Neuroscience and Behavior, PHD

About the Program

Graduate students in Psychological Sciences are expected to become qualified researchers and experts in their selected area of concentration and to acquire a broad and in-depth background of the field in general. The graduate program provides comprehensive training leading to the Ph.D. with one of the following six degree options: Clinical, Cognitive, Industrial-Organizational, Mathematical and Computational Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, and Social Psychology.

The Neuroscience and Behavior program offers exceptional flexibility to customize graduate students’ training and research. The program provides exceptional access to state-of-the art techniques and technologies combined with a variety of animal and human behavior models to study brain-behavior relationships, broadly defined. Problems studied by the neuroscience and behavior area include but are not limited to: molecular and genetic determinants of behavior, physiological bases of motivated behaviors, neural and hormonal bases of learning and memory, physiological and genetic bases of psychiatric disorders, and the underlying neural mechanisms of cognitive processing and social interaction. Cognitive processes currently under investigation include associative learning, reward processing, decision-making, selective attention, and problem solving. Clinical phenomena currently under investigation include alcohol use disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia, diabetes, epilepsy, obesity, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and autism spectrum and attention deficit disorders.

A number of interdisciplinary centers exist that provide valuable training for neuroscience graduate students at Purdue. Of particular interest are the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience (PIIN), the Ingestive Behavior Research
Center, the Center for Research on Brain, Behavior, and NeuroRehabilitation (CEREBBRAL), and the Purdue Autism Research Center (PARC). All centers offer a variety of highly interdisciplinary student-focused training events research travel funding.

Program Website

Program Requirements

XX Credits Required

Concentrations

Interdisciplinary concentrations:

• Ingestive Behavior Concentration (GR) 
• Purdue University Interdisciplinary Life Science (PULSe), MS or PHD 
  • Integrative Neuroscience

GPA Requirements

Only courses for which “A” or “B” grades are earned are acceptable in fulfilling departmental requirements. Students are expected to repeat any required courses in which they receive a grade of “C+” or lower.

Graduate Programs Disclaimer

• The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Students should consult with their advisor/department for more information.
• Not all graduate programs may be actively recruiting students and course modality availability may vary. 
• Please refer to the Explore Graduate Programs website for a list of currently available graduate programs.
• Transfer credit policy: Credits earned for graduate study at other universities (both domestic and international) may be applied toward an advanced degree. Only credit hours associated with graduate courses for which grades of B- or better were obtained will be eligible for transfer. Any additional conditions under which credit transfers may be made are determined by the various departments.
• Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.