At the University of Chicago, there are several ways undergraduate students can incorporate coursework which spans the breadth of neuroscience, reflecting the interests of a large and diverse faculty in such research areas as neurodevelopment, synaptic physiology, cortical circuits, sensation, perception, motor function, reward and addiction, cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, neural networks, machine learning, and the neurobiology of disease neuroscience into their academic experiences and careers.
The new undergraduate neuroscience major offers a BA or BS in Neuroscience. Students may choose electives for breadth or focus on areas such as molecular or computational neuroscience. The Honors program involves a thesis based on significant experimental research.
This internship is open to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year Neuroscience majors. It is intended to broaden the scientific and cultural perspective of students who have already discovered an affinity for and interest in laboratory work.
Lunch with a Neuroscientist
Come learn about exciting research on campus. Faculty members with diverse interests will talk informally about their work. Check back closer to the fall quarter for upcoming lunch and tea dates.
This will not be a lecture with slides. Instead, this is an opportunity to have a conversation about the big questions that keep these scientists up at night, their thoughts about science, and a life informed by science. If you are interested in getting into research, this is an excellent way to narrow down the type of approaches and topics that are particularly appealing. Space is limited.
Lunch orders close 24 hours prior to the scheduled lunch, space is limited. Sign up now by clicking on the lunch or lunches that you are interested in and filling out the corresponding form. Note that no-shows will not be able to attend future lunches. Please email Neuromajor@uchicago.edu if you will not be able to attend.
Lunch with Elizabeth Heckscher, PhD April 30th, 2019 at 12:00pm
Heckscher Lab Research: Uses the Drosophila embryonic and larval motor system to study the development and function of motor circuits. Ultimately by understanding motor circuits from both of these perspectives we hope to gain a mechanistic understanding of the genetic basis of behavior.
Lunch with Xiaochang Zhang, PhDMay 7th, 2019 at 12:30pm
"Brain development and disorders"
Zhang Lab Research: How our brain is developed and evolved remains a major question in biology, and abnormal development of the human brain can cause autism and epilepsy. We study fundamental mechanisms of brain development and disorders, and our specific interests include: tracing cell lineages in mammalian brains, genetic mechanisms of neuronal type specification, and roles of alternative RNA splicing in neural development and diseases. We develop and apply single cell approaches, animal models, and functional genomics to address these questions.
Lunch with Matthew Kaufman, PhD May 28th, 2019 at 12:30pm
Kaufman Lab Research: Decision making is a core component of cognition, and movement is how we make those decisions impact the outside world. My lab aims to understand the neural computations that underlie decision making and motor control. That is, how do networks of neurons in the brain categorize stimuli, choose appropriate courses of action, and generate the complex signals needed to control the muscles.
Tea with the Undergraduate Major Director
Questions about classes? Summer internships?
Meet with the NSCI Major director to discuss opportunities available within the major. Sign up and come with all your questions.
No current dates planned, please check back.
For those of you who just can’t get enough neuroscience, consider joining a journal club. Two new journal clubs oriented specifically for undergraduate Neuroscience majors are starting up and two established journal clubs are open to more undergraduate members. Below is the information. Please email the contacts directly if you want to join.
Neurophilosophy
Schedule: Friday 2pm – 3pm (Green 117)
Contact: Clifford Workman (cliffworkman@uchicago.edu)
Computational Approaches to Cognitive Neuroscience
Schedule: Thursday 5pm – 6pm (SBRI J-400C/ Green room)
Contact: Barbara Peysakhovich (bpeysakhovich@uchicago.edu); Krithika Mohan (krmohan@uchicago.edu)
Biopsychology
Centered in Kay, London, Prendergast laboratories
Schedule: Monday 4pm – 5pm (BPSB#123)
Contact: Joe Gogola (gogola@uchicago.edu)