The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology requests renewal of their major training grant. The department is organized to promote interdisciplinary training and basic research in neuroscience and behavior, approached with the experimental power of modern cellular and molecular biology and of systems neuroscience and cognitive science, combined with the theoretical strength of computational methods coming from the field of artificial intelligence. Trainees begin laboratory work under one or more advisors through lab rotations in the first term and subsequently joining a laboratory, working on problems in learning and memory, neural development, vision, or motor control. Required coursework can be completed in two to three years, with a two-term sequence of core courses in the first year and a flexible array of graduate lecture courses, seminars, and guided reading. Oral and written reports to the faculty and at professional meetings and in journals mark the students' progress through completion of a thesis, which is usually based on the second major project, begun in the third year. Most students continue in research careers, armed with skills in more than one of the disciplines of cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuropsychology, psychophysics, and computational neuroscience. Trainees will, in general, have strong backgrounds in the natural sciences (e.g., undergraduate majors in biology, chemistry, physics, or electrical engineering). Occasional trainees will already hold a graduate degree in another field. Candidates for the graduate program will be chosen for the department Graduate Committee constituted for the propose of overseeing this program and will be evaluated on the basis of interviews, talent for research as demonstrated by past performance, letters of recommendation, grades, and GRE scores.
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