Contents:
Appendices:A: INS Course Offerings/Synopses F: Talk Preparation and Presentation G: Rotation Talks Guidelines (for students and faculty) I: Thesis Committee Meeting Report (updated August, 2009) J: Defense/Graduation Survival Kit L: Description of Journal Club Course M: Lab Rotation / Independent Study Evaluation Form (updated August, 2009) OVERVIEW Overview of Training Program The primary objective of the training program offered by the Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG) is to develop first-rate scientists who excel in neuroscience research. Towards this end, the curriculum is designed for breadth (core courses), depth (laboratory rotations; elective courses) and the development of real expertise in a selected area of Neuroscience (the thesis). In addition, at least one opportunity to acquire teaching experience is provided. The NGG program includes candidates for the PhD, MD/PhD and VMD/PhD degrees. The first group takes classes and performs lab rotations for the first two years (see below for details) while the second two groups do the same for only their first year in the program. This is because these latter groups (called collectively Combined Degree or CD students) enter the NGG program after two years studying the basic sciences aspect of their medical or veterinary training. During the 2 nd half of either year 2 (PhD students) or year 1 (CD students), students take their “Candidacy Exam” (aka Thesis Proposal Defense). After successfully completing the Candidacy Exam, students devote themselves to full-time research on a problem whose solution will constitute a significant advance to some area of Neuroscience. The Ph.D. in Neuroscience is awarded when the resulting thesis is successfully defended before the faculty. The program requirements, as outlined below, are flexible guidelines. Considerable opportunity exists for each student to undertake specialized study in a variety of elective areas. Furthermore, a student's background may allow specific course or rotation requirements to be satisfied in ways that deviate from this general plan. Students may petition the Academic Review Committee for changes to particular requirements of the program. Master of Science Degree The NGG does not have a Masters program and does not admit students who wish to obtain an M.S. degree. Masters degrees are not ordinarily awarded at an intermediary point in the program. However, if a student leaves the program for compelling personal reasons or is asked to leave the program, the Academic Review Committee may consider awarding a terminal M.S. degree. This will not be considered unless the student has completed two years of coursework and laboratory rotations, is in good academic standing and has passed the Candidacy Exam.
FIRST TWO YEARS
Required Courses Four core courses are required of every student. They are: BIOM 600 Core I: Cell Biology (Fall) –OR- BIOL 527 INSC 572 Core II: Electrical Language of Cells (Fall) INSC 573 Core III: Systems Neuroscience (Spring) INSC 577 Core IV: Seminar-Related Journal Club (Fall and Spring) The purpose of these courses is to introduce all NGG students to the broad basis of modern Neuroscience. Students with strong backgrounds in any of these course areas may be exempted from that portion of the course (see Exceptions, below). Exemption is usually accompanied by replacing the exempted course with a more advanced course in the same general area. Students must receive the grade of B- or better to obtain a passing grade. Any grade below a B- in a core course requires the student to re-take that course the next time it is given. The consequences of a failing grade in any elective course are determined by the Academic Review Committee (ARC). Students who obtain either more than one failing grade or who have an overall GPA below a “B” are placed on Academic Probation. Persistence of a weak academic performance will lead to removal from the program. Note that attendance in Core IV, the Seminar-Related Journal Club Course, is required of all 1st Year PhD Students and 1st Graduate Year Combined Degree (CD) Students, during both Fall and Spring Semesters. It is NOT taken for a course credit but is nonetheless a program requirement. During subsequent years, all students attend specialty Journal Clubs in the area of their thesis research. The Seminar-Related Journal Club helps develop critical reading, presentation skills and is tied to the weekly Neuroscience Seminar Series. Thus it also affords students the opportunity to familiarize themselves, in advance, with the work of the visiting speakers and to meet these visitors over lunch. Description of Journal Club Course Elective Courses INSC575 Learning & Memory (Fall-every year) INSC599 Advanced Systems – Vision (Fall-even) INSC670 Current Topics in Neuropharmacology (Fall-every year) These courses are described in Appendix A They are designed to cover classical as well as current issues in all areas of Neuroscience. Many of the NGG faculty are involved in teaching these courses so that the student will experience wide exposure to potential thesis advisors at this time. In addition, students may choose courses relating to their specific interests from among the many courses offered by other graduate groups. In principle, any graduate course offered throughout the University that is relevant to a student's thesis research is available to our graduate students. Information about all Penn graduate courses is available through the Course Register. Biomedical Graduate Studies Course information is available through BGS course listings. SINCE CHANGES ARE OFTEN MADE AT THE LAST MINUTE IT IS ALWAYS ADVISABLE TO CHECK WITH THE HOME DEPARTMENT FOR A GIVEN COURSE.
The Graduate School requires that each student undertake 20 course units and pass a Candidacy Exam by the end of year 2 for PhD students, and by the end of graduate year 1 for CD students. After this has occurred, dissertation status is achieved and the student is a candidate for the Ph.D. In the first year (CD students) or first two years (PhD students), formal courses include the core courses, elective courses and laboratory rotations. The remaining course units can be satisfied by units of independent study or similar research related activity. Undergraduate courses may not be taken for graduate credit without permission from the NGG Chair and the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) Office. Students may also take a few courses during their thesis years. Ethics Course An awareness of scientific ethics is an important and integral aspect of being a scientist. To ensure that all biomedical graduate students receive some formal education in the issues involved in scientific ethics, the NIH has mandated that the training of biomedical scientists shall include courses in scientific ethics. Under the auspices of the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) office, there is a required aspect of scientific ethics training during every year in the program. Thus, every 1st and 3rd year PhD student is required to attend a series of bioethics-related lectures, and 2nd and 4th years attend small group workshops. Combined Degree students have a similar schedule and should consult the combined degree office for the detailed information.
