Graduate Neuroscience Program
Section 1. Introductory section
The interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program was established in 1978. In May we had a "Celebration
of 30 years of Neuroscience at UW" (discussed below). For most of those years, students interested
in Neuroscience were admitted through traditional home departments (Psychology was the original
dominant home). Since 2001, the core faculty for Neuroscience has been in the Department of
Zoology and Physiology, and in the School of Pharmacy. In 2001 there was the transition from a
degree awarded in a home department to a free standing, doctoral degree in Neuroscience. The
doctoral program in Neuroscience admitted its first two students in 2002. Those students graduated
with the PhD in May. Since that time we have admitted 2-4 students per year. In 2004 we admitted
the first masters in Neuroscience student and he graduated in May. Currently several students have
completed their qualifying exams and have had dissertation proposal meetings. We anticipate three
students to graduate with the PhD in May 2008, and one student with a master's in Neuroscience.
Thus, students are in various stages in the pipeline towards receiving the graduate degrees in
Neuroscience. The Neuroscience Program is growing with the addition of students.
Graduate students have been successful publishing and receiving external funding to support
their graduate education. For example, Gwen Haley received a NSF fellowship to work in a
neuroscience laboratory in Australia, where she learned a variety of new techniques. Graduate
students are publishing in top tier (high impact) journals and the journals of record for their field,
such as the American Journal of Physiology (journal of record for American Physiological Society)
and Journal of Neuroscience (journal of record for the Society for Neuroscience).
Faculty in the Neuroscience Program have national and international recognitions. Several serve
on editorial boards for Neuroscience journals and grant review panels. Neuroscience Faculty have
been invited to give key note lectures at international conferences, invited seminars at various
universities, and invited lectures at conferences. Their success in securing grant funding is presented
below. The quality of the faculty is perhaps best highlighted by the success at the award of a NIH
Neuroscience Center grant (see below).
 Two doctorate degrees in Neuroscience awarded in May (both students have accepted post
doctoral training positions)
 First Masters degree in Neuroscience awarded (student entering WWAMI Medical Program)
 $10.4 MILLION dollar Neuroscience Center grant renewed for 5 years
 Minor in Neuroscience established
 Recruited for two new Neuroscience faculty- searches were unsuccessful (candidates took
other positions) and these searches will be opened again this year.
Visions for Neuroscience graduate study. The overarching goal of the Neuroscience Program and
its faculty are to provide students with a highly competitive graduate education.
 Provide an intellectual and exciting educational environment conducive to graduate education
and that instills excitement in the Neurosciences.
 Expand the number of faculty that participate in the Neuroscience Program, through new
hires and involving existing faculty. This will be essential for the expansion of the number of
students in the program and the development of Programmatic Grants, such as Training
grants for Predoctoral and postdoctoral students.
 Work cooperatively with University of Wyoming administration to build on the standing of
Neuroscience as recognized Area of Distinction in the University to create a well-funded
Neuroscience Center with a larger critical mass of productive faculty and strong, viable core
infrastructure, and a strong graduate student enrollment.
 As faculty involvement and diversity increases, we seek to increase the number and variety of
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Graduate Neuroscience Program

coursework suitable for students in neuroscience.
Continue to obtain individual and Neuroscience Center or Training grants to support
graduate training and provide students and faculty access to state-of-the-art equipment (e.g.
Microscopy and Macromolecular Core Facilities that have received significant support from
the Neuroscience Center grants).
Section 2. Academic Planning Implementation:
Faculty expansion in the Neurosciences.
 Involvement of existing UW faculty. The Neuroscience Program has an “open door” policy.
Faculty with an interest in the neurosciences are welcome to attend the neuroscience seminar,
invite speakers for the Neuroscience Seminar Series (paid for by the Neuroscience Center
grant), and to admit students through the Neuroscience Program. Presently faculty in the
Neuroscience Program are housed in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences (n=6), Health Sciences
(n=6), Engineering (n=1), and Agriculture (n=3).

Develop a "critical mass" of neuroscience faculty. The university committed at least three
and possibly four positions to the neurosciences (in letter from President Buchanan to the
NIH). We advertised and interview for two positions this past year. Unfortunately neither
search was successful. In both cases, spousal requirements could not be met. The candidates
themselves were quite satisfied with the start up packages (provided by the Neuroscience
Center grant) and the neuroscience environment at UW. We hope to readvertise for both
positions in August (neuropharmacology [School of Pharmacy] and neuroanatomy
[Department of Zoology & Physiology]). Thus we are working toward fulfillment of the
action items and the commitment to the National Institutes of Health.
