How to Plan for the Neuroscience Major

The Neuroscience Major Requirements

The Neuroscience major*, adopted in Fall 2021, includes 6 Foundational Courses**, 1 Statistics course, and 5 Neuroscience Core Courses that all Neuroscience Majors must take. The remaining 2 courses (for a total of 14 courses) are electives in neuroscience and related fields selected based on the student's interests.

You can download this checklist to help you track your completion of major requirments.

Scheduling Notes

NEUR 110 (formerly 250) – Introduction to Neuroscience (with lab).
Gateway course to all upper-level Neuroscience courses. There are no prerequisites for this course! We recommend students take it their first or second year. 

BIOL 120 and 122, CHEM 110, PSYC 110 are all suggested to be completed by the end of the first year.

BIOL 120 and PSYC 110 are offered in both Fall and Spring semesters.

CHEM 110 is only offered in the Fall. Students are encouraged to take CHEM 110 in their first-year, but students can take it in their second year and still complete the major within 4 years.

Upper level neuroscience courses formerly labeled PSYC are now labeled NEUR! This includes: NEUR 255 Clinical Neuroscience, NEUR 342 & 342L Cognitive Neuroscience, NEUR 343 & 343L Behavioral Neuroscience, NEUR 345 Psychopharmacology, and NEUR 349 Affective Neuroscience.

NEUR 374 is only offered to seniors in the Spring semester.

Students are highly encouraged to take PSYC 210 (Quantitative Methods) or MATH 200.3 (Biostatistics) to satisfy the Statistics requirement for the major.

Neuroscience majors are encouraged to take Calculus I and II (MATH 110 and 111), though it is not required for the major.

Student Research Projects

Neuroscience students at OWU are highly encouraged to delve into a neuroscience research project that allows exploration of their own interests. See examples of neuroscience research led by OWU students. OWU offers a number of opportunities for undergraduates to gain research experience, including planning and designing independent projects, such as the following:

• NEUR 490: Laboratory-based research during the academic year
• NEUR 491: Literature-based research during the academic year
• Summer Science Research Program: Full-time research on campus
• Theory-to-Practice Grants: Laboratory- and/or Travel-based research projects of student's design
• Small Grant Program: Travel grants to collect data or present at conferences
• BRAIN Award: Laboratory-based research project, awarded solely to Neuroscience majors
• NBAC Award: Travel grant to present at conferences, awarded solely to Neuroscience majors

Recommended Courses for Neuroscience Ph.D. or M.S. Programs

For students interested in obtaining a research graduate degree (Ph.D. or M.S.), some or all of the following additional courses are recommended. Each school and program has their own requirements, so check with each you are interested in to determine which additional courses you will need.

• CHEM 260 and 261 – Organic Chem I and II (with lab) [pre-requisite course for CHEM 340]
• CHEM 340 - Biochemistry I (with lab)
• MATH 110 - Calculus I
• MATH 111 - Calculus II
• PHYS 110 or 115 - Principles of Physics I (with lab)
• PHYS 111 or 116 - Principles of Physics II (with lab) 
• Significant Research experience(s)

What can you do with a degree in neuroscience? 

So much! Neuroscience is every where and whether you want to gain further education or stop after a bachelor's, there's a job out there that will use the knowledge and skills you honed with this major. Check out this document for a list of many careers related to neuroscience. We cannot wait to see what new and exciting ways you will apply the major after you graduate!