Seminars Seminars are an important means by which scientists remain informed and current. While seminars occurring directly in one's immediate niche are obviously important events to attend, it is equally valuable to maintain a cutting edge awareness of other areas of Neuroscience. There are a host of seminars in various areas of Neuroscience that occur as parts of several programs on campus. Each Monday all NGG students and NGG/INS faculty receive an email informing them of all upcoming Neuroscience-related seminars on the Penn campus. A major venue for weekly Neuroscience seminars is the series sponsored by the Institute of Neurological Sciences (INS), in concert with the Training Grants in Behavioral Neuroscience and Systems & Integrative Biology (SIB). This seminar series covers a wide range of topics in Neuroscience. The seminars are given on Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m. in the Barchi Neuroscience Library (140 John Morgan Bldg). All 1st and 2nd year PhD students and 1st Graduate year CD students are required to attend this seminar series, and all thesis-level students are strongly encouraged to attend. The schedule of speakers is posted on the web Students are invited to lunch with all seminar speakers preceding their talks.
Special Events In the Fall of each year, the INS schedules the Louis B. Flexner lecture and dinner plus the Behavioral Neurosciences Training Grant Retreat. In the Spring, the Annual INS Retreat is held (every April) as is the SIB/Vision Sciences Training Grants Retreat (every May/June). These events are important gatherings of our local Neuroscience community and all students are expected to participate.
Laboratory Rotations Laboratory rotations, each of which is a one semester-long experience, provide research level exposure to selected areas of Neuroscience and they complement the work covered in classes. They also provide the means by which students select their thesis advisor. It is here, in the lab rotations, where students can gain a mastery of a wide range of modern laboratory techniques and can focus on important issues at the state-of-the-art level. These rotations usually involve original investigative work in the laboratory of a NGG faculty member. This experience can lead to presentations at scientific meetings and, occasionally, to a publication. However, both faculty and students should realize that the emphasis during a laboratory rotation is on the learning experience rather than productivity. One consequence of this emphasis on the lab rotation as a learning experience is that lab rotations have an official end date that occurs at the end of the semester, regardless of the state of progress of the rotation project. To better inform rotation-level students about the research opportunities available in the NGG labs, there is a series of brief (10-15 minutes each) research talks by approximately half of the NGG faculty during the 1 st week of each Fall Semester. The remaining NGG faculty give their talks near the end of the Fall Semester (early December). The scheduling for these Faculty Research Talks is done in advance and is emailed to all rotation-level students. All 1 st and 2 nd year PhD students and 1 st year CD students are required to attend all of these presentations, even if they have already identified the lab in which they plan to rotate or do their thesis research. This is because these talks are a valuable resource not only for rotation selection but also, amongst other things, for identifying future Candidacy Exam and Thesis Committee members. Students are expected to have settled on their Fall Semester lab rotation by the end of the 2 nd week of the semester. Each Student is encouraged to meet with at least 3 or 4 Faculty before they settle on their rotation site. All Faculty understand that a meeting to discuss a potential rotation is not a commitment to actually stay there for the rotation. If the laboratory in which you want to rotate is unavailable for the coming semester, then it is permissible to make a date for a subsequent semester. Spring Semester Rotations should be set up before the end of the Fall Semester. Summer Semester Rotations should be set up by May 15. Students are required to complete at least three laboratory rotations by the end of their 2 nd year (for PhD students) or 1 st Graduate year for CD students. As many as 5 rotations are possible for PhD students, while four or five are possible for CD students. The choice of rotations will be based on each student's interests, but breadth will be stressed. To ensure some breadth, at least one of these rotations must occur in a laboratory addressing different scientific issues and using different experimental approaches than the other rotations. Students register for laboratory rotations as a course (INSC 590) and each rotation carries either 1 or 2 credit units. Requirements for 2 cu paper The option of taking the lab rotation or independent study for either 1 or 2 credit units provides flexibility in terms of how each student can focus during a given semester. Students selecting 1 credit unit for their lab rotation will take 3 courses, while those taking a 2-credit unit rotation will take 2 courses. Two credit unit rotations provide additional time not only for performing experiments but, as importantly, for reading papers relevant to one's rotation project and better appreciating the larger context for which the project is relevant. To ensure this appreciation, all students performing a 2-credit lab experience (rotation or independent study) for the first time in a particular lab in any semester (including the summer semester) , are required to write a 2-page synopsis focused on the significance of the rotation project both for the relevant field and in the larger Neuroscience context. These reports are submitted to the Rotation Talks Committee no later than 1 week before the associated Lab Rotation Talks series (see below). The expectations for this report are available at: Requirements for 2 cu paper One laboratory rotation may be waived for students entering the program with significant prior research experience. Significant prior research includes at least one research experience that was sufficiently extensive to result in an Honor's Thesis, at least one publication and/or presentations at national/international meetings. The Academic Review Committee must be petitioned in writing and its decision is final.