Section 3. Teaching Activities: Undergraduate and graduate courses in the neurosciences are
offered through home departments: the School of Pharmacy and Department of Zoology and
Physiology. Additional course work is provided in the Departments of Molecular Biology, Animal
Science, and Electrical and Chemical Engineering, and Psychology.
Neuroscience Program recognizes that teaching goes beyond the classroom, and beyond UW.
Funding opportunities are available for Neuroscience Graduate students to travel to laboratories to
learn new techniques and to advance their graduate education. This summer Dane Jensen attended
the University of Liverpool, England where he worked with Dr. John Quinn. Techniques learned
from Dr. Quinn are directly applicable to Dane's doctoral research project.
Participation at conferences is an important teaching mechanism. All Neuroscience Graduate
students are encouraged to attend and to present at the Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference.
All Neuroscience students are fully funded (all travel costs paid) to attend the conference through
either their faculty grants and/or the Neuroscience Center grant.
Success in the Neurosciences requires that students formulate testable research hypotheses
and then have whatever technique/tool that is needed to address the hypothesis. Students and
faculty in the neurosciences move easily from behavior to electrophysiology to neuroanatomy to cell
biology to genomics and back. To ensure that our educational objectives for graduate neuroscience
students are met, students are encouraged to interact with several neuroscience faculty and learn a
variety of techniques.
Seminar Series. The Neuroscience Program funds an active Seminar Series that provides a unique
educational experience for both students and faculty. This weekly seminar is open to the entire UW
community. Approximately 20 invited speakers from the US, Europe (England, Hungary), and Brazil
were invited here during the past academic year. In addition, a number of UW Neuroscience faculty
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Graduate Neuroscience Program
provided seminars. The Neuroscience Center paid $21,991.86 to support the Neuroscience
Seminar Series during the past academic year.
Section 4. Research and/or Creative Activities:
Neuroscience Program
 The Neuroscience Center Grant (F.W. Flynn, principal investigator) was renewed for 5 years
at a total cost in excess of $10 million ($2 M/year direct costs). Year 2 noncompeting
renewal was prepared and submitted in May.
Faculty Grant activities during past academic year- Faculty submitted a variety of federal research
grants.
 F. Flynn- NIH continuation of RO1 DK50586, direct ~$175,000 (yearly direct); new grant
RO1 NS58763- scored 9th percentile- but not funded; resubmitted 7/1.
 Z. Fuzessery- renewal of NIH grant R01DC005202-06; funded- 5 years start 8/1/07
$250,000 (yearly direct)
 Q. Sun- R01NS057415- Funded. direct $125,000. 1R01MH081885- submitted but Not
funded
 Sreejayan- submitted NIH 1R15AT004269-01, Not funded
 C. Woodbury, continuation of RO1 NS44094, 5 year renewal of NIH grant, pending
 D. Skinner, NSF new grant #0616109- ranked High Priority, but not funded; resubmitted
#0745084, 7/12
 J. Jewel- Wyoming Wildlife/Livestock Disease Research Partnership 2006 (USDA CSREES):
09/01/06 – 08/30/08. $85,940 total. USDA CSREES NRI grant: $134,687. 09/01/07 –
8/31/08. WW/LDRP 2007 $100,144. 07/01/07 – 09/30/08.
 J. Ren . NIH/NIAAA R01 (1R01 AA013412-01A2): $200,000 (yearly direct) (4/1/043/31/09).
 G. Leedy. R03 submitted to NIH 1R03MH082332-01,
Section 5. Service Activities: The Neuroscience Program and the Neuroscience Center grant
provides a service by maintaining the Microscopy Facility that is available to this campus. The
Neuroscience Center grant pays for the service contracts for the major microscopes (TEM, confocal)
and equipment upgrades. A new scanning electron microscopy ($65,000) was purchased for the
facility through the Neuroscience Center grant. Software upgrades for image analysis were paid by
the Neuroscience Center grant. This service impacts not only neuroscience graduate students and
faculty, but all graduate students requiring the imaging capabilities that are enabled by the
Neuroscience Center grant. In total the Neuroscience Center provided a total of $186,449.16 to
support the Microscopy Facility.
The Neuroscience Seminar Series provides an educational service to the university.
Section 6.
Student Recruitment and Retention Activities and Enrollment Trends:
Undergraduate: Neuroscience faculty developed a proposal for a minor in Neuroscience that was
approved in the past academic year. We need a web site that promotes the minor in Neuroscience.
