Sagol Department of Neurobiology

M.Sc. Program

Members of the M.Sc. committee: Dr. Avi Mendelsohn (Chairperson), Prof. Shlomo Wagner, Dr. Shani Stern, & Dr. Dudi Deutsch.

MSc Proposal Guidelines

The purpose of this program is to enable outstanding graduates of Biology, Medical Science and other areas in Life Sciences or Psychology to acquire deeper theoretical, integrative knowledge together with intensive practical training in research in Neurobiology. Emphasis is placed on the study of behavior as reflecting structural and functional principles of the nervous system and its units (down to the sub-cellular level), under the assumption that the characteristics of the nervous system are expressed in a variety of behaviors. The program incorporates novel research methods that are at the forefront of science, ranging from advanced molecular methods and genetic engineering, through the registration of electrical signals of the brain to the use of brain scans. Interdisciplinary research is employed with the aim of examining the contribution of neural organization levels and different environmental behavior of animals and humans.

The program is designed for those interested in the study of brain, behavior, learning and memory, and psychiatric disorders. Graduates of the program can pursue careers in advanced research in academia (Ph.D.), Biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries and in a variety of research and development organizations in the field of neurobiology and of biology.

Requirements for enrollment:

Candidates must be graduates of a Bachelor degree program in Biology, Medical Sciences, Engineering, Computer Sciences, Psychology or related fields in the life sciences or psychology from an accredited institution of higher education in the country or abroad.
Grade point average of at least 80 in each of the undergraduate subjects studied.
A personal interview with the departmental admissions committee. The committee may, at its discretion, change the above admission requirements.
If necessary, the admissions committee will determine an auxiliary curriculum program for each student depending on his or her academic background. Completion of the program with an 85 average grade is a prerequisite for further studies in the department.
A candidate with a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education in which the language of instruction was not Hebrew, must meet a required level of knowledge of Hebrew determined by the University as a condition for acceptance for studies.
Candidates who graduated from an accredited academic institution abroad, as well as graduates of universities with extensions in Israel, and which operate in under the authority of the Council of Higher Education, must successfully pass the GRE exam or other auxiliary studies as a pre-condition for acceptance for studies.

Duration of studies:

The duration of studies, including the submission of a thesis, is two years. The program is demanding and requires investment of time and intense intellectual effort. Students of the department are required to find a thesis advisor and complete their thesis proposal by the end of the first semester of the first study year, and to submit their thesis proposal by the end of the second semester of the first year. The thesis proposal must be approved by the beginning of the second learning year.

The final thesis submission for reviewer should be submitted by the end of the summer semester that follows the second study year.

Program structure

The MSc teaching program in the Sagol Department of Neurobiology, follows the single track, which includes experimental research work and thesis submission, consisting of 36 credit points.

Program curriculum includes:

Mandatory courses for all MSc program students, accumulating 18 semester credits.
Elective courses totaling 6 weekly lecture hours, which the students will choose in consultation with his/her supervisor.
Fulfilling a research project in a 12 credit format, including a thesis dissertation that meets the scientific criteria of the field. The thesis will be reviewed by the student’s supervisor and the reviewers, from which at least one of which is external to the department.
Mandatory participation in the weekly departmental seminar for the two learning years (non-credited).
Mandatory participation in research group tutoring sessions, starting from the second semester, throughout the entire degree (non-credited).
Mandatory participation in ‘lab-safety’ meetings, which will be carried out during the first semester of the program (non-credited).
Students working with lab-animals as part of their research will be required to undergo an ‘authorization for working with lab-animals’ session (non-credited).

The following table summarizes the structure of the curriculum:

year	Mandatory courses (Weekly Hours)	Optional courses (Weekly Hours)
A	18 + Departmental seminar
B	Departmental seminar	6
total	18	6

Course descriptions for Master students:

Course name	Scope
	Lecture	Laboratory
Experimental Design	4 Weekly hours
Introduction to Cellular and molecular Neurobiology	2 Weekly hours
Introduction to Systems Neurobiology	4 Weekly hours
Neuro Physiology of cells and nerve nets	4 Weekly hours
Matlab / Python	3 Weekly hours
Scientific writing	2 Weekly hours
Neurobiology Seminar
	18 Weekly hours
Total mandatory hours	18 Weekly hours

Elective courses

Each students will design a schedule of at least 6 weekly semester hours of courses provided by the Department. Up to four additional weekly semester hours can be elected from a variety of courses available at the university. The curriculum will be determined with consultation and with the approval of thesis advisor. Total volume of elective courses is of 18 weekly semester hours.

Some of the courses are elective courses of other graduate programs, and students will be able to enroll in them conditional on approval by departmental M.Sc committee and with consent teachers of the courses and the head of the relevant department.