Lab Rotation Grades: Grades are given for the rotation at the end of the semester whether or not a project has been completed. The grade is also independent of the rotation talk, but can take into account the level of preparation for said talk.
Lab Rotation Talks: At the end of each semester the rotation student is required to give a 12-minute, public talk on some aspect of the work completed during the rotation. This talk should describe the conceptual context of the study undertaken, the experimental methods employed, the results (if any) and their significance (even if there were no results). In advance of the presentation, the talk should be developed and rehearsed with the Rotation Advisor. All rotation talks are presented to and evaluated by a NGG Rotation Talks Committee, who then provide both verbal and written feedback to each presenter. A copy of the written feedback is also sent to the NGG Coordinator so that it can be included in the student's Academic File. A student who continues to work in the same lab subsequent to the semester in which they gave a rotation talk from their work in that lab are not required (but are encouraged) to give additional rotation talks from that lab. This most commonly occurs between the time that a student settles into their thesis lab but has yet to take their Candidacy Exam. NOTES: All Lab Rotation Advisors are strongly encouraged to attend the presentation of their Rotation Student(s). All Students are expected to attend the entire session of talks that includes their own talk.
Independent Study Students may work with faculty members in a less structured manner through a semester-long Independent Study (INSC 799). For example, It may be used for a guided reading/discussion or a special one-time seminar series. The student and faculty member will design the activity and the form of the evaluation. Any such proposed course of action must be approved in advance by the Academic Review Committee. The independent study may also be used to extend a laboratory rotation to a second semester.
Scheduling Students will be assured of completing the required number of course units by the end of their 2nd year if they take 4 c.u.'s each semester and 2 c.u.'s in the summer. Courses may not be dropped or changed without the approval of the Academic Review Committee.
Exceptions Students may request that certain requirements of the program be waived or modified. For example, students with extensive prior laboratory research experience can petition to waive one laboratory rotation (see Lab Rotation section above for further details). Similarly, a course requirement can be petitioned to be waived based on previous graduate or undergraduate work. Such requests are made in writing as a letter to the Academic Review Committee. The student should justify the request. For example, the request should be accompanied by reprints, abstracts from meetings, course syllabus, or other appropriate material. These requests should be made before the end of the first semester in the program. Some requirements will not be waived. These include the Journal Club course, the Candidacy Exam, the teaching requirement and the Thesis. Students with previous graduate work may transfer up to a maximum of eight course units. These courses must be individually justified and approved by the Academic Review Committee.
Advising Students are expected to select a thesis advisor before the end of their 2 nd year (for PhD students), or their 1 st graduate year for CD students. Before that point, students may seek advice from many sources, including other students and the NGG faculty. The members of the Academic Review Committee, and the NGG Chair, are particularly useful for advising (see Appendices B, C, and E for the lists of NGG members, the standing committees and the students, respectively). Pre-Thesis Level students will meet individually with the Academic Review Committee (ARC) at the beginning of each Fall and Spring semester to review their performance and address any concerns from the previous semester and to finalize their plans for the semester just beginning. Students should come to this meeting with a carefully considered plan for course and laboratory work. However, it is understood that not all course and rotation decisions will be finalized at this meeting. Students will have an additional 7-10 days to finalize their schedule. Approximately 5 minutes will be scheduled for each student meeting. Students will be registered electronically by the NGG Coordinator after this meeting. Once a student has settled into their Thesis Lab, they will use their Thesis Advisor as their primary resource for most thesis-related issues. However, they will also have access to their Thesis Committee members (see below), the ARC members and the NGG Chair.
Grades The standard letter grading system employed by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will be used to evaluate performance in courses and laboratory rotations. The verbal equivalents of these letter grades are given in the table below
In addition, faculty members sponsoring laboratory rotations will submit a written evaluation of the student's performance at the end of the semester, a copy of which will be given to the student. Academic Standards A student must be in good academic standing to remain in the graduate program. The Graduate School requires that students maintain an average of B or better. In addition, the NGG requires that students must attain the grade of at least B- in each of the four Core courses. However, concern by the Academic Review Committee will be triggered if a grade of B- is obtained in more than one Core course. The performance of students in the first two years is evaluated at the start of the Fall and Spring semesters by our ARC and by the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) Curriculum and Standards Committee. Students who fail to maintain a B average will be placed on academic probation by the BGS office. If performance does not improve in the following semester, the student will be dropped from the graduate program. Students who receive the grade of C or lower in a Core course are expected to remediate by repeating the examinations (and/or papers) in that course at its next offering. They may elect to attend lectures as well. If the student is unable to improve the grade, the Academic Review Committee will likely recommend that the student be dropped from the program.