Graduate: We receive approximately 15 applications each year for admission to the doctoral
Neuroscience Program. Applications for the masters program have been from "in house" students.
The students applying for the masters ultimately seek admission to medical school or the doctoral
program in Neuroscience. We have an excellent student retention with all but 2 students that were
admitted to the doctoral Neuroscience Program either having graduated or are still students
advancing in the program. Efforts on retention focus on providing the students with a unique,
rewarding , and personal learning experience. Student to faculty ratios are very low, averaging 2:1.
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Graduate Neuroscience Program
While this may be viewed as a negative when bean counting, the benefit to the students is that the
faculty advisor works closely with each student. Students are not just a number or a face on the
crowd, all of the neuroscience faculty know the graduate students. This sense of family is promoted
by the low students to faculty ratio and the Neuroscience Seminar on Monday evenings for which all
participants in the Neuroscience Program are encouraged to attend.
Also, students have ready access to state-of-the art equipment. The Neuroscience Center
grant provides significant financial support for the Microscopy Facility and students can use the
transmission electron microscope or the confocal microscopes. The use of the facility is such that
students can learn to use the systems and not feel rushed. There are no boundaries that would
discourage or prevent neuroscience students from working in a variety of laboratories. Students can
move between labs to learn different techniques and to interact with their peers.
Recruitment efforts. Recruitment strategy is largely word-of-mouth (contacting former students,
colleagues, etc) and via the web site. A representative from the Neuroscience Program attends the
regional Neuroscience meetings and disseminates information about Wyoming Neuroscience.
Section 7. Development activities and public relations.
A. Faculty Development and teamwork. This is the heart of the Neuroscience Center grant. A
primary objective is to cultivate neuroscience at UW. Faculty development and grantsmanship are a
priority and internal mentors assist in the scientific maturation of neuroscience faculty colleagues.
Mentors are senior neuroscience faculty with a history of grant funding and service on federal (NIH,
NSF) review panels. The mentors include Drs. Flynn, Fuzessery, Woodbury, and Ren. The role of
the mentor is to educate the investigator on how to write a fundable proposal and to deal with
Summary Statements and resubmissions, if required. We envision mentoring to be a multi-tiered
process. UW faculty serve as day-to-day mentors for the junior and early career faculty. In addition,
we have recruited six external mentors to serve on the Neuroscience Advisory Panel. These external
advisors will review the scientific accomplishments of the investigators twice per year during the
External Advisory Committee meeting and provide guidance and feedback. Thus each junior
investigator will be mentored by an on campus mentor and an external advisor who is an expert in
that area related to the junior investigator. External mentors can provide a critical evaluation of the
research plan and we will arrange for investigators to visit the external mentor’s lab. In visiting the
mentor’s lab, the investigator will receive specialized training and collaborative projects may be
identified. Both outcomes will serve to facilitate the career development of the investigator.
The Neuroscience Seminar Series will provide another venue for career development.
Investigators are strongly encouraged to invite speakers with research expertise related to their
projects. Our goals are two fold. First, we expect that the speaker will introduce the investigator to
new approaches to study their research area. Second, collaborations may develop between the
investigator and the speaker.
The Neuroscience faculty are a tight knit group. The cohesiveness of this group is promoted
by the fact that the majority of the faculty (voluntarily) attend the Neuroscience Seminar class, which
has been held every semester (Monday evening) for 30 years. This is as much of a social interaction as
it is a learning situation. Overall the environment facilitates communication among all of the
neuroscience students and faculty.
B. PR activities.
Web site. We used the university PR department to develop a Neuroscience Web site. We have
not been at all satisfied in dealing with the Web Development people at UW and while a new web site
is up a running, we are hiring an outside person to redevelop the web site. In the report I just
received, Neuroscience received 12,000 hits http://webdev.uwyo.edu/web%5Fstatistics/CMSStats/).
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Graduate Neuroscience Program
30 Years of UW Neuroscience Celebration. In May we had a one day celebration of Neuroscience at
UW. The Neuroscience Program started 30 years ago at UW. To celebrate our accomplishments and
those of our students, the Center grant paid travel costs for our former students to return to UW for
one day Retreat. Current students and faculty, and former students had the opportunity to reflect on
the neuroscience program, and especially how the program and the facilities have grown. During the
day, former and current students delivered research presentations. The day ended with a banquet at
the Foundation House. This was modeled after the Neuroscience Retreat which was held on campus
for about 10 years. The Retreat ended due to a lack of funding. Now, with the Neuroscience Center
grant we plan on reinstating the yearly Neuroscience Retreat at UW.
