PNC/Robotics Joint Program

The program consists of the following core activities:

• Coursework in computational neuroscience, quantitative methodologies, experimental neuroscience, and robotics
• Training in teaching, scientific presentations, and responsible conduct of research
• Successful defense of a Ph.D. Thesis

Course requirements

The course requirements for this program are designed to ensure that students are well trained in neuroscience and that they also receive in-depth training in a set of quantitative approaches relevant to the fields of computational neuroscience and robotics. Because of differences in background and educational goals, course requirements for each student in the program will be adapted to their individual needs, drawing on the many courses offered both at 바카라 온라인 추천 and Pitt. 

Neural Computation Course Requirements

Students must complete the four-core course requirement to gain graduate level training in the following four areas: cell and molecular neuroscience, systems neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and computational neuroscience. Courses fulfilling this requirement are:

• 03-762 Advanced Cellular Neuroscience
• 03-763 Systems Neuroscience
• 86-718 Brain Computation
• 86-765 Foundations of the Neural Basis of Cognition

Robotics Course Requirements

Students must complete 48 units of course work.  The course requirements are as follows:

• Students must pass coursework worth 12 units in a Foundations area, providing essential prerequisites for mastering the four core areas.
• Students must pass 36 units worth of coursework in the four core areas of Sensing and Perception, Thinking about Actions, Robot Embodiment, and Environment Interaction. Specifically, students must:
  1. take a course from each of the four core areas,
  2. pass two full semester courses each worth 12 units from two core areas that they wish to acquire deeper knowledge in, and
  3. pass two half-semester mini courses each worth 6 units from the remaining two core areas.  Students can replace each mini course with a full semester course in the same core area with the understanding that their course load in the core areas then increases beyond the required 36 units.

Program Milestones

As students in the joint program typically will be accepted to the joint program in their second year, they will be expected to complete the first-year milestones of their admitting program, without modification. In subsequent years, the milestones combine the requirements of the PNC and Robotics PhD programs. To be eligible for consideration for the joint program, the student must be in good academic standing in their admitting program, having successfully completed their year-one milestone in their admitting department.

PNC First year research requirement

By the end of the first calendar year in the PNC program, all students are required to complete a computational project. This project will be evaluated by a committee consisting of at least three faculty, two of whom are not one of the student’s advisors, and of whom at least two are PNC training faculty. The project requires the student to identify a biological problem, understand the data collection process, articulate the goals of building a model or performing a particular kind of analysis and implement this computational approach. In some cases, this project may be a precursor to the student’s eventual thesis project. This project cannot substantially overlap with a project completed for a class, although it may be on the same topic as a class project, provided that it represents a substantial extension of that work.

Second year research requirement

In the second year, students are expected to work on research about 1/3 of their time during the academic year and full time during the summer. By the end of the second full year in the program all students are required to complete a deeper computational-robotics project. To fulfill the program research requirements, the student’s work on the project should demonstrate that the student has 1) the ability to analyze and interpret experimental data in a particular