# Neuroscience
**Source**: https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/graduate/discover-opportunities/explore-programs/neuroscience-phd
**Parent**: https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/graduate/discover-opportunities/explore-programs/biomedical-engineering-msc-thesis
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Thesis-based program
[Start your application](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/how-apply)
## Program overview
The Neuroscience graduate program seeks to advance research contributing to the understanding of the brain and mental health, promote independent thinking and prepare graduate leaders to excel in any field of human endeavor. The program is ideal for inquisitive students with high scholastic achievement driven to understand who and what we are, and who wish to better the mental and physical health of all members of our society. Doctoral students contribute to new discoveries, advance the field of neuroscience and gain a toolkit of skills and experiences that will help them take their place at the forefront of health care. Students will focus on both disease and fundamental understanding of the brain, learning in a faculty that fosters interaction between clinical and basic scientists.
### Completing this program
- **Courses:** Topics include cellular, molecular and developmental neuroscience, systems neuroscience and neuropathology and others.
- **Research Ethics:** Students are required to attend Research Integrity Day sessions in the first year of their program.
- **Sex & Gender Module:** Students are required to complete one of the CIHR sex and gender online training modules found at discoversexandgender.ca in the first year of their program.
- **Candidacy:** Students will complete both oral and written candidacy exams.
- **Seminars:** Students will participate in the Hotchkiss Brain Institute seminar program and a journal club.
- **Research Proposal:**Students must defend a written research proposal to their supervisory committee.
- **Thesis:** Students will be required to submit and defend an original research thesis.
- **(Optional) Interdisciplinary Specialization I:**A specialization in [computational neuroscience](https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/grad/current/computational-neuroscience-cneu.html) is available. Additional information can also be found [here](https://hbi.ucalgary.ca/computational-neuroscience/graduate-specialization/about-program).
- **(Optional) Interdisciplinary Specialization II**: A specialization in [medical imaging](https://www.ucalgary.ca/pubs/calendar/grad/current/medical-imaging-medi.html) is also available. Additional information can also be found [here.](https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/programs/medical-imaging-specialization/graduate-specialization)
### Outcomes
Careers that demand a high degree of intellectual performance, positions of leadership, academia (teachers, administrators, researchers), medicine - clinician researchers, pharmaceutical industry, entrepreneurial endeavors, Fortune 500 companies, biomedical sales.
**A PhD in neuroscience is usually considered a final degree; many graduates go on to pursue post-doctoral research.**
### Thesis-based program
Students are required to prepare a thesis and successfully defend in an open oral defense.
### Courses
Three courses
[Learn more about program requirements in the Academic Calendar](https://calendar.ucalgary.ca/programs/MDNSPHD)
### Classroom delivery
### Time commitment
Four years full-time; six years maximum
### Supervisor
A supervisor is required, and must agree to oversee the student's research before admission will be granted
### Fees and funding
See the Graduate Calendar for information on [fees and fee regulations,](https://calendar.ucalgary.ca/uofcregs/tuitionandfeesoverview/grad) and for information on [awards and financial assistance](https://calendar.ucalgary.ca/uofcregs/studfinsupport/awardsgrad).
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## Supervisors
Learn about faculty available to supervise this degree.
---
1. [Michael A. Colicos](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/michael-colicos)
Accepting Inquiries
Neuroscience
2. [Camila Aquino](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/camila-aquino)
Unavailable
Neuromodulation in Movement Disorders, Clinical Trials in Parkinson's Disease, Patient-Oriented Research
3. [Jeff Biernaskie](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/jeff-biernaskie)
Accepting Inquiries
4. [Tamara Bodnar](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/tamara-bodnar)
Accepting Inquiries
Microbiome , Inflammation and neurodegeneration, Prenatal alcohol exposure/Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Germ-free models, Indigenous community partnerships (health focus)
5. [Stephanie Borgland](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/stephanie-borgland)
Accepting Inquiries
Neural circuits underlying motivated behaviour
6. [Janice Braun](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/janice-braun)
Accepting Inquiries
Molecular Chaperones and Neurodegeneration
7. [Signe Bray](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/signe-bray)
Accepting Inquiries
8. [Brandy Callahan](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/brandy-callahan)
Unavailable
Geriatric neuropsychology, Adult ADHD
9. [Candice Cassia Poon](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/node/3602)
Seeking Students
Neuro-Oncology, Neuroimmunology, Neurosurgery, Bioinformatics, Cancer Biology, Translational Oncology, Glioblastoma, Brain Metastasis, Glymphatic System, Perivascular Space, Tumor Microenvironment, Artificial Intelligence, Neuroimaging, Cancer Immunology, Computational Biology, Tumor Invasion, Preclinical Models, Interdisciplinary Research
10. [Deborah Dewey](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/supervisor/deborah-dewey)
Unavailable
pediatric health and neurodevelopment, Other Degrees I Supervise
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## Admission Requirements
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#### GPA
A minimum of 3.3 GPA on a 4.0 point system, over the past two years of full-time study (a minimum of 10 full-course equivalents or 60 units) of the undergraduate degree.
#### Minimum education
An MSc or equivalent.
#### Work samples
None
#### Documents
None
#### Reference letters
Two
#### Test scores
None
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#### **English language proficiency**
An applicant whose primary language is not English may fulfill the English language proficiency requirement in different ways. For accepted criteria, please refer to the program “Admissions” tab in the [Academic Calendar](https://calendar.ucalgary.ca/programs/MDNSPHD).
*\*Please contact your program of interest if you have any questions about ELP requirements.* \
#### Deadlines
**For admission on May 1**
- Canadians and permanent residents: March 1 application deadline
- International students: Dec. 1 application deadline
**For admission on September 1**
- Canadians and permanent residents:Jun. 1 application deadline
- International students: Apr. 1 application deadline
**For admission on January 1**
- Canadians and permanent residents: Oct. 1 application deadline
- International students: Aug. 1 application deadline
If you're not a Canadian or permanent resident, or if you have international credentials, make sure to learn about
[international requirements](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/international-students)
## Are you ready to apply?
[Application process](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/how-apply)
## Learn more about this program
### Department of Neuroscience
UCalgary Foothills Campus, Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Building, Office Suite G329, 3330 Hospital Drive NW,\
Calgary, AB T2N 4N1
[Contact the Graduate Program Administrator](mailto:neurosci@ucalgary.ca)
[Visit the departmental website](https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/gse/current-students/student-checklist-and-resources/neuroscience)
### Cumming School of Medicine
Health Sciences Centre\
Foothills Campus, University of Calgary,\
Calgary, AB T2N 4N1
[Visit the Cumming School of Medicine website](https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/)
Learn more about UCalgary by taking a
[virtual tour](https://virtualtour.grad.ucalgary.ca/)
## Related programs
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## Curious about the University of Calgary?
Located in the nation's most enterprising city, we are a living, growing and youthful institution that embraces change and opportunity with a can-do attitude.
[Learn More about student life at UCalgary](https://grad.ucalgary.ca/future-students/student-life)