Graduate Neuroscience Student Award. One way of acknowledging our doctoral students is to
provide a yearly award. This award promotes a sense of pride and recognition among the students.
Students are nominated and voted on by the neuroscience faculty. The selection is based on
leadership within the Neuroscience Program, research accomplishments, and academic performance.
The award carries a $200 prize.
Front Range Neuroscience Group. For 4 years, UW Neuroscience has participated actively in
this chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. At an annual meeting, graduate and undergraduate
students compete against students from UC Boulder, UC Denver and CSU and have consistently
been highly rated. In the past academic year, Leah Selby (Sun Lab) was awarded the top
undergraduate poster presentation and Dane Jensen (Flynn lab) received the Outstanding Graduate
Student Presentation.
Section 8. Classified and Professional Staffing: A full time bookkeeper oversees the
Neuroscience Program grant (>$10 M). Ms. Gonzales does an excellent job and her recruitment was
a complete success. Budget information is immediately available on any of the Neuroscience related
accounts. She maintains and oversees the budgets for the investigator research projects, Neuroscience
Graduate Student stipends, Neuroscience Seminar Series, and the Center budget for the Microscopy
Facility. She does regular secretarial work that assists the Director (Flynn). She coordinates travel of
the external advisors during their yearly visit, and the travel for seminar speakers, and for
Neuroscience Center grant investigators. Now that the oversight of the Neuroscience grant is out of
Zoology and Physiology bookkeeping things are going incredibly well. (sure you want this last
sentence…reading between the lines…)
Section 9. Diversity: Faculty hires are through home departments who set the guidelines for
diversity. The faculty of the Neuroscience Program are diverse and includes minority and women.
We also have diversity in our scientific expertise and neuroscience training opportunities that we
provide undergraduate and graduate students. Each search that has involved the Neuroscience
Program has included highly qualified female candidates who have advanced to the final three who
are invited in for job interviews. This year, Dr. Suzanne Clark was offered and accepted a tenure track
position in the School of Pharmacy. She is already an active participant in the Neuroscience
Program.
Section 10. Assessment of Student Learning:
A. The Neuroscience program has not published at this site the goals. The following Benchmarks:
Doctoral Degree in Neuroscience was provided in the Neuroscience Vision Statement.
a.
During the first semester, students are required to take Introduction to Neuroscience
(Zoo 5280), and complete by the end of the second year Structure and Function of
the Nervous System (ZOO 5100) and Neurophysiology (ZOO 5685 or 5670). A
grade of B or better is required for Neuroscience course work. Classes receiving a
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b.
b.
c.
d.
e.
e.
f.
g.
h.
Graduate Neuroscience Program
deficient grade will be repeated or arrangements will be made with the instructor to
correct the deficiency.
Neuroscience Seminar. Students are required to take the Seminar in Neuroscience
each semester while in residence at UW.
Graduate students are required to maintain a B average or better during their
residency.
During the first semester, students, with the guidance of their academic advisor, will
form an advisory committee. The committee will consist of a minimum of four
members of faculty in the Neuroscience Program. This group will serve as the
mentoring committee for the student during his/her initial years of graduate training.
This committee will meet and advise the candidate's course and research program by
the end of the second semester in the program.
A formal Master’s degree project is not presently required for doctoral students but a
master’s level neuroscience proficiency is expected to be demonstrated. This will be
demonstrated by a research project that will be identified during year 1. The
benchmarks for the successful completion of the master’s level research will be the:
1) presentation of the research at national/international meeting; 2) presentation of
the work during the Physiology Seminar or in a prearranged seminar, with questions;
and 3) the publication of the work in a refereed Neuroscience journal.
Seventy-two (72) hours of course work including 42 hours of formal coursework at
the 4000 level or above from this or other accredited university graduate programs.
The Program of Study should be approved by the committee before the end of the
second semester and approved by the Graduate Dean.
Research tool. It is the responsibility of the student’s advisory committee to ensure
appropriate breadth of coursework and knowledge of Neuroscience, as assessed by
the preliminary examination. No formal certification of a “tool,” as designated by
some departments, will be required by the Neuroscience Program.
Preliminary exam. The final examination is comprehensive, covering all areas of
Neuroscience, but emphasizing the student’s area or expertise. The format of the
preliminary exam will consist of both a written and oral portion. The format of the
exam will be determined by the student’s graduate committee. The written portion
may take the form of literature reviews, open or closed book questions, experimental
design questions, etc. Students should take the preliminary exam in their fifth
semester of graduate study, after completing most of their graduate coursework and
their masters level research project. The work will at least have been submitted for
publication. An examination committee will consist of the student’s graduate
committee and a member assigned by the Graduate Faculty. The composition of the
Committee will be approved by the Neuroscience Advisory Group (NAG) and the
Graduate School.