Incompletes In order to graduate, students must satisfactorily complete their course work. There may be times when, for some reason, a grade is not reported by the instructor at the end of any given semester. Students and faculty must realize that incompletes become permanent after a period of one year. Thus, course requirements must be completed and a grade reported within one year or the student will not receive credit for the course even though tuition was paid. If the incomplete is not completed within the 1 year period, then the student will be required to take an additional course to complete the requirements of the curriculum. THESIS YEARS
The Candidacy Exam [Please Note: Each Student should give a copy of these Guidelines to their Candidacy Exam Committee Members when they first form their Committee] The transition from the coursework phase to the thesis phase of the Neuroscience Training Program is marked by the Candidacy Examination. In the Exam, the Student proposes and defends a plan for their thesis research, designed to advance significantly the understanding of a basic problem in contemporary Neuroscience. The Candidacy Exam consists of 2 parts: written Proposal and oral Defense. The guidelines for the written Proposal are those used for the standard NIH Predoctoral NRSA Fellowship application format. The only distinction from the NRSA guidelines is that they have a proposal page limit of 10 single-spaced pages, including all Figures and Tables, while the Candidacy Exam page limit is 20 double-spaced pages, including all Figures and Tables. NOTE that the Bibliography does not count as part of the page limit. See the NRSA guidelines for formatting details including font and margin limits (PHS 416-1 Guidelines Page 3) and organization of the Proposal (PHS 416-1 Guidelines Page 11). The limits on font size, margins and document length must be followed. If you have any questions about these guidelines, check with the Academic Review Committee Chair or the NGG Chair. The Proposal should include the following sections: Abstract, Specific Aims, Significance, Background, Preliminary Data (if available) and Research Plan. The Research Plan should include a description of the proposed experiments, their analysis, interpretation, and possible alternative outcomes and pitfalls (including controls to test for the presence of these pitfalls, and how any pitfalls will be overcome). The inclusion of preliminary data is strongly encouraged as it will increase confidence in the feasibility of the proposed experiments. In developing your Proposal, it is important to avoid proposing any Specific Aim that depends on the successful outcome of a preceding Specific Aim, if there is not sufficient confidence in the outcome of the first Aim. This situation is often termed a “fatal flaw” in research design because if the actual results obtained for the first Aim are not the anticipated results then it could nullify pursuit of the subsequent Aim. The emphasis of the Proposal should not be on a review of the literature but on dealing creatively with the problem selected. The Proposal should be "hypothesis-driven" . That is, it should aim explicitly to address a working hypothesis regarding an unresolved issue in Neuroscience. It is important to remember that the proposal should describe work that can reasonably be done by one person in 3-5 years, not what an entire lab of people could accomplish in 3-5 years. In this respect, the written Proposal will be more focused than the Thesis Advisor's typical NIH R01 application. It is expected that the proposal will include at least 2 but no more than 3 Specific Aims. This document is only a starting point for the actual thesis work. The approach and experiments can reasonably be expected to change over time, with input from the Thesis Advisor and eventual Thesis Committee. There is an expectation of substantial depth of knowledge in the thesis area per se. It will not be sufficient to defend only the particulars of the proposed experiments. A key element of the Proposal Defense will be to explain and defend the importance of the questions to be addressed, and to place these questions in the broader context of the field. Thus, in both the Significance section of the written Proposal and in the subsequent oral Defense, the student should be able to marshall knowledge from the relevant literature and from broader areas of Neuroscience. There is no expectation that extensive preliminary data should exist, but whatever preliminary data is available should be included as part of the written document and oral presentation. The source of all preliminary data (i.e., self or another lab member) should be explicitly indicated. Additionally, any hypothetical and/or model data presented should be explicitly indicated to be such. More specific direction will be provided in the Candidacy Exam Course that meets each Fall Semester. These are informal group meetings of the 2 nd year PhD students and 1 st graduate year CD students with the Course Co-Directors. These meetings occur every three or four weeks during the Fall Semester. Role of Thesis Advisor: The student is encouraged to consult with their Thesis Advisor and members of her or his Committee during their Candidacy preparations. The student is also free to consult with any other faculty, students or postdocs as they develop their ideas. Thesis Advisors may, at their discretion, give copies of current or former R01 applications to students. It is expected that these documents be used as reference material, not as templates for the student's Candidacy Proposal. The degree of the Thesis Advisor's involvement in developing the final document and the relative contributions of the Advisor and Student will be stated in the Candidacy Exam Proposal Report. A comparable statement is standard in all NIH NRSA applications. The Candidacy Exam must be completed before a student can enter dissertation status . The Candidacy Exam must be completed by July 1 of the student's designated Candidacy Exam Year unless an extension is granted by the ARC. The “Candidacy Year” is year 2 for PhD students, and Graduate Year 1 for CD students. In cases where the student has not identified their Thesis Lab by the start of the "Candidacy Semester", the deadline for their Exam will be extended to allow them to sample another lab during that semester. In general, the student is expected to do their Candidacy Exam no sooner than the second semester during which they are in their thesis lab Each student must submit a letter to the Chair of the Academic Review Committee [DEADLINE: February 1 for Spring Semester Exam/April 1 for Summer Semester Exam/June 1 for Fall Semester Exam] that includes the following: 1. Tentative thesis title and Advisor's Name 2. Background paragraph and specific aims (maximum length: 1 single-spaced page), including: a. Background Paragraph: An introductory paragraph should briefly summarize the background and identify the central hypothesis or question. b. Specific Aims: The two or three Specific Aims should be identified, with enough information to identify the hypothesis, the goal, and provide a general sense of the strategies that are envisioned to approach the problem. NOTE: It is perfectly acceptable for the Aims to change as one proceeds through the Candidacy Examination process (as the proposal continues to be developed and discussed with the thesis advisor or members of the committee). It is also important to remember that, as is true with NIH grants, the Aims may evolve as the experiments are conducted. This is also acceptable. 