Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
Hope Memorial Building 212
http://medicine.yale.edu/inp
Directors of Graduate Studies
Marina Picciotto
Steve Chang
Junjie Guo
Affiliated Faculty Nii Addy, AZA Allsop, Amy Arnsten, Slav Bagriantsev, Anton Bennett, Abhishek Bhattacharjee, Moitrayee Bhattacharyya, Thomas Biederer, Hilary Blumberg, Hal Blumenfeld, Angelique Bordey, Kristen Brennand, Joel Butterwick, William Cafferty, Tyrone Cannon, Jessica Cardin, John Carlson, Sreeganga Chandra, Rui Chang, Youngsun Cho, Marvin Chun, Damon Clark, Daniel Colón-Ramos, Todd Constable, Philip Corlett, Jose Cortes-Briones, Kelly Cosgrove, Michael Crair, Eyiyemisi Damisah, Pietro De Camilli, Johnathan Demb, Marcelo Dietrich, Ralph DiLeone, George Dragoi, Barbara Ehrlich, Tore Eid, Thierry Emonet, Irina Esterlis, Emilia Favuzzi, Sarah Fineberg, Carolyn Fredericks, Dylan Gee, Tristan Geiller, Sourav Ghosh, Matthew Girgenti, Elizabeth Goldfarb, Anjelica Gonzalez, Pallavi Gopal, Elena Gracheva, Charles Greer, Jeffrey Gruen, Jaime Grutzendler, Xiaosi Gu, Murat Günel, Abha Gupta, Brian Hafler, David Hafler, Marc Hammarlund, Michelle Hampson, Randolph Helfrich, Michael Higley, Joy Hirsch, Ellen Hoffman, Tamas Horvath, Arthur Horwich, Joe Howard, Laura Huckins, D. S. Fahmeed Hyder, Karim Ibrahim, Monika Jadi, James Jeanne, Yong-Hui Jiang, Elizabeth Jonas, Leonard Kaczmarek, Arie Kaffman, Erdem Karatekin, Alfred Kaye, Haig Keshishian, In-Jung Kim, Jeffery Kocsis, Michael Koelle, Anthony Koleske, Smita Krishnaswamy, John Krystal, Aaron Kuan, John Lafferty, Daniel Levenstein, Ifat Levy, Chiang-Shan Li, Liang Liang, Janghoo Lim, Ken Loh, Angeliki Louvi, Christopher Lynn, Gregory McCarthy, Robert McDougal, Samuel McDougle, Harold McNamara, James McPartland, Mark Mooseker, Evan Morris, Jacob Musser, Angus Nairn, Anirvan Nandy, Dhasakumar Navaratnam, Timothy Newhouse, Michael Nitabach, Anna Christina Nobre, Michael O'Donnell, Emily Olfson, In-Hyun Park, Luca Pasquini, Kartik Pattabiraman, Candie Paulsen, Rachel Perry, Marina Picciotto, Maria Piñango, Christopher Pittenger, Renato Polimanti, Marc Potenza, Albert Powers, Pasko Rakic, Srikant Rangaraju, Carla Rothlin, Gary Rudnick, Helena Rutherford, W. Mark Saltzman, Lauren Sansing, Laurie Santos, Joseph Santos-Sacchi, Shreya Saxena, Dustin Scheinost, Steven Schiff, Marc Schneeberger Pane, Hyojung Seo, Jorge Sepulcre, Nenad Sestan, Hongying Shen, Frederick Sigworth, Heather Snell, Trevor Sorrells, Stephen Strittmatter, Jane Taylor, Susumu Tomita, Nick Turk-Browne, Flora Vaccarino, David van Dijk, Christopher van Dyck, Justus Verhagen, Stephen Waxman, Ilker Yildirim, Sarah Yip, Shaul Yogev, Yasmin Zakiniaeiz, David Zenisek, Le Zhang, Xiaoai Zhao, Yize Zhao, Weimin Zhong, Jiangbing Zhou, Z. Jimmy Zhou, Steven Zucker
Fields of Study
The Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP) offers flexible but structured interdisciplinary training for independent research and teaching in neuroscience. The goal of the program is to ensure that degree candidates obtain a solid understanding of cellular and molecular neurobiology, physiology and biophysics, neural development, systems and behavior, and neural computation. In addition to coursework, graduate students participate in student research talks, as well as mentoring and outreach activities.