Assessment of a student's performance will remain the
responsibility of the student's graduate committee. Students who do not perform
satisfactorily in regards to the research proposal and preliminary exam may be
dropped from the graduate program upon the recommendation of the student's
graduate committee and the Program Director.
Research Proposal. Students must have satisfactorily passed the Preliminary exams
before advancing to the dissertation research. Doctoral students must write a
dissertation following guidelines of the Graduate School of the University of
Wyoming. The student will prepare a written proposal that will be submitted for
review by the student's advisory committee. The committee will evaluate the: 1)
originality; 2) quality, and 3) rigor of the dissertation research. Time schedule -- In
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Graduate Neuroscience Program
general, it is recommended that the student present the research proposal during year
3 of his or her doctoral studies.
i.
Advancement to candidacy for the Ph.D degree. For advancement to candidacy for
the Ph.D degree, students must have successfully completed the following
requirements: 1) benchmarks for Master’s level research proficiency (outlined in II); 2)
committee-approved program of study; 3) preliminary exam; and 4) committeeapproved research proposal.
j.
Neuroscience faculty will meet at the end of the Spring semester to review the
graduate students. The student’s advisor and advisory committee will have the
responsibility of summarizing the student’s progress and making recommendations
regarding funding, the student’s status in the program, and advancement to degree
candidacy. The review will be summarized in letter form and discussed with the
student.
k.
Teaching experience. All graduate students are expected to have obtained teaching
experience. Students are not expected to serve as teaching assistantships while
supported by external, federal grants. However, state-funded assistantships will be
rotated to fund students while serving as teaching assistantships for Neuroscience
courses.
Sequence of well defined benchmarks during the graduate experience that reflects
critical skills and depth of learning.
The objectives are to have the student become capable of independent research and
scholarship. The benchmarks reflect this progression of the student during the graduate
education. Benchmarks include the student learning: 1) the relevant literature and having a
broad appreciation of neuroscience, 2) research design and experimental techniques to
address the research question, 3) scientific writing and the publication process, 4)
collegiality and scientific ethics; 5) communication skills, for research presentations and
teaching, 6) independence.
B. Assessment activities for this past year. The following data were collected from faculty and
students.
1. Number of student publications and presentations.
2. Number of grant submissions from neuroscience participating faculty.
3. Grant success of junior neuroscience faculty.
4. Number of editorial boards that faculty serve on.
5. Number of invited lectures, seminars, articles.
6. Number of users for the Microscopy Facility and equipment needs (in conjunction with Dr.
Zhang).
We have no planned changes.
C. Mechanisms for tracking graduates. At this time, graduates from the Neuroscience Program are
tracked through contact with our former students.
1) The Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference attracts the vast majority of
neuroscientists worldwide. Our former students attend this meeting and future graduate
students would similarly be expected to attend this conference. In the past, graduates
from the UW Neuroscience Program and neuroscience faculty have arranged get
togethers. While informal, this annual meeting provides a venue with which to maintain
contact with Neuroscience graduates and to track their career progress. We see our
former students regularly at meetings and tracking their progress is easily accomplished.
Furthermore, a number of our former students have returned to UW to deliver seminars.
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Graduate Neuroscience Program
2) We presently have a list of the graduates in Neuroscience for the past 20 years. Former
students can be contacted by e-mail or by phone. If support personnel are available, we
will develop an assessment questionnaire that asks for comments on the graduate’s
current position, feedback on the graduate education provided at UW, and other issues
to be identified.
3) Neuroscience Retreats and celebrations. This year we arranged for a "Celebration of 30
years of Neuroscience at UW". Former students were invited and funds were available
(from the Neuroscience Center grant) for their travel expenses. This was the first such
retreat we organized and it was very successful and provided a mechanism to learn of
our former students successes.
Success measures for graduates:
1) Permanent employment in the Neurosciences. The positions may be in clinical settings,
academics, industry, or pharmaceutics.
2) Career Recognition. The success of graduates in obtaining external funding (where
appropriate for thee position), or awards for their accomplishments.
3) Upon completion of the graduate program (either MS or PhD) students may elect to enter
professional programs, such as medical or dental school. The ability of graduates to be
admitted to and complete such programs will be taken as a measure of success.
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