3 . Proposed list of Candidacy Examination Committee Members. The Candidacy Exam Committee will consist of a total of 4 members. The Thesis Advisor is explicitly excluded from membership on the Committee of their own student. After consultation with the Thesis Advisor, the Student should include a list of 5-7 potential committee members (do not ask the committee members in advance before approval , because the list frequently needs to change for any one of the reasons identified below). Individuals that the student would like considered as a potential Chair should be identified. The following issues guide the ultimate selection of the Candidacy Exam Committee:
Unless it is self-evident, it may be useful to indicate why particular individuals might be appropriate (perceived experience with a particular technique or system, etc). The ARC Chair, in consultation with the NGG Chair and Co-Chair, will aim to select 3 or 4 faculty from this list. To enhance their ability to dedicate sufficient time and energy to each Candidacy Exam, it is desirable that no single faculty member participate in more than three Candidacy Exams during any given semester. Candidacy Exam Committee Chair: Amongst the list of proposed Exam Committee members, one or more potential Chairs of the committee should be identified. All Candidacy Exam Committee Chairs must be NGG members. Approval of the Candidacy Exam proposal: As stated above, the candidacy proposal will be reviewed by the ARC Chair, in consultation with the NGG Chair and Co-Chair. It may be approved as is, modified, or rejected. Once the Student has received approval for their Candidacy Exam Committee Members, they must contact said Members and schedule a date and time for the Candidacy Defense. Candidacy Defense Scheduling: The student is reminded that it is always a challenge to identify a date and time at which all Committee Members will be available. Therefore, scheduling of the Candidacy Defense should be done at least 3 months in advance . The student should schedule the room for 3 hours. The time and place for the Candidacy Exam will be scheduled by the student, and must include notification of the Graduate Group Coordinator (Jane Hoshi). If a student has difficulty obtaining a commitment for a date from a potential committee member, then they should bring this issue to the attention of the ARC Chair. Written Proposal Process and Evaluation: (1) As this is an early step in professional training, the rules will be enforced just as they would be if this Proposal were a real grant application (although not with the finality of a real grant application, which is rejected without review if the guidelines are not followed) . Thus, the Committee may delay the Defense if the members receive the Proposal later than scheduled. (2) The cover page of the written Proposal is not included in the 20-page limit. This page must include: Proposal Title, Student's name, Thesis Advisor, List of Candidacy Committee Members with Committee Chair identified, plus the Date, Time and Location of the Defense. (3) The Student will provide each Committee Member with a Final Version of the Proposal not less than 21 days before the Defense date. (4) The Committee Members will evaluate the Proposal and provide written and oral feedback to the student within 10 days of receiving it . This evaluation will be at the level of scope and organization. (5) The Student will then have 7 days to edit her or his Proposal as recommended by the Committee, and provide the edited version to the Committee Members no later than 4 days before the scheduled exam. (6) Committee Members will bring their evaluation of the revised document to the exam. (7) Students are encouraged to consult with their peers for feedback while planning and preparing their Candidacy Exam research. Moreover, before the Candidacy Exam Defense, the student is strongly encouraged to have one or more "mock" defenses in front of a group that includes Post-Candidacy Exam students.
Candidacy Proposal Defense: NOTE: The student should print out and deliver the Candidacy Exam Report to the Candidacy Exam Committee Chair at the start of the Exam Defense. (1) The Defense consists of a meeting, to be scheduled for 3 hours, with a Candidaacy Exam Committee. (2) The Committee Chair will go to the NGG Coordinator (Jane Hoshi) and obtain the student's Academic Folder, containing their academic history at Penn. The Chair will bring this folder to the Defense. (3) A student's Thesis Advisor will attend the Candidacy Exam defense, but may not serve in an official capacity on the Exam Committee. Thesis Advisors are not permitted to participate during the defense unless specifically asked to do so by the Committee Chair. If the Advisor does nonetheless speak up, then it is the duty of the Committee Chair to respectfully remind the Advisor that it is inappropriate for them to participate unless requested to do so. (4) This Meeting will begin with the student waiting outside the room while the Committee discusses their general assessment of the written Proposal. The Thesis Advisor will remain in the room for this discussion but will only participate when invited by the Committee. (5) The Examination will commence with the Student beginning a powerpoint-style presentation of a formal, 15-30 minute summary of the motivation for the proposed work as well as the detailed experiments and their expected outcomes and significance. At the Committee's discretion, either throughout or at the conclusion of this talk, faculty will ask questions regarding all aspects of the Proposed Research for a period not to exceed three hours. The discussion should be expected to range widely to assess the student's ability to marshal knowledge from all areas of Neuroscience. (6) At the conclusion of the Exam, the student will leave the room while the Committee deliberates. If useful, the Committee Chair will present the academic history of the student. The Thesis Advisor will remain present but will not participate in this discussion unless invited by the Committee Candidacy Proposal Outcome: (1) The student will be informed of the results of the Examination at its conclusion. This will take the form of a verbal evaluation of the written document and oral defense, plus a grade in the form of an "unconditional pass", "conditional pass", or "fail". Students who receive an “unconditional pass” for the examination become "candidates for the PhD". A "conditional pass" will be assigned