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Dec 05, 2025
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2025-2026 Graduate Catalog
Psychology: Behavioral Neuroscience PhD
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The Behavioral Neuroscience PhD program provides students with broad and deep knowledge of the biological factors that control behavior. Our core faculty conduct innovative research on motivated behaviors, pain, auditory processing and synaptic plasticity. Our students interact with a larger neuroscience community at UB that provides a unique training relationship tailored to each student’s research interests and professional goals.
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Requirements for Degree Completion
- The following serves as a guide for students to complete the Behavioral Neuroscience Doctoral Program successfully. Students tailor their education to fit their own interests and professional goals through the selection of appropriate elective courses and research projects in conjunction with their advisor. The program serves to facilitate these goals by maintaining productive and high-quality research programs, and by providing a stimulating and motivating educational environment for the graduate students in the program. Students are also expected to join the UB Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience as well as participate in relevant activities offered by the UB Interdisciplinary Program in Medical Neuroscience.
- A minimum of 72 credit hours, including core behavioral neuroscience coursework, electives and departmental breadth requirements.
- Attendance at weekly brown bag meetings where students and faculty present and discuss their research, or contemporary research articles within the behavioral neuroscience field. After the first year, each PhD student is required to present in our brown bag meeting once per year. In addition to presentations by members and visitors on relevant experimental and theoretical issues, there are two sessions each semester devoted to ethics (e.g., academic ethics, scientific and research ethics, ethics of animal use).
- Successful completion of the preliminary exam. Preliminary exams are traditionally completed during the third fall semester in the program. The student is expected to meet with the prelim committee (the advisor and three other behavioral neuroscience faculty members) to define the scope and format of the exam. Although the exam format is determined by the committee, all preliminary exams include a written and an oral component. The most common format includes a mock grant application on the student’s area of expertise, and closed book written questions on topics assigned by committee members.
- After completion of the preliminary exam, students generate and defend a dissertation proposal, and ultimately complete and defend the dissertation.
Course Work
This course serves as a basic introductory course to bring our area students up to the same minimum degree of knowledge prior to (and is a prerequisite for) more advanced coursework (all other BN courses except PSY 634 ). BN students are expected to take this course during their first Fall semester, and pass with a grade of B or better. Departmental Course Requirements
Students are required to complete certain departmental course requirements and receive a grade of B- or better: One distribution course in 2 of the 3 areas:
Area Electives
Students are expected to take as many of these as offered starting in their second semester. The prerequisite for electives is earning a B- or better in PSY 513 Biological Bases of Behavior: Special Topics Courses
(Also require a B- or better in PSY 513 ) The area also offers occasional specialized courses relevant to a variety of topics in the neuroscience field. These include graduate seminars in the following areas: - Computational Neuroscience
- Molecular Basis of Mental Disorders
- Molecular Neuroscience
- Methods Psychobiology of Reproduction
- Psychobiology of Addiction
- Psychobiology of Motivation
- Topics in Neuroethology
- Theories of Learning Pain & Analgesia
- Biopsychology of Ingestion
- Homeostasis and Behavior
- Animal Models of Human Psychopathology
In addition to the courses listed, occasionally students participate in the two-semester Interdisciplinary Introduction to Neuroscience course taught by a team of faculty derived from a variety of departments. Students also may wish to obtain specialized training through enrollment in graduate level courses offered by other departments (e.g., Biomedical Science, Pharmacology, Biology, Physiology, Anatomy, Communicative Disorders and Sciences). Completion Timeline
The program is designed with a five-year time frame in mind, but students often require more time to finish the program requirements. Please review a timeline of expected progress: First Year
Students begin conducting research in the laboratory of their mentor and start taking required courses. Biological Bases of Behavior (PSY 513 ) is a prerequisite for other area electives, and is therefore completed in the first semester in the program. Students also are expected to take statistics courses and other available distribution courses and electives in the first year. Second Year
Students continue to develop their research programs, and often complete most or all of the required coursework by the end of the second year. During the second year, students are encouraged to assemble a preliminary exam committee and meet with the committee to determine the format and expectations of the preliminary exam. Third Year
Students generally complete preliminary exams during the first semester of the third year. The third year is also a time of more intense focus on research that will lay the foundation for the dissertation proposal. Students should assemble a dissertation committee and begin focusing on the dissertation proposal. Fourth Year and Beyond
The dissertation project is expected to be developed by the student and advisor, and proposed to the committee. Once the committee approves the proposal, the student can begin work on the project, ultimately leading to the dissertation and completion of the program. Total Credit Hours: Minimum of 72
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
1) Breadth of Knowledge: Students will demonstrate broad knowledge of psychology and ability to integrate these areas with behavioral neuroscience as measured by successful completion of core psychology classes and behavioral neuroscience electives. 2) Experimental Design: Students will demonstrate the necessary skills and knowledge to design, execute and analyze meaningful experiments as part of focused program of research, as evidenced by successful completion of a dissertation project. 3) Specialization in Behavioral Neuroscience: Students will demonstration broad and in-depth knowledge of the literature and sub-disciplines within Behavioral Neuroscience as measured by performance on their qualifying exam. 4) Methodological Proficiency: Students will demonstrate technical proficiency of methods used to answer behavioral neuroscience research questions as measured by mentor feedback and successful completion of a dissertation project. 5) Scientific Communication: Students will demonstrate the ability effectively communicate results of their research in written and oral form as measured during qualifying exams, departmental presentations, and via the written and oral descriptions of the dissertation project. 6) Teaching: Students will acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to be effective college-level instructors as measured by student and faculty feedback from teaching undergraduate students. 7) Data Analysis: Students will exhibit competence in statistical methods as measured by performance in their coursework. 8) Ethical and Social Responsibility: All students will demonstrate an understanding of ethical and diversity issues as they pertain to the practice of scientific research. SED Statement
This program is officially registered with the New York State Education Department (SED). |
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