as having successfully completed the program provided that he/she has:
- Achieved at least a B+ (3.3) average in the core courses.
- Achieved a satisfactory grade in each quarter of Foundations of Neuroscience.
- Achieved satisfactory grades in all rotations.
- Identified a participating faculty member who has agreed to serve as his/her dissertation advisor.
Learn more about the graduate time table by downloading the INP Graduate Student Handbook.
Dissertation Work
INP functions in concert with existing UCI departmental training programs, such that a student successfully completing INP training is automatically directed into a departmental program for the remainder of his/her Ph.D. training. Specifically, the student is transitioned into the selected advisor’s home department’s PhD program.
Once students have been admitted to a departmental Ph.D. program, they will be essentially indistinguishable from other students in that program. They will be required to meet the department’s academic requirements, but part of that need will be met by the INP core. Further, the faculty advisory committees help the student choose courses that fulfill the requirements of the department to which the student is most likely to gravitate. Also, departments are flexible in accepting courses taken during the INP year as substitutes for courses that might have been taken through alternate means of entry into the department.
Helpful Student Guides and Information
INP Graduate Student Handbook
Welcome to the UC Irvine Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP)! The INP Graduate Student Handbook has been prepared to help students find their way around, and to help them familiarize with the INP. Read the manual to learn more about the participating departments, campus services, housing, residency, curriculum, and more.
Welcome to the UC Irvine Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP)! The INP Graduate Student Handbook has been prepared to help students find their way around, and to help them familiarize with the INP. Read the manual to learn more about the participating departments, campus services, housing, residency, curriculum, and more.
Welcome to the UC Irvine Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP)! The INP Graduate Student Handbook has been prepared to help students find their way around, and to help them familiarize with the INP. Read the manual to learn more about the participating departments, campus services, housing, residency, curriculum, and more.
NSF GRFP Guide to Preparation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) offers fellowships to students in the early stages of pursuing a research based Master’s or PhD degree. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program affords our nation’s research leaders of tomorrow exceptional funding with 3 years of graduate support worth thousands of dollars.