Ph.D. Degree in Neuroscience

Since its inception, the Neuroscience Training Program has made a special effort to avoid formulaic graduate training and instead respond to the needs of individual students. Indeed this is one of the Program's core values, and therefore the Program is very well suited to be flexible in accommodating the special challenges that dual-degree students must meet.

Required Courses (9 cr)

Neuroscience 610/611 (8 cr): A two-seminar sequence in neurobiology. These courses provide students with an introduction to the nervous system from cells and molecules to brain and behavior.

Neuroscience 700 (1 cr): One-credit course covering skills and knowledge necessary for succeeding in science.

Additional Courses (14-16 cr)
Students also take two mid-level electives, one in cellular, molecular, or developmental neurobiology, and one in systems or behavioral neurobiology. These should be selected in consultation with the student’s thesis advisor and committee.

Neuroscience 900 (1 cr): Seminar that covers "hot topics" in neuroscience. Topics are selected each year by Faculty and students.

• Students will select a thesis advisor and committee by the end of their first year.
• The Public Policy Internship (see below) will substitute for the neuroscience teaching requirement.
• Students must present at least three Sub-Group talks (talks may be delayed until after year 2).
• Students must complete three lab rotations, although the timing and duration may be adjusted to accommodate the requirements of the dual degree.
• Students must complete a PhD preliminary examination. Ideally, this will occur in the summer of the second year, although this may be delayed to the third year if necessary.

Master of Public Affairs (Public Policy Analysis)

The La Follette School Master of Public Affairs degree is explicitly designed as a flexible degree program enabling students to concentrate a substantial number of electives on courses throughout the university that are specifically relevant to their future career interests. It is thus also well suited for accommodating the special challenges that dual-degree students must meet.

The MPA degree program, usually completed in two years of study, is organized around a curriculum of 42 credits, of which 18 credits are core required courses and 24 credits are electives (16 credits from additional courses and 8 credits from neuroscience courses).

Required Courses (18 cr)

• The Policymaking Process 874 introduces the political processes that shape public policy in the United States. This course provides a basic framework for understanding the roles of policy analysts and public managers in democracies.
• Quantitative Tools for Public Policy Analysis 818 provides an introduction to statistical methods used in public policy.
• Microeconomic Policy Analysis 880 emphasizes the nature of decision-making by consumers, firms, and governments, and the effect of these decisions on the allocation of resources -- land, labor and capital.
• Introduction to Policy Analysis 873 provides an overview of the conceptual foundations of policy analysis and the craft skills useful in doing and presenting policy analysis. This course provides an introduction to the study of public policy and the professional practice of policy analysis.
• Introduction to Public Management 878 develops an understanding of leadership in the public sector and, in so doing, builds management skills. Students examine relationships among organizations, problems of accountability and control, human resource management, budgeting and finance, and policy implementation.
• Workshop in Program Evaluation and Public Policy Analysis 869, the capstone course, gives students practical experience working in teams and applying the conceptual and analytical tools acquired over three semesters of coursework to real-world issues faced by clients in the public, private, and non-governmental sectors.

Additional Courses (16 Cr)

Students in the joint PhD/MPA program will also complete the following requirements:

• Science & Technology Policy Elective (3 cr): Students will select from a list of graduate-level courses in science and technology policy that provide students with conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for understanding the politics of science and technology, including: debates about the role of science and expertise in public policy, evolving rationales for public support of scientific and technological research, and political controversies about emerging technologies.
• Bioethics/Law and Science Elective (3 cr): Students will select from a list of graduate-level courses on bioethics and law, science, and technology taught in the Law School and the Department of Medical History and Bioethics.
• Quantitative Methods 819 (3 cr): Surveys methods of empirical analysis used to support policy analysis and public decision making, emphasizing applied multivariate regression analysis. This course is designed to equip students with fundamental skills for conducting quantitative analyses of public policy problems, and interpreting the published research of other analysts and scholars. (BMI 576 may be substituted.)
• Public Policy Internship (3 cr): Students will pursue a summer internship working in the public policy sector (e.g., a state or federal government agency, advocacy organization, science funding agency, patient organization, scientific professional organization, etc.)
• Neuroscience and Public Policy Seminar (1 cr each semester): Students will enroll in a Neuroscience and Public Policy Seminar, described below, which will be established specifically for the Neuroscience/Public Policy Dual-Degree Program, during each of their first four semesters. Students will continue to enroll in the seminar throughout their degree program, but only 4 credits will count towards MPA degree.
• Neuroscience and Public Policy Research Paper: Following the first four semesters, students will complete a research paper on a topic in neuroscience and public policy. Completion of this paper will fulfill half of the Preliminary Examination requirements for the Ph.D. degree in neuroscience. Students select a topic with the advice of their thesis committee, carry out an appropriate literature review, and defend the paper in an oral examination.

Neuroscience and Policy Seminar

The Neuroscience and Policy Seminar will serve as the focal point for connecting the students’ training in neuroscience and public affairs, and provide intellectual continuity between the two fields throughout the entire period of training. The Seminar will meet weekly each semester, in the format of a speaker followed by questions and discussion. The Seminar will primarily serve students in the Program, but will be open to other students at La Follette or in the Neuroscience Training Program. It will be coordinated by a faculty team including members from La Follette and the Neuroscience Training Program. Each semester, the Seminar will be organized around a central thematic issue, and weekly schedules will be developed by the students in the Seminar, to encourage them to learn to think systematically about the field of neuroscience policy. Sample Seminar and Research Paper topics could include any of the topics listed above under Focal Areas. At the end of their fourth semester in the Seminar, students will be required to submit a Neuroscience and Public Policy Research Paper, described above.

Available Electives

Social Perspectives on Science, Technology, and Medicine

• Medical History & Bioethics 728, Bioethics and Society
• Soc/STS 311, Biotechnology and Society
• Soc./Rur Soc 612, Agriculture, Technology, and Society
• STS 611,Gender, Science, and Technology
• Soc 637, Sociology of Science
• Soc/Rur Soc 610, Knowledge and Society
• Soc/Rur Soc 745, Sociological Perspectives on Science and Technology
• Sociology 773, Intermediate Sociological Theory
• Women Studies 530, Biology and Gender
• Women Studies 533, Special Topics in Women and Health

Historical Perspectives on Science, Technology, and Medicine

• STS/History of Science/Medical History/IES513/713. Environment and Health in Global Perspective
• History of Science 720, Proseminar: Historiography and Methods
• History of Science 903, Medieval, Renaissance, and 17th Century Science
• History of Science 905, Seminar: Modern Physical Science
• History of Science 907, Seminar: History of Technology
• History of Science 909, History of Biology and Medicine
• History of Science 911, Seminar: Eighteenth Century Science
• History of Science 913, Seminar: Social Aspects in the Development of Science
• History of Science 915, Seminar: Science in America
• History of Science 919, Graduate Studies in Medical History

Philosophical Perspectives on Science, Technology, and Medicine

• Philosophy 519, Philosophy of Mathematics
• Philosophy 520, Philosophy of Natural Science
• Philosophy 521, Philosophy of Social Science
• Philosophy 523, Philosophy of Biology
• Philosophy 524, Philosophy and Economics
• Philosophy 554, Philosophy of the Artificial Sciences
• Philosophy 556, Topics in Feminism and Philosophy
• Philosophy 558, Ethical Problems Raised by Biomedical Technology
• Philosophy 920, Seminar in Philosophy of Science