if the Committee feels that the student would benefit by, for example, re-writing and/or re-defending part or all aspects of the proposal. In such cases, a specific duration will be assigned for the assigned modifications. In the case of a re-defense, said event should be scheduled as soon as possible to ensure a date when all Committee Members will be available. Students who fail the Candidacy Exam will be told why in the most specific terms possible. Students who fail the Candidacy Exam are candidates for dismissal from the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Dismissal is not determined by the Exam Committee, however, but by the Academic Review Committee and the NGG Chair. The Committee may also recommend that the Student repeat the examination after a brief but reasonable period (generally near the end of the subsequent semester). If the Student must re-defend their Proposal then an additional member, most likely from the ARC, may be added by the NGG Chair. (2) The student will also receive a written evaluation of their performance, in the form of a Candidacy Examination Report. The Candidacy Exam Report will be completed by the Candidacy Exam Committee Chair immediately after the Exam. A copy of this report will also be placed in the student's academic file. The student must make an appointment to review the written comments with the Candidacy Committee Chair within 2 weeks after the Defense Date. Teaching Requirements All students are required to serve as Tteaching Assistants for one semester. For PhD students, this will usually occur in their third year. For CD students, this will usually occur in their second graduate year. The NGG Chair will make the TA assignments during June or July for the coming Academic Year. While an effort will be made to place students in courses of their choice, the available courses are limited to three courses that are at the core of the Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) major in the College. These courses are: Introduction to Brains & Behavior (BIOL/BBB-109, Fall and Spring Semesters) and Cellular Neurobiology (BIOL/BBB-251, Spring Semester). When the need arises for additional TAs for these courses (or other courses for which providing TAs has been approved by the NGG Chair), students who have fulfilled their TA requirement are eligible to do so and will be remunerated at the rate of approximately $4000 per semester, in addition to their regular stipends. Approval for these additional TAs includes the requirement of a letter from the student's Thesis Advisor to the NGG Chair indicating that she or he approves the appointment. According to the BGS guidelines, no NGG Student (or any BGS Student) can be a TA more than twice in their graduate career. Thesis The Ph.D. thesis is the single most important component of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. It is here that the student demonstrates competence in the conduct and communication of scientific research. The purpose of the thesis is to communicate effectively the results of the student's doctoral research. The thesis is considered a published document. Unlike most published papers, however, there are no word or page limits. Therefore, the thesis may include speculations which are interesting but which would not be permitted in a journal publication. The thesis may consist of actual manuscripts which have been or will be submitted for publication, including those published previously, with chapters providing a general introduction and general conclusions/future directions (see below). Regardless of the form of the thesis, this document must include a free-standing General Introduction chapter that provides background, context and motivation for the research, plus a General Conclusions/Future Directions chapter. The Introductory chapter should be approximately 10-20 double-spaced text pages in length, excluding its reference section. The General Conclusions/Future Directions chapter should be approximately 5-10 double-spaced text pages in length, excluding its reference section. At least some chapters of the thesis must be publishable in a peer-reviewed journal and, as reiterated below, at least one first-author paper must be submitted and accepted to a peer-reviewed journal before a Student will be given permission to defend their Thesis . However, for many reasons, it is in the best interests of the student to submit as many thesis chapters as is practical prior to their thesis defense. Thus, each student is strongly encouraged to do so. The thesis must be defended successfully before a faculty committee as the final requirement for the Ph.D. Thesis Advisors are drawn from within the Neuroscience Graduate Group. The details of the thesis problem will be formulated jointly by the Student and the Advisor. The Student and Advisor will select a Thesis Advisory Committee consisting of three faculty members plus the Advisor. The student will identify one of these members, other than the Advisor, to be Thesis Committee Chair. See the directions below regarding establishing this Committee and appointing its Chair. Establishing the Thesis Committee Each student will organize a Thesis Advisory Committee within 4 months after the Candidacy Examination is successfully completed. This Committee will be in place at all times during the thesis years. If for some reason, a student moves to a new laboratory, a new Advisory Committee must be appointed immediately and must meet within three months to discuss new plans for the dissertation research. (1) Selection of the Committee members, including the Committee Chair, is to be done by the Student, in consultation with their Thesis Advisor. Selection of the Committee Chair should be done before the first Committee meeting. The NGG Chair and Co-Chair plus the ARC Committee Chair are available if candidate suggestions are needed. (2) The composition of the Thesis Committee, including the identity of the Committee Chair, must be provided to the NGG Coordinator (Jane Hoshi) as soon as the Committee is established, and before its first meeting. (3) The Thesis Committee should be composed of 4 faculty, including the thesis advisor. (4) At least 75% of the Committee, advisor included, must be NGG members. All committee members should have an affiliation with some BGS-related graduate group. (5) If the advisor is not a NGG member, then 100% of other Committee members must be NGG members. (6) The Chair of the Thesis Committee must be someone other than the advisor, and they must be a NGG member. (7) During the process of selecting Thesis Committee members and the Chair, the student should visit with each candidate, describe their proposed research to them and ask them if they are willing and able to participate. (8) When the student is within one year of their thesis defense, one additional member must be added to the Thesis Committee. This member, again selected by the student in consultation with the advisor, can be either from within or outside of the University of Pennsylvania.
