Curriculum

In their first year, PiN students complete 2-4 part-time lab rotations and two required core courses: Quantitative Methods for Biologists - Python (NEUROBIO 306qc*), an intensive two-week boot camp in August that introduces students to statistics using Python, and the Discipline of Neuroscience (NEUROBIO 215), PiN's year-long, flagship course designed to give students the broad, cross-disciplinary conceptual fluency required of neuroscientists. In consultation with their SAC advisor, students may also choose to complete additional elective courses during their first year.

* Offered in the summer starting in 2022 (was previously offered as NEUROBIO 323qc in January)

PiN students are expected to join a lab by September 1 of their G2 year. G2 students meet with their SAC advisor in September to discuss their rotations and joining a lab. Students may also wish to discuss elective courses, preparing for the PQE, and their second IDP reflection. By the time this meeting is held most students have been accepted into a lab for their dissertation research. Occasionally a student will decide to take a fourth rotation that finishes in September or October; these "extra" rotations must be approved in advance by the student's SAC advisor and the program director.

Preliminary Qualifying Examination (PQE)

Students are required to take their PQE by March 31 of their second year and should have completed (or have in progress) 4 credits of elective coursework at the time of the exam. The examination comprises a written proposal and an oral presentation and examination. Students are given substantial guidance in preparation for the PQE. The Discipline of Neuroscience first-year course includes a component that trains students in proposal writing. Additionally, students are given many opportunities to practice giving talks before their PQE.

Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC)
After passing their PQE, students form a Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) in consultation with their thesis advisor. It is not uncommon for students to ask their PQE committee members to continue as DAC members. The DAC meets formally with students and their thesis advisor at least once every 9 months through the G5 year and every 6 months thereafter to review students' research progress and advise on project scope and timeline and any issues that may arise. The DAC also advises on career development.

Students in years G3 and above are required to meet with their Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) at least once every 9 months through the G5 year and every 6 months thereafter to review their research progress and discuss any issues that may arise. The DAC also provides valuable advising on career development.

Upper year students are also required to meet with their SAC advisor every summer until they defend their thesis. Prior to this meeting, students are asked to complete an Individual Development Plan (IDP) survey designed to help guide discussions about progress to degree and career options (and to collect the data routinely needed to renew training grants). Students are encouraged to help set the agenda for these meetings and might, for example, want to discuss issues relating to their DAC, their advisor, their ideas for postdoctoral research, or alternative post-graduation options.

PiN MD-PhD students are first admitted to the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD program, where they have the option of applying to two educational tracks through Harvard Medical School: the Pathways track and the Health Sciences & Technology (HST) track. Admitted MD-PhD students begin their medical training and apply to PiN during their second medical school (M2) year. MD-PhD students typically complete their lab rotations during their M2 year and declare a thesis lab when they matriculate as PiN students.

Course requirements
In addition to the required PiN core courses (G1: NB 215, Discipline of Neuroscience | G2: MED-SCI 300qc, Conduct of Science), MD-PhD students are required to complete 4 credits of elective coursework (rather than 8 credits), including 2 credits of quantitative coursework, after matriculating as PiN students. MD-PhD students are exempt from the MATLAB/Python bootcamp requirement; if they choose to complete the bootcamp, they are still required to complete an additional 4 credits of elective coursework. PiN strongly encourages MD-PhD students in the Pathways curriculum to take the quarter course NB315qc: Human Neuroanatomy and Neuropathology as one of their electives.

PiN students are required to take NEUROBIO 306qc (Python Bootcamp in August), 215AB, and 327R in their first year. Students with a strong quantitative background may "test out" of NEUROBIO 306qc with instructor permission. In the fall of their G2 and G6 years, PiN students are required to take the NIH-mandated Conduct of Science course, MED-SCI 300qc/302qc.

NEUROBIO 306qc. Quantitative Methods for Biologists (Python)

Course Director: Ella Batty
Two weeks in early August (Aug 12-23, 2024)

The goal of this summer "boot camp" is to introduce you to programming in the Python environment and to show you the power this provides for analyzing data and for gaining intuition about the behavior of complex systems through the use of numerical simulations. Some of you, upon encountering in the previous sentence words like "programming" and "numerical simulations," will feel the cold hand of fear grip your stomach, because you have never done any programming and, in fact, have tried to avoid math as much as possible. If so, YOU ARE PRECISELY THE PERSON WE HAD IN MIND as we were planning the course. We are aiming to help you break through this barrier of darkness and fear into the radiant sunshine of quantitative enlightenment. The true beauty of MATLAB, as we will personally demonstrate, is that it allows people who are not mathematically adept (e.g., some of the instructors of this course) to use powerful numerical methods and visualization tools to gain an understanding of concepts that are very difficult to grasp analytically.

NEUROBIO 215. Discipline of Neuroscience

Course Directors: Rick Born, Rachel Wilson
Fall & Spring, Tue & Thu, 9am - 12pm 

This course will endow students with the broad conceptual fluency in the discipline of neuroscience required to relate genes to circuit function, metabolism to neurological disease, and cell biology to neural computations.

Through a combination of lectures and in-class activities, students will learn to design, quantitatively analyze, and interpret experiments that address a variety of questions spanning molecular to systems neuroscience. During the first semester, students will think critically about the fundamental units of the nervous system within the context of cellular function, electrical conduction, and chemical signaling. The second half of the course builds upon this foundation to focus on broadly defined “networks of neural function” as related to coordinated neural activity, the concerted execution of genetic programs, and anatomically defined structural networks. The course culminates with students writing a grant proposal in the style of the NIH NRSA.

NEUROBIO 327R. Rotations in Neuroscience

This course is designed to introduce new students to labs across the program. The first semester consists of three poster sessions located at central sites: Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Harvard University (Cambridge).

In addition to the core courses, PiN students are required to complete 8 credits of elective coursework in order to graduate, including 2 credits of advanced quantitative coursework. PiN strongly encourages students to complete 2 credits of neuroanatomy. At least 4 credits of elective coursework must be completed or in progress before students take their Preliminary Qualifying Examination by March 31 of their second year. Students are encouraged to consult with their SAC advisor and Dissertation Advisory Committee to select elective courses (either at Harvard or MIT) that fill gaps in their knowledge or allow them to pursue specialized knowledge in subfields pertinent to their research and/or professional development. 

Recommended Electives 

NEUROBIO 212. Mathematical Tools for Neuroscientists (Next offered Fall 2025)
NEUROBIO 308qc. Thinking About Data: Statistics for the Life Sciences (Next offered Fall 2024)
NEUROBIO 315qc. Human Neuroanatomy & Neuropathology (Next offered Fall 2024)
NEUROBIO 325qc. Advanced Topics in Sensory Neuroscience (Next offered Fall 2024)
NEUROBIO 333qc. Careers in Neuorscience 

A full listing of elective courses taken by PiN students is available to browse here. Students can also take nanocourses offered by the Curriculum Fellows Program to satisfy up to 4 credits of elective coursework (3 nanocourses=2 credits, only nanocourses listed on the CFP website are credit-bearing for DMS/PiN students).