Grad students and faculty participate actively in cross-campus neuroscience activities. Within the College of Liberal Arts & Science, they are members of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience, which includes faculty from Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and Philosophy. They also participate in activities outside the College through the UIC Committee on Neuroscience, which also includes faculty from the Colleges of Medicine, Engineering, and Associated Health Professions. Training experiences of graduate students typically include some course work, and interactions with faculty, from the larger UIC neuroscience community.

Research laboratories for all neurobiology labs are located in the SEL (Science & Engineering Labs) building. The Department maintains professionally staffed animal quarters, scanning and transmission electron microscope facilities, and an electronics construction and repair shop. Major facilities of the UIC computer center are available in the SEL building.

The faculty of the neurobiology group meet as a committee and evaluate all applications for graduate study. This is normally done once per year with students admitted in the Fall semester. Under exceptional circumstances, students will be considered for admission at other times of the year. All students accepted into the group are supported financially, usually as teaching or research assistants.

In order to become familiar with the diversity of research being conducted within the Neurobiology Group, first year graduate students participate in a laboratory rotation program. Each new student spends at least 5 weeks in two or three different laboratories. The rotations provide an opportunity for entering grad students to meet other students, post-docs, and faculty, observe experimental techniques, attend lab meetings, and sometimes to initiate a brief research project. Students are reviewed at the end of their first year to evaluate their progress and assist them in selecting a faculty advisor for research.

An important part of the scientific/social activities of neurobiology graduate students, as a group, consists of a weekly journal club. These meetings consider current issues and controversies in neuroscience, with lively discussions led each week by a different graduate student, postdoc, or faculty member.

Bios 443 Animal Physiology II
--lectures and labs (4 credits), Drs. Comer, Kelso, Murphy, Malchow

Bios 483 Neuroanatomy
--lectures and labs (5 credits), Dr. Shomay

Bios 486 Animal Behavior & Neuroethology
--lectures, labs and field trips (4 credits), Drs. Comer, Murphy, Park

Bios 487 Developmental Neurobiology
--lectures (3 credits), Dr. Pollack

Bios 488 Developmental Neurogenetics
--lectures (3 credits), Dr. Alfonso

Bios 489 Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory
--labs and demonstrations (3 credits), various faculty

Bios 586 Cell & Molecular Neurobiology
--Lectures (3 credits), Drs. Kelso and Leonard

Bios 587 Special Topics in Neurobiology
--Seminar format (variable credit), offered by faculty on a rotating basis

Bios 594 Special Topics in Biological Sciences
--Seminar format (1-2 credits), offered by departmental faculty

Neus 580 Themes in Neuroscience
--Seminar format (2 credits), various UIC neuroscience faculty

BioS/Neus 582 Methods in Modern Neuroscience
--Demos and discussions (2 credits), various UIC neuroscience faculty; Dr. Malchow - Coordinator

In the first year, students usually take the year long sequence in physiology (Bios 442-443) which covers neurophysiology in depth, as well as muscle and cardiac physiology, respiration, endocrinology, and immunology. Students are also expected to take the laboratory in cellular neurobiology (Bios 489) at the beginning of either their first or second year. At some time during the first two years, advanced courses such as Cell and Molecular Neuroscience and Special Topics in the areas of neurophysiology and animal behavior are also typical. Depending upon a student's background and interests, most take other relevant courses offered by the Department such as Biochemistry, Eukaryotic Molecular Biology, and Electron Microscopy.

Although course work extends into the second year, by the end of that year, most students are primarily engaged in research. From that point on, training occurs in the research labs, through regular journal club meetings, and occasional advanced seminars.