Note: The following is specific to the courses NEUR 401/402. BIOS 401/402 are similar, but the instructor may structure the course slightly differently.
Undergraduate Honors Research in Neuroscience is a series of courses meant to be taken together over the span of a single academic year. It is for Juniors or Seniors who have taken NEUR 310 at least two semesters, and is a way for them to commit to a deep level to neuroscience research. Students who take the course series often leave the lab with a publication in a research journal and the Distinction in Research Award from the Department of BioSciences*. Due to the commitment involved, these courses are primarily targeted at students who are sure they want to go to graduate school in neuroscience, and want to get ahead in their scientific career.
NEUR 401 is a 5 credit hour course that takes place in the fall. Students should expect to do at least 15 hours of research work per week. As an assignment external to the work assigned by your research advisor, students will also be required to write an F31 grant that their host lab could potentially use (for better or worse, being a scientist requires writing grants, and it is important to understand the process).
NEUR 402 is another 5 credit hour course that takes place in the spring semester . Again, this course requires that students do at least 15 hours of research per week. Ideally, the main project for this course is the development of a publishable research paper; however, the course of a scientific research project is not always predictable, and other projects will be assigned if need be. This course also has a seminar style class where you will present your research in a format that is equivalent to a conference presentation. You will be heavily critiqued on style and content by the instructor and your peers, with the aim of preparing you to talk about research with experts in the field.
If you are interested in taking the above courses, please contact Dr. Flynn at flynn@rice.edu to discuss signing up.
* For neuroscience students applying for the Distinction in Research (DIR) Award, you should apply using the same forms and procedures as described in the link for Bioscience students. However, when you email the application in, CC Dr. Flynn and note in the email body that this is for a DIR in neuroscience.