text: The Neuroscience Graduate Program is administered by The Institute for Neuroscience (INS), which serves as a campus-wide organization responsible for research and teaching activities related to neuroscience. The Program is multidisciplinary with more than 70 participating faculty from 13 departments on campus and is designed to promote interdisciplinary training and interaction. Research at the INS is diverse with investigators covering all major disciplines and techniques in neuroscience and representing a broad range of research interests, from molecular neuroscience and genetics, through physiology, cellular and systems research, to cognition and behavior and the neurobiology of disease. Because of the outstanding and diverse composition of the INS faculty, our graduate students are provided with unparalleled opportunities for research and are trained to become critical thinkers capable of understanding the full breadth of conceptual and technical approaches to neuroscience.
  Students begin their graduate career by taking required and elective coursework and research rotations in two or three different labs of their choice. These requirements ensure that each student gains a strong foundation in basic concepts of neuroscience and experimental approaches. By the end of the first year students focus their research interest through selection of their thesis research advisor and lab. In the second year students generally complete their elective course work and take the qualifying exam. In addition, students gain grant writing experience by submitting a pre-doctoral fellowship (NRSA or NSF). After passing the qualifying exam students spend the next 2-3 years completing their dissertation research. Upper level students also gain teaching experience by spending at least one semester as a teaching assistant. Completion of the neuroscience PhD program takes an average of 5 years and all students admitted to the Neuroscience Graduate Program are guaranteed stipend support at the level of $24,000 for five years. More information.
  In addition to conferring a PhD, the Institute for Neuroscience offers an MD-PhD degree in Neuroscience in conjunction with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Students admitted into this dual-degree program undergo medical training at UTMB and then transfer to UT-Austin to complete their graduate work. For more information on this exciting program please refer to the UTMB MD-PhD dual degree program website at http://www.mdphd.utexas.edu or contact the Graduate Advisor John Mihic or the Graduate Coordinator Krystal Phu.