Thesis Committee Meetings The first Committee meeting should take place no later than one year after the Candidacy Examination, and definitely before the annual Spring meeting of the ARC . Subsequently, the Thesis Committee should meet at least once/year , preferably during the Fall semester or early in the Spring semester, to review progress and make plans for the coming year. These meetings must occur before May 1 of each year . As the thesis nears completion, it is desirable to meet at shorter intervals. At the start of each meeting, first the student will leave the room so that the Committee may consult with the Advisor regarding progress and any concerns. Second, the student will return and the Advisor will leave the room so that the Committee may consult in a similar manner with the student. Progress Report: It is expected that the student provide a concise (3-6 text pages plus Figures) written summary of progress and future plans to the Committee members several days before the meeting. Presentation: The student should prepare a Powerpoint-style presentation (approximately 30 minutes duration) of their progress to date plus plans for the coming year. NOTE: It is challenging to schedule any meeting that includes multiple individuals. Thus, please schedule all Thesis Committee Meetings at least 3 months ahead of time. The purpose of the Thesis Advisory Committee is to provide advice, objectivity, and fresh points of view to the Student and Advisor. A lively discussion may be expected at these meetings which is sure to beneit the Student and her or his research. Lab Notebook Review at Thesis Committee Meetings In keeping with BGS policy, all dissertation level students must bring their lab notebooks to each dissertation committee meeting. If a student has had their lab notebooks reviewed at their previous thesis committee meeting(s), then she or he should (minimally) bring the notebooks that they have used since that previous meeting. The Thesis Committee is explicitly charged with reviewing notebook data at each meeting. Specifically, it is the responsibility of the Thesis Committee Chair to ensure that this review is performed, either by one designated committee member or by the committee collectively. There is no expectation that lab notebooks be reviewed in their entirety. However, the dissertation committee should feel confident that the student's lab data/notebooks are complete and well-managed. If any concern arises from this review, then a more extensive review should be undertaken by the committee at the earliest possible time after the committee meeting. If the committee finds that the lab notebooks are incomplete and/or poorly managed, the they should provide (a) explicit instruction to the student (both verbally and in writing) for improving said notebooks and (b) a deadline for submission of the notebooks for re-review. It must be emphasized to the student that any modifications made to the lab notebooks should occur on separate, previously unused pages on which it is explicitly state that supplemental notes are being made to a previous (and dated) experiment. The Chair of this Committee will provide a brief written report, using the Thesis Committee Meeting Form, to the Academic Review Committee summarizing the results of each meeting. This form should be filled out at the end of each Committee Meeting, reviewed with the student and then provided to the NGG Coordinator (Jane Hoshi). It is important to have the Thesis Committee Report submitted in plenty of time for the Spring (May) meeting of the Academic Review Committee. At this meeting, the progress of all NGG thesis students is reviewed. Once the student's research has progressed to an appropriate point, the Thesis Advisory Committee will indicate that she or he should “start to write”. This approval by the Committee makes it highly unlikely that catastrophic problems will arise in the thesis defense. NOTE: It is required that at least one first author paper is submitted and accepted to a peer-reviewed journal before a Student they will be given permission to defend her or his Thesis. Thesis Submission. The student should submit their Thesis to their Thesis Committee no later than 2 weeks before the Thesis Defense date. The Committee members will read and assess the written document during that 2 week interval and bring their edited version of the Thesis to the Defense. Thesis Defense The final requirement for the PhD in Neuroscience is the defense of the thesis before the faculty. The defense consists of two parts. The first is a public, formal seminar of one hour duration. This will be advertised in a manner similar to that used for INS colloquia. Students and faculty will be encouraged to attend. The student should plan the seminar carefully and present the work in a professional manner. The talk should be limited to approximately 50 minutes in order to leave time for questions and discussion. In the second part of the defense, immediately after the seminar, the student will meet privately with and respond to questions posed by members of the Thesis Defense Committee. This meeting generally extends for approximately 1-2 hours. At the conclusion of the Defense, the Thesis Committee must decide to: a) Accept the dissertation as submitted, b) Accept the dissertation with revisions, or c) Reject the dissertation. If the Committee rejects the dissertation, then it must indicate explicitly (verbally and in writing) the reasons for the rejection and meet again after a new version has been submitted for its review. Students are required to submit a final copy of the dissertation and an electronic copy of the Abstract pages to the NGG Coordinator. The final copy of the dissertation will be bound and placed in the INS library. Scheduling of the defense and coordination with the Graduate School will also be handled through the office of the NGG Coordinator. Dissertation Manual and On-line submission of Dissertation The Dissertation Manual was updated in the summer of 2009. It is online at http://www.upenn.edu/provost/dissertation_manual As of September, 2009, PhD students must submit their dissertations electronically. The University has decided to move to electronic submission for a variety of reasons. Electronic submission of a pdf file ensures the highest quality reproduction of the manuscript, with color images preserved both online and in hardcopy publication. Supplementary digital files can be attached, if desired. Once accepted, the dissertation and supplemental files will be posted in Scholarly Commons. This means that the dissertation will almost immediately be available for full-text searching via the internet at no additional cost. The pdf will also be submitted by the University to Proquest, but ProQuest provides open access to the Abstract only, unless the author purchases “Open Access Publishing” for an additional $160. Click here for the