To enter the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Ph.D. program, students apply to the Neuroscience track within the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS), https://medicine.yale.edu/bbs.
Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Each entering student is assigned a pre-thesis faculty adviser who is responsible for establishing the student’s initial course of study and for monitoring the student’s progress. This adviser will subsequently be modified to a faculty committee with expertise in the student’s emerging area of interest.
Although each student’s precise course requirements are set individually to take account of background and educational goals, the course of study is based on a model curriculum beginning with four core required courses: Bioethics in Neuroscience (INP 5580), Principles of Neuroscience (INP 5701), Foundations of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (INP 5702), and Foundations of Systems Neuroscience (INP 5703), all completed in the first year of enrollment.
During the second or third year of enrollment, students are required to take one course on quantitative techniques, including, but not limited to:
| BIS 555 | Machine Learning with Biomedical Data | 1 |
| BIS 634 | Computational Methods for Informatics | 1 |
| BIS 645 | Statistical Methods in Human Genetics | 1 |
| ENAS 5710 | Integrated Workshop | 1 |
| GENE 5550 | Unsupervised Learning for Big Data | 1 |
| GENE 7600 | Genomic Methods for Genetic Analysis | 1 |
| IMED 5645 | Introduction to Biostatistics in Clinical Investigation | 1 |
| INP 7560 | Genomics and Epigenetics of the Brain using R | 1 |
| INP 7562 | Modeling Biological Systems II | 1 |
| INP 7575 | Computational Vision and Biological Perception | 1 |
| INP 7599 | Statistics and Data Analysis in Neuroscience | 1 |
| PSYC 2100 | Statistics | 0 |
| PSYC 2610 | Algorithms of the Mind | 0 |
| PSYC 5580 | Computational Methods in Human Neuroscience | 1 |
| PSYC 5610 | Algorithms of the Mind | 0 |
| S&DS 3640 | Information Theory | 1 |
| S&DS 5000 | Introductory Statistics | 1 |
| S&DS 5010 | Introduction to Statistics: Life Sciences | 1 |
| S&DS 5060 | Introduction to Statistics: Data Analysis | 1 |
| S&DS 5200 | Intensive Introductory Statistics | 1 |
| S&DS 5300 | Data Exploration and Analysis | 1 |
| S&DS 5650 | Introductory Machine Learning | 1 |
| S&DS 6170 | Advances in Large Language Models: Theory and Applications | 1 |
During the second or third year of enrollment, students are also required to take one elective course selected from a broad set of neuroscience-related courses, including, but not limited to:
| CBIO 5605 | Grantsmanship and Preparing Training Award Applications | 1 |
| CBIO 6020 | Molecular Cell Biology | 1 |
| CPSC 9920 | Writing and Presentations One-on-One | 0 |
| INP 8540 | How to Give a Talk | 1 |
| INP 9507 | Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Neurological Disease | 1 |
| INP 9510 | Structural and Functional Organization of the Human Nervous System | 1 |
| INP 9521 | Neuroimaging in Neuropsychiatry II: Clinical Applications | 1 |
| INP 9523 | Imaging Drugs in the Brain | 1 |
| INP 9532 | Neurobiology of Cortical Systems | 1 |
| INP 9533 | Development, Function, and Dysfunction of the Visual System | 1 |
| INP 9585 | Fundamentals of Neuroimaging | 1 |
| MCDB 7200 | Neurobiology | 1 |
| MGT 663 | Innovation, Investments, and New Frontiers in Medicine | 2 |
| PHAR 5528 | Principles of Signal Transduction | 1 |
| PTB 5605 | Grantsmanship and Preparing Training Award Applications | 1 |
Collectively, these courses are designed to ensure broad competence in modern neuroscience.
