Course Requirements Students must earn a minimum of 16 credits through completing the following courses with a grade of B (3.0) or better in each class. PLEASE NOTE: Courses that are used to fulfill the student's Ph.D. requirements can also be used to fulfill the NACS certificate course requirements as long as they are NACS-related courses.
1. Students must complete a core of 10 credits comprising: a. At least two of the courses within the NACS core curriculum. Currently, the NACS core curriculum consists of the following five courses: NACS 641 Introduction to Neurosciences (4 credits) NACS 642 Cognitive Neuroscience (4 credits) NACS 643 Computational Neuroscience (4 credits) NACS 644 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (4 credits) NACS 645 Cognitive Science (4 credits) b. Two semesters of NACS 608, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Seminar, one credit per semester. This course requires attendance at the weekly NACS Colloquium. 2. Students must complete at least 6 additional credits from interdisciplinary graduate courses approved by the NACS program. The student’s NACS advisor and the NACS Graduate Director must approve the courses taken to fulfill these credits. Courses taken at the 400-level require the approval of the NACS Graduate Director.
Eligibility and Admission Only students enrolled in a PhD degree program at the University of Maryland, College Park, will be eligible for the NACS Certificate. Students enrolled in the NACS PhD program are not eligible. Please contact Pam Komarek (pkomarek@umd.edu) if you are a master's student interested in applying for the NACS Certificate. Admission will be at the discretion of the NACS Graduate Director, with the advice and consent of the NACS Executive Committee. Students must submit a letter to the NACS Graduate Director requesting admission to the Certificate Program and outlining their plan of study for the NACS Certificate. Students must also identify a NACS faculty member to serve as their Certificate advisor. In many cases this may be the student’s existing departmental PhD advisor. Study for the Certificate must be completed by the end of the fifth year after admission to the program.
Academic Advising Students entering the Certificate Program must identify a NACS faculty member who will serve as their academic advisor, with responsibility for advising them on their plan of coursework and monitoring their academic progress. Students will meet annually with their advisor.