current Graduation Calendar (updated October, 2009). For BGS/NGG guidleines to graduation, consult the NGG Graduation Survival Kit. MISCELLANEOUS Support Students accepted into the program will be provided with a stipend set currently at $28,000 per year, plus health insurance coverage. All tuition expenses will be covered as well. The NGG expects full time effort in return and thus, with the exception of fulfilling their TA requirement, students may not engage in outside employment. In exceptional circumstances, such outside employment may be in the educational interests of the student. If so, the student should apply in writing to the NGG Chair for permission to take such employment. The Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) Program, in concert with the NGG, provides financial support for students in their first two years. The Thesis Advisor assumes this responsibility starting June 1 of year 2 (PhD students) or Sept. 1 of graduate year 1 (CD students). It is helpful for students to inform the NGG Chair as soon as they have identified their thesis lab, in order to ensure that the Advisor will have available the necessary financial support. The Student cannot officially join their identified Thesis Lab until/unless the Advisor has in place the needed financial support and has so informed the NGG Chair and BGS Finance Manager. In the event that the student decides to work in a lab where this support is not available, the NGG Chair will attempt to implement other financial arrangements. If this is not possible, then the student will have to select another lab in which to pursue their thesis work. Fellowships Students are encouraged to apply for predoctoral fellowships from the NSF (NSF Graduate Research Fellowship) during the Fall Semester of their first year and/or second year in the program. Combined Degree students are not eligible for this fellowship. Receipt of such a fellowship is a prestigious addition to the student's resume. The NGG Chair and Co-Chair will help students to identify appropriate faculty sponsors and will help with the preparation of the proposed training and research program. Most commonly, the research proposal for the NSF fellowship application is developed from the ongoing lab rotation project or one performed during the previous summer, if the student performed a rotation during that time. Application kits are available from the BGS office or through the NSF Fastlane website. Once a student has successfully defended her or his Candidacy Exam and has sufficient preliminary data, they are encouraged to apply for support via a predoctoral NRSA fellowship from the NIH (PHS 416-1). (NOTE: Only citizens or permanent residents of the United States are eligible). NGG students have often been successful at obtaining these fellowships and, for post-Candidacy Exam students, composing the fellowship application is straightforward. At an early stage in the process of planning a NRSA submission, the NGG Student must communicate with the BGS Finance Office (Finance Manager: Nam Narain; Grants Manager: Marianne Altland Williams) to learn about the submission process, which should be done through that office. Society for Neuroscience- Student Membership All NGG Students are encouraged to become Student Members of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN). To start that process, go to the SFN homepage and click on the Membership link near the top of that page. One must be a SFN member in order to either Sponsor or be First Author on an Abstract for the SFN Annual Meeting. Other member benefits are evident on the SFN Membership homepage. The INS/NGG will reimburse the cost of SFN Student Membership for all 1 st and 2 nd Year NGG PhD-Students and for all 1 st Graduate Year Combined Degree Students. After that time, the cost of SFN Membership will be provided by either the Advisor or the Student. Travel Allowance The NGG/INS will help students defray the costs of attending scientific meetings and symposia. Each year, students may receive up to $100 to support travel to meetings if they are not presenting the results of their research and an additional $150 if the student is an author or co-author on work presented at the meeting. Additional travel funds may come from training grants, BGS, and from the sponsoring faculty member. Note that, although they are called “travel funds”, these funds can be used towards any of the following costs associated with attending a scientific meeting: Travel, Meeting Registration, Lodging, Food. Click here for more on travel allowances, reimbursements, and other travel account information. Requesting Travel Funds: To request travel funds, send an email request to the NGG Chair that includes the (1) purpose of the trip (name of meeting plus its location and dates) and (2) whether you will be a coauthor on a presentation (talk or poster). (3) If you will be a coauthor, then include the title of the relevant abstract/presentation plus the list of coauthors. The NGG Chair will then reply to you, with a copy to BGS, to acknowledge the available support. Xerox Cards Xerox cards for use in the Biomedical Library are made available to students in the amount of $40 per semester. During the semester of the Candidacy Exam this will be increased to $80 to help defray the additional expense. These cards are available from the NGG Coordinator. Mail/Email/Computers 140 John Morgan houses the Barchi Neuroscience Library. This is the hub of the Neuroscience Graduate Group, and it is available to all NGG students when the room is not otherwise in use. Next door is the office of the NGG Coordinator. The address you should use for incoming mail is: University of Pennsylvania Mail will then be sorted and either put in the 1st and 2nd year student boxes located in 215 Stemmler Hall, or distributed to thesis level students by the coordinator. Students will be expected to keep their belongings in the laboratory where they are rotating and, subsequently, in their thesis lab. Lists of student and faculty email addresses can be found in the Appendices listed at the front of this manual. Black key access is arranged for all BGS students for 140 John Morgan, 126 Johnson Pavilion, 215 Stemmler and 212 Stemmler (MD and BGS student lounge). Leave of Absence Students may receive approval, under some circumstances, for a leave of absence. To request a leave of absence, the student must apply in writing to the NGG Chair. Granting a leave of absence is generally straightforward for Pre-Candidacy Exam students. For thesis-level students, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will grant leaves of absence only for reasons of illness, maternity, military service, and internships. For a more detailed presentation of Leave of Absence-related information, see the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) homepage. |
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