Course Name	Scope
Seminar in molecular topics of learning and memory	2 Weekly hours
Learning and Memory - Psychological models	2 Weekly hours
Neurobiology of brain disorders	4 Weekly hours
Seminar in Electrophysiological studies	2 Weekly hours
Introduction to use of Matlab in neuroscience	3 Weekly hours
Nerve representation in the brain systems	2 Weekly hours
Neurocriminology	2 Weekly hours
Introduction to Computational Neurobiology	3 Weekly hours
Developmental Neurobiology	2 Weekly hours
Plasticity in the nervous system	2 Weekly hours
Introduction to Ethonology	4 Weekly hours
Advanced methods of Neurobiology	2 Weekly hours
Scientific writing and formulation	2 Weekly hours

Department Office

Head of Department

Prof. Shlomo Wagner

Multi Purpose Building, room 75
Phone No. 04-8288773 | Fax: 972-4-8288763
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Administrative Assistant to Head of Department

Noa Weizman

Multi Purpose Building, room 194
Phone No. 04-8288420 | Fax No. 04-8240339
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PhD program

The members of the Doctorate committee are: Prof. Hanoch Kaphzan (Chairperson), Prof. Rafi Lamprecht, Prof. Kobi Rosenblum, Prof. Gal Richter-Levin, and Prof. Mouna Maroun.

The Ph.D. research program and curriculum emphasize integrative research from the molecular and cellular levels to system organization and behavior. The program accepts outstanding and highly motivated students with a master's degree (M.Sc. or equivalent) in life sciences or exact sciences that includes a written research thesis that has been submitted and approved. A master degree grade of at least 85 and a thesis score of at least 86 are required to qualify for the Ph.D. program.

Graduate students from foreign universities or branches of foreign universities that operate in Israel with the approval of the Higher Education Council, will be required to successfully pass the GRE exam.

Candidates will be required to submit two letters of recommendation. One of these letters should be from their master thesis supervisor.

List of documents required for registration:

Resume (C.V.) Format

Guidelines for Research Decleration

Intended supervisor consent form

Research program and curriculum

The duration of the Ph.D. program is four years. Students studying toward a PhD degree will have to fulfill the following requirements:

A. Choosing a research supervisor and topic of research

Students who meet the criteria for acceptance, will be required to contact and find a supervisor from the department (a faculty member with the rank of senior lecturer and above with tenure at the University of Haifa), whom is willing to guide the student and supervise the research. The student then must submit a Research Statement describing the research aims and the main research methods.

B. Courses and seminars

Students will be required to take a series of mandatory courses (16 class hours per week)

Course Schedule - Semester A

Course Schedule - Semester B

* All courses are mandatory (the students can choose between "Seminar in molecular subjects in learning and memory" and "Seminar in electrophysiological studies")

* Students will be required to participate in the departmental Ph.D. days (1-2 every year) as well as to the departmental yearly retreat.

* Participation in the Seminar in Neurobiology, which hosts lecturers from Israel and abroad, is required throughout the studies.

C. Research program and approval

During the first year students will be at stage 1 of their Ph.D. studies. During this year students will write, in English, a detailed research plan in the standard format of a research proposal of the Israel Science Foundation (up to 25 pages), including preliminary results of their research. The research plan should be original and with a reasonable chance to advance the knowledge and understanding in the subject of research. The research plan will be presented by the student in the departmental Ph.D. days.

The proposal will first be submitted to the departmental Doctorate Committee for internal examination by one of the faculty members. Following approval by the Doctorate Committee a final version will be submitted to the Graduate Studies Authority. The proposal will then be reviewed by external reviewers and revised if needed. Following approval by the Graduate Studies Authority, students will be assigned the status of students in stage 2.

D. Carrying out research and progress report

At the end of each year in stage 2, students will submit a progress report, signed by their supervisor, to the Doctorate Committee.

E. Submitting the PhD thesis for evaluation

Once completed, the Ph.D. thesis can be submitted in one of two formats:

(1) PhD thesis in publications format: At least three submitted scientific articles in high standard professional journals, in which the student is the first author on each of the three manuscripts. Only a single article of the three publications is permitted to be first co-authorship (i.e. first two authors in equal contribution). In the remaining two other manuscripts, the student is required to be the sole first author. Only two students will have the privilege to add the same manuscript to their thesis as co-authors, provided they are the first two authors with equal contributions. The decision of whether a journal meets the publication standard will be determined by the PhD committee. The papers will appear as chapters in the Ph.D. thesis in accordance with doctoral studies regulations. The student will add to the thesis the summarizing sections of Abstract, Introduction, Aims and objectives and Discussion

(2) Regular PhD monograph format: In this case, the written thesis will not exceed 100 pages (not including appendices). The thesis should include Abstract, Introduction, Aims and objectives, Methods, Results and Discussion. In cases that the thesis exceeds 100 pages, approval is required from the PhD committee.

The thesis will also be presented by the students in a lecture seminar.

F. Doctoral thesis evaluation

Following the approval of the Departmental Doctorate Committee, the Thesis will be submitted to the Graduate Studies Authority for further approvals and external review in accordance with Ph.D. degree regulations.

G. Direct PhD program

The Sagol Department of Neurobiology has a program of direct studies toward a Ph.D. degree. This program is designed for outstanding B.Sc. with high grades average (at least 90) and appropriate recommendations. The students will be required to maintain a high grades average in the first year of the PhD studies. In addition, outstanding M.Sc. first year students at the department can move to the combined Ph.D. program. Students in these programs will be required to complete the quota of courses totaling 36 class hours, and submit their research proposal no later than the beginning of their fourth semester.

M.Sc. Program

Department Office

PhD program

Subcategories

General