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Bi-College Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program
Haverford’s major and minor in Neuroscience, offered in partnership with Bryn Mawr, is designed for undergraduates interested in exploring the workings of the nervous system and its impact on behavior.
We are a tight-knit program with expansive reach, offering our students close mentorship as well as a broad range of academic and research opportunities. Our core faculty possess expertise in a variety of approaches to neuroscience—from molecular neurobiology, to behavioral neuroscience, to cognitive neuroscience. Active researchers, they are exceptionally committed to engaging students in cutting-edge projects and to helping them discover and hone their interests in this fast-moving field.
Curriculum & Courses
Our curriculum aims to ground students in the field of neuroscience while allowing them to explore the range of interconnected disciplines. All majors must complete an Introduction to Neuroscience course, four foundational science courses, four upper-level neuroscience courses, one credit of laboratory coursework, and a thesis or capstone project. All minors must complete a “gateway” course in Neuroscience, followed by three core neuroscience courses, and at least one course from an affiliated discipline (typically Computer Science, Linguistics, or Philosophy classes). Though not required, minors can choose to enroll in neuroscience-based lab courses.
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Major Requirements
- Introduction to Neuroscience (1 credit)
- NEUR H100
- Foundational Science Courses (4 credits)
- 1 semester of General Chemistry (CHEM H111, CHEM H113, CHEM H115, CHEM B103)
- 1 semester of Introductory Biology (BIOL H200, BIOL B110 or BIOL B111)
- 1 semester of Introductory Psychology (PSYC H100 or PSYC B105)
- 1 semester of Statistics (PSYC H200, PSYC B205; MATH H103 or MATH H203, MATH B104, or ECON H203
- Upper-level Neuroscience Courses with Breadth Requirement (4 credits)
- Students must take 4 credits of upper-level neuroscience courses
- Upper-level Neuroscience courses are divided into three categories: Cellular/Molecular, Behavioral/Systems, and Cognitive. Students must take courses from at least two of the three categories to fulfil the breadth requirement.
- A list of approved courses and their categories is linked from the Neuroscience website.
- Laboratory Coursework in Neuroscience (1 credit)
- In order to gain hands-on experience with some of the tools, methods, and paradigms of Neuroscience, majors are required to take 1 credit of neuroscience laboratory coursework. This can be accomplished in several ways (e.g., 2 half-credit psych labs, 1 full-credit psych lab, 1 full-credit neuroscience SuperLab).
- A list of approved laboratory courses is linked from the Neuroscience website.
- Thesis or Capstone in Neuroscience (1 credit)
- To culminate their experience as a Neuroscience major, students are required to complete one course of thesis or capstone work. This may take the form of a 2-semester laboratory thesis project or a 1-semester capstone course.
- Introduction to Neuroscience (1 credit)
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Minor Requirements
- One “gateway” course from the following list:
- Five additional credits, beyond the gateway course, with these constraints:
- Three of the five credits must come from the list of approved upper-level neuroscience courses.
- Two of the five credits must come from the list of approved allied courses.
- At least one of the credits must be at the 300-level or higher.
- One of the five credits may come from supervised senior research in neuroscience.
- No more than two of the six minor credits may come from institutions outside of the Bi-Co.
- No more than two of the six minor credits may be double-counted towards a major.
Associated Programs and Concentrations
Research & Outreach
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/Department/Environmental%20Science/news-eva-shin-headshot.jpg?itok=CjUoQG4w)
The biology major, who is also minoring in neuroscience and environmental studies, worked over the summer as a clinical researcher at the Lurie Center for Autism, where she researched Williams Syndrome.
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/blog-ravenel-davis-new.jpg?itok=bDICQarl&c=f8fd008ce38f85f4d766353b678a92e8)
The psychology major and neuroscience minor used her thesis to study how children understand social categories.
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/blog-june-hoang-21-by-jacob-epstein.jpg?itok=UWQ1BrNV)
Hoang's thesis explored molecular and enzymatic diversity in bacteria that has major pharmaceutical implications.
![Alison Gibbons ’19](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/IMG_1634-1080x675.jpg?itok=ukZHxNWP)
For her thesis, the psychology major and neuroscience minor explored the effects of a particular hormone on pregnancy by studying mice.
![Rylee Fennell '20](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/Screen%20Shot%202018-06-20%20at%208.08.40%20AM.png?itok=oj2kz3kJ)
Supported by the Gertrude Albert Heller Memorial Grant and the CCPA, the linguistics major with minors in neuroscience and child and family studies is helping children find their voice.
After Graduation
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/blog-elena-bien-24-dsc5404-patrick-montero-scaled.jpg?itok=fgr6yQSX&c=b3c3db7f9998219bc349907d41b1f695)
The neuroscience major identified her career path in disability studies and education during her four years at Haverford.
![Annie Barrett smiling for the camera](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/Department/Psychology/Annie-Barrett-24_dsc5039_Patrick-Montero.jpg?itok=MC9Mb2x7&c=ed6e7fda881ea836cd70439ef95fd83b)
Supported by $40,000 from the Watson Foundation, Annie Barrett ’24 will embark on global travels to explore issues of dementia care.
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/blog-justin-adler-24-dsc0609-patrick-montero.jpg?itok=DzDwFgF7&c=fdf673aa248ba06d61aa0071833fa0de)
The neuroscience major and health studies minor started his full-time job as a cancer researcher at Penn Medicine just two days after graduation. Adler awaits his upcoming matriculation to the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
![](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/news-jianing-mu-22-3684-aby-isakov-24.jpg?itok=UR2d2rg3)
The psychology major, with minors in neuroscience and statistics, is pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin.
![Christina Szi '18](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/blog-wth-christina-szi-1080x675.jpg?itok=jE8sIlI4)
Szi is researching the genetic basis of Autism Spectrum Disorder at the Yale Child Study Center.
![Sergio Fernandez '16](https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/480_x_360_crop/public/Department/Biology/sergio-fernandez.jpg?itok=zGfDpT_k)
Fernandez interned with Grassroot Soccer, a public health nonprofit promoting education about and prevention against HIV and AIDS.
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