Program Requirements Overview

• Two required NACS courses
• Three other NACS courses
• Three additional advanced graduate courses
• Qualifying exam (written section and oral section)
• Dissertation proposal
• Ph.D. defense

Initial Advisory Committee

The initial advisory committee must be approved by the Graduate Director. Initially, an entering student will meet with a graduate advisory committee who will help him/her to develop a curriculum tailored to his/her interests and background. This committee must include the advisor (as chair), a second member from the home department, a member from outside the home department, and a senior NACS graduate student. Additional members may be added if desired.

Beginning during the student’s first semester, the committee will provide guidance in selection of courses and other academic activities. This committee must assure that the student attains the core knowledge and skills required of all NACS graduate students. The student's advisory committee must monitor the progress of the student through yearly meetings. The student and his/her committee will meet once each year to review the student's progress in the program. The meeting must take place before the beginning of the fall semester of the next academic year. The committee and the student will discuss academic performance, progress in research, course requirements, and progress toward meeting program deadlines.The committee will provide a written report of each yearly meeting to the Graduate Director.

Initial Advisory Committee Form

Course Requirements

Two courses:

• NACS600: Ethics in Scientific Research
• NACS728R: Foundational Readings

Three of the five following courses:

• NACS641: Introduction to Neuroscience
• NACS642: Cognitive Neuroscience
• NACS643: Computational Neuroscience
• NACS644: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
• NACS728Y: Introduction to Cognitive Science

Three additional graduate courses to be determined by the student and his/her committee. Students who have satisfactorily completed graduate courses with comparable content can be exempted from NACS 600, 641, 642, 643, 644, and 645/728Y core course requirements with written permission of their committee and the Graduate Director.

Qualifying Examination CommiTTee

Typically, the faculty members on a student’s graduate advisory committee will serve on the qualifying examination committee, but changes in faculty membership may take place as needed. This committee must include the advisor (as chair), a second member from the home department, and a third member from outside the home department. The fourth member can come from either within or outside the home department. The expertise of the members of the committee should be chosen so as to cover the areas that the student will be examined in.

The qualifying examination committee initially serves an advisory role, helping the student prepare for the exam. The student’s qualifying exam committee should convene before the end of the student’s third semester to discuss preparation for the exam. The committee defines the scope of the exam and makes it clear to the student before he or she begins preparing for the exam. The committee works with the student to develop an appropriate reading list that should cover the core material required of all NACS graduate students and material that is related to the student’s research area. The committee designs, administers, and evaluates the qualifying examination and provides a report of the results to the Graduate Director.Copies of the reading list, questions, answers, and grades will be provided and filed in the NACS office.

Qualifying Examination Committee Form

Qualifying Examination

This examination serves two purposes: 1) to assure that the student has mastered the core material in neural, computational, and cognitive science expected of all NACS students, and (2) to assure that the student has the specialized knowledge and skills that will be required for the successful development of a dissertation proposal.

Qualifying Examination Guidelines

Prior Requirements

Dissertation Advisory Committee

After a student passes the qualifying examination, a dissertation advisory committee is formed to assist the student in planning his/her dissertation research. The role of this committee is advisory until the final defense of the dissertation proposal, at which time the committee’s role is to evaluate the proposal. Typically, the faculty members serving on a student’s qualifying examination committee will serve on the dissertation advisory committee, but changes in faculty membership may take place as needed. This committee must include the advisor (as chair), a second member from the home department, and two members from outside the home department. The student and advisor may jointly select the outside members of the dissertation advisory committee.

The dissertation advisory committee must assure that the student acquires the core knowledge and skills to complete his/her dissertation. The dissertation advisory committee must monitor the progress of the student through yearly meetings and provide an annual report to the Graduate Director. The dissertation advisory committee must evaluate and approve the dissertation proposal. Once the proposal is approved, the student is advanced to candidacy.

Dissertation Advisory Committee Form

Ph.D Dissertation proposal defense

Before the end of the student’s eighth semester, he/she will defend his/her dissertation proposal at a meeting of his/her dissertation committee. Details

Doctoral Examination Committee

The doctoral examination committee will evaluate the student’s Ph.D. dissertation and oral defense. No later than six weeks prior to the expected date of the dissertation defense, the student’s advisor and the Graduate Director must nominate a doctoral examination committee of at least five members, one of whom will serve as the Dean’s representative. Typically, the four faculty members serving on the student’s dissertation committee will also serve on the doctoral examination committee. The rules governing selection of this committee are given in the Graduate School Catalog. The Dean’s representative may be a NACS faculty member but may not come from either the student’s or advisor’s home departments and must be a tenured member of the full graduate faculty at the University of Maryland.

Doctoral Examination Committee Form

Dissertation

The Ph.D. must be the result of original, independent research; the dissertation is the report of that research. Students are encouraged to use their published papers in their dissertation. Students should adhere to the Graduate School guidelines when writing and formatting the dissertation. Templates are available from the Graduate School website.

Dissertation seminar and dissertation defense

Graduate School regulations stipulate that the doctoral degree, including the dissertation defense, must be completed within four years after admission to candidacy or within nine years after matriculation, whichever is greater. Specific procedures for scheduling and administering the dissertation defense are given in the Graduate School Catalog.

Details

Expected Timetable for program completion

Year 1

• Fulfill any special requirements of the Initial Advisory Committee
• Begin taking NACS required core courses and supplemental courses

Year 2

• Fulfill any special requirements of the Initial Advisory Committee
• Complete taking NACS required core courses
• Continue (or complete) taking NACS supplemental courses

Year 3

• Pass the written portion of the QE (taken on two days in late September)
• Pass the oral portion of the QE (taken 4-6 weeks after the written portion)
• Continue (or complete) taking NACS supplemental courses

Year 4

• Complete taking NACS supplemental courses

Year 5

• Pass the dissertation proposal defense and advance to candidacy. This is ideally done in your fourth year, but it must be done by the end of your fifth year to meet the Graduate School's timeline.

Year 6

• Complete a minimum of 12 hours of dissertation research (NACS 899)
• Pass the oral defense of dissertation

Procedure for changing committee composition

The student may change committee composition at any time. Courtesy and common sense dictate that the student discuss thoroughly the proposed change with both the former and new members before submitting a formal request to the Graduate Director. The student should provide a letter to the Graduate Director requesting a change of committee and briefly stating the reasons. The new committee member must indicate to the Graduate Director in writing that he/she is willing to serve on the committee.