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Department of Psychology

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Neuroscience Minor

If you're interested in a career in neuroscience, biomedical sciences, animal behavior, psychology or medicine, then the neuroscience major is for you. This minor will give you a strong background of how the nervous system works from the social and behavioral to the cellular and molecular levels.

Overview

The neuroscience minor allows you to take neuroscience courses across a number of different majors.  Neuroscience is a field that is fundamentally interdisciplinary and very broad and you're strongly encouraged to take courses ranging from a focus on the molecular aspects of the nervous system to cognitive neuroscience.  Students interested in medical school, graduate school in neuroscience, or health-related fields and just interested in the brain are encouraged to take the minor.  This is a science-oriented minor and so students should expect that there will be an expectation of a basic understanding of biology and chemistry even at the introductory level.  

 

Requirements

Eighteen credit hours are required to satisfy the minor. Students must complete the required three credit Introduction to Neuroscience course and 2-3 credit hours of neuroscience research experience under an independent study number.  Additional honors courses or other specialized courses in the neurosciences may also satisfy the minor requirements provided the course substitutions are approved by the one of the co-directors of the neuroscience minor. No more than a total of six credits of independent study credits may count towards the minor. 

 

Required Neuroscience Research

The independent research can be done under any major independent research codes as long as the research is in the field of neuroscience.  The research must be done for credit.   Examples include BIOL 399, PSYC 498, PSYC 598, PSYC 599, SCHC 399, and BMEN 499.  The title of the independent study must clearly indicate that the research involves the study of the nervous system in some manner and the course must be approved by one of the co-directors of the minor.   Students are strongly encouraged to engage in neuroscience research early in their career;  many faculty mentors require a year commitment or more and will not take a student in their final semester of their senior year.

 

Application

Students must complete an application and qualify for the Neuroscience Minor. Applications can be submitted any time after the completion of 30 credit hours at USC. Normally, students will be expected to have at least a 3.3 grade point average at USC. Applications will be evaluated by a co-directors of the Neuroscience minor and they will be judged on overall academic merit. Students must complete an application [pdf] and submit it to the Office of Undergraduate Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences; Flinn Hall, Suite 110 ; University of South Carolina.