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Where possible, links are provided to the Columbia University Directory of Classes.
Cognate courses are relevant graduate-level courses offered by other departments or programs. They may be selected by the student, in consultation with the student advisor, to supplement the student’s education according to his or her research interests.

For an overview of course requirements or schedule information through spring 2009, see Course Requirements & Schedule.

Also see the sample courses of study for the different Areas of Concentration.


Required Courses

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Eukaryotes I (G6300)
  • Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (W4004) and Developmental and Systems Neurobiology (W4005)
  • Neural Science: Section on Neuroanatomy (M5105 sec. 088)
  • Experimental Approaches in the Neural Sciences (G4900)
  • Research in Neurobiology (G9040)
  • Responsible Conduct of Neuroscience Research/Policy (G6001)
  • Student Journal Club (G4990)

Advanced Neuroscience and Cognate* Courses Listed by Areas of Concentration

(Two advanced courses and one cognate course are required)

Neural Development

  • Advanced Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics (G4050x)*
  • Eukaryotic Molecular Biology (G6301y)*
  • Principles of Developmental Biology - Genetics (G4027y)*
  • Stem Cells and Cell Lineage Specification (G6100)*
  • Introduction to Neural Development (G9002y)
  • Applied Statistics for Researchers (G6191)*

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

  • Molecular Mechanisms in Synaptic Transmission and the Control of Transmitter Release (G4007x)
  • Theoretical Neuroscience (G4360x)
  • Advanced Topics in Theoretical Neuroscience (G …y)
  • Membrane Receptors and Transport Proteins (G4045y)*
  • Molecular Biophysics (G4250x)*
  • Molecular Pharmacology: from Membrane to Nucleus (G9600x)*
  • Circuits in the Brain: Dendritic Intergration (G4011x)
  • Structure and Function of Ion Channels (G4600y)
  • Cellular Membranes and Organelles (G4350y)*
  • Applied Statistics for Researchers (G6191)*

Neurobiology of Behavior and Cognition

  • Advanced Topics in Theoretical Neuroscience
  • Imaging of Brain and Cognition (G4320x)
  • Behavioral Neuroscience: Views of Transformative & Translational Research (G9410y)
  • Theoretical Neuroscience (G4360x)
  • The Cellular and Molecular Biology of Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity (G4007x)
  • Statistical Analysis and Modeling of Neural Spike Data (G8285y)
  • Statistical Methods in Functional MRI (G8325)*
  • Applied Statistics for Researchers (G6191)*
  • Systems Neuroscience
  • Topics in Neurobiology and Behavior (G4440)

Animal Models of Nervous System Disorders

  • Neuroscience of Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders (G4100y)
  • Applied Statistics for Researchers (G6191)*
  • Imaging of Brain and Cognition (G4320x)
  • Molecular Pharmacology: from Membrane to Nucleus (G9600x)*

Theoretical Neuroscience

  • Computational Neural Modeling and Neuroengineering (E6480)
  • Theoretical Neuroscience (G4360x)
  • Advanced Topics in Theoretical Neuroscience
  • Circuits in the Brain: Dendritic Integration (G4011x)
  • Statistical Analysis of Neural Data (G8325y)
  • Systems Neuroscience

Some Cognate Courses for Theoretical Neuroscience*

  • APMA: Asymptotic Methods In Applied Mathematics(E8308y)*
  • APMA: Applied Mathematics III: Dynamical Systems (E4101x)*
  • APMA: Introduction to Biophysical Modeling (E4400)*
  • EE: Signals and Systems (E3801)*
  • EE: Information Theory (E6717x)*
  • Physics: Mathematical Methods in Physics (G4019)*
  • Physics: Statistical Mechanics (G6036)*
  • Physics: Scientific Computing (G6080)*
  • Computer Science: Scientific Computation (W3210)*
  • Computer Science: Machine Learning (W4771)*
  • Cellular: Molecular Genetics (G4150*)


* denotes cognate course