Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience

The Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience is designed for students that want to do a Ph.D. primarily based on another discipline, but with a neuroscience component. Students graduate with a Ph.D. degree in "X and neuroscience," where X is their home department – for example, "psychology and neuroscience," or "molecular biology and neuroscience," or "philosophy and neuroscience." The program is designed for maximum flexibility.

Candidates should apply to one of the cooperating home departments, which include chemistry, ecology and evolutionary biology, molecular biology, philosophy, physics, psychology; departments in the School of Engineering; and the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. The candidate should fulfill the admission requirements of the chosen department.

Interested students should register as members of the Joint Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience after their general exam. This is done by obtaining approval from (a) their adviser; (b) the director of graduate studies (DGS) of their home department; (c) the DGS of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute; and then sending these approvals to the Student Services Manager for the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Courses:

Joint degree students must take one of the following four courses: NEU 501a, NEU 501b, NEU 502a, or NEU 502b. Additionally, all students in the joint program are expected to participate in the neuroscience seminar (NEU 511), which meets several times per semester.

General Exam:

Prior to the general examination, students must select a Ph.D. adviser affiliated with the Neuroscience Institute.  Students are required to take and pass their general exam in their home department.

Dissertation and FPO:

Students must carry out original research toward the dissertation with a core, associated or affiliated Neuroscience Institute faculty member.  In addition, at least one member of the student’s thesis committee must be a core faculty member of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and the student’s Ph.D. thesis research should have a significant neuroscience component.

• Application Fee: $90
• Statement of Academic Purpose
• Resume/Curriculum Vitae
• Recommendation Letters
• Transcripts
• Fall Semester Grades
• Prerequisite Tests
• English Language Tests
• GRE : General test

For Ph.D. candidates, tuition and fees during a student’s regular period of enrollment are provided in full from a student’s graduate student financial support, in the form of tuition support from fellowships, assistantships, or external sources.

The annual stipend amount provided to Ph.D. candidates during their regular enrollment is intended to support a single graduate student based on estimated costs. Master’s students or students with spouses and/or dependents may require additional resources to support their living expenses