Additional degree requirements are successful completion of both terms of Lab Rotations for First-Year Students (INP 6511, INP 6512), which includes rotating in at least three labs; both terms of Second-Year Thesis Research (INP 6513, INP 6514); and RCR Bioethics Refresher course (INP 5503) completed during the fourth year of enrollment.
The graduate school uses grades of Honors, High Pass, Pass, and Fail and requires two course grades of Honors during the first two years of study. Students are expected to maintain at least a High Pass average.
In accordance with the expectations of the BBS program, Ph.D. students are also expected to participate in two terms (or the equivalent) of teaching.
Admission to candidacy requires passing a qualifying examination, normally given during the second year, and submission of a dissertation prospectus (NIH NRSA grant format) before the end of the third year. After admission to candidacy, thesis committee meetings are required at six-month intervals.
Also required for graduation are the completion and satisfactory defense of the thesis.
Requirements for M.D.-Ph.D. students are the same as for Ph.D. students with the following differences: one term as a Teaching Fellow; two laboratory rotations while in the medical school prior to degree-program track affiliation; and three courses (Principles of Neuroscience, INP 5701; Structural and Functional Organization of the Human Nervous System, INP 9510; one elective graduate-level course).
Master’s Degrees
M.Phil. See Degree Requirements under Policies and Regulations.
M.S. (upon withdrawal) Awarded only to students who are not continuing for the Ph.D. degree, but have successfully completed all of the requirements other than the thesis prospectus and defense. This includes a passing grade in the required and elective courses, a minimum of two Honors grades, passing a qualifying examination, and successful completion of both terms of Lab Rotation for First-Year Students (INP 6511, INP 6512) and both terms of Second-Year Thesis Research (INP 6513, INP 6514). Students are not admitted for this degree. Students who are eligible for or who have already received the M.Phil. will not be awarded the M.S.
Program information is available at http://medicine.yale.edu/inp.
Courses
INP 5110a / ENAS 5390a, Small Objects Timothy Newton, Nathan Burnell, and Alyse Guild
This course is offered to graduate and undergraduate students who wish to pursue their own special talents, follow their passions, and expand possibilities and creative impulses to create a small object of their own design. The course is cross-listed with architecture, neuroscience, and engineering & applied science and intentionally brings together students with different backgrounds and experiences. The course explores the ideation, design processes, and fabrication of a functioning prototype. Potential areas of exploration include, but are not limited to: jewelry, furniture, experimental scientific instruments, electronic devices, architectural objects, lighting, cutlery, packaging, and musical instruments. Proposal submissions are due by August 18. See course syllabus for course and proposal details. Selection for the course is through application only.
TF 9:20am-11:15am
INP 5580b, Bioethics in Neuroscience Marina Picciotto
This course is an introduction to ethics and ethical decision-making in the neurosciences. Format for the course is an informal discussion. Each week we are joined by members of the Yale faculty and community who share their experiences and expertise as it relates to the topic of the week. Required of first-year INP students. Grading is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and is based on attendance/participation, weekly reaction papers, and a final term paper. Enrollment limited to neuroscience-track students.
HTBA
INP 5701a, Principles of Neuroscience Junjie Guo, Ifat Levy, Marc Schneeberger Pane, and Heather Snell
General neuroscience seminar: lectures, readings, and discussion of selected topics in neuroscience. Emphasis is on how approaches at the molecular, cellular, physiological, and organismal levels can lead to understanding of neuronal and brain function.
MT 3pm-4:30pm
INP 5702a, Foundations of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Shaul Yogev and James Jeanne
A comprehensive overview of cellular and molecular concepts in neuroscience. Each exam (of three) covers one-third of the course (cell biology, electrophysiology, and synaptic function) and is take-home, with short answer/essay questions.
TF 1:15pm-2:45pm
INP 6511a and INP 6512b, Lab Rotations for First-Year Students Marina Picciotto
Required of all first-year neuroscience-track graduate students. Rotation period is one term. Grading is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
HTBA
INP 6513a and INP 6514b, Second-Year Thesis Research Marina Picciotto
Required of all second-year INP graduate students. Grading is Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
HTBA
INP 7538a / PSYC 5380a, Computational Methods in Decision Making Robb Rutledge
This course provides training on how to use computational models to understand human behavior with a focus on learning, decision making, and happiness. Data is collected in a variety of tasks including new experiments designed by students, and is analyzed using computational models. Prerequisites: CPSC 100, CPSC 112 or other course involving programming (e.g., Matlab, Python, C++); course in statistics or data science; PSYC 160 or other human neuroscience course; or permission of instructor.
T 9:25am-11:20am
INP 7562b / CB&B 5620b / ENAS 5620b / MB&B 5620b / MCDB 5620b / PHYS 5620b, Modeling Biological Systems II Thierry Emonet and Harry McNamara
This course covers advanced topics in computational biology. How do cells compute, how do they count and tell time, how do they oscillate and generate spatial patterns? Topics include time-dependent dynamics in regulatory, signal-transduction, and neuronal networks; fluctuations, growth, and form; mechanics of cell shape and motion; spatially heterogeneous processes; diffusion. This year, the course spends roughly half its time on mechanical systems at the cellular and tissue level, and half on models of neurons and neural systems in computational neuroscience. Prerequisite: a 2000-level biology course or permission of the instructor.
TTh 2:35pm-3:50pm
INP 7575a / CPSC 5750a / ECE 5750a, Computational Vision and Biological Perception Steven Zucker
An overview of computational vision with a biological emphasis. Suitable as an introduction to biological perception for computer science and engineering students, as well as an introduction to computational vision for mathematics, psychology, and physiology students.
MW 2:35pm-3:50pm
INP 9510a, Structural and Functional Organization of the Human Nervous System Thomas Biederer
An integrative overview of the structure and function of the human brain as it pertains to major neurological and psychiatric disorders. Neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and clinical correlations are interrelated to provide essential background in the neurosciences. Lectures in neurocytology and neuroanatomy survey neuronal organization in the human brain, with emphasis on long fiber tracts related to clinical neurology. Lectures in neurophysiology cover various aspects of neural function at the cellular and systems levels, with a strong emphasis on the mammalian nervous system. Clinical correlations consist of sessions applying basic science principles to understanding pathophysiology in the context of patients. Seven three-hour laboratory sessions are coordinated with lectures throughout the course to provide an understanding of the structural basis of function and disease. Case-based conference sections provide an opportunity to integrate and apply the information learned about the structure and function of the nervous system in the rest of the course to solving a focused clinical problem in a journal club format. Variable class schedule; contact course instructors. This course is offered to graduate and M.D./Ph.D. students only and cannot be audited.
HTBA
INP 9585b / BENG 5485b, Fundamentals of Neuroimaging Fahmeed Hyder, Elizabeth Goldfarb, and Douglas Rothman
The neuroenergetic and neurochemical basis of several dominant neuroimaging methods, including fMRI. Topics range from technical aspects of different methods to interpretation of the neuroimaging results. Controversies and/or challenges for application of fMRI and related methods in medicine are identified.
W 3:30pm-5:20pm
INP 9640a, Current Topics in Neuroscience Junjie Guo
In this course, students select three modular “mini-courses” from a list of mini-courses spanning a wide range of topics and techniques in molecular, cellular, systems, and behavioral neuroscience. Prerequisites: INP 5702 and INP 5703 or INP 9720, MCDB 7200, or MCDB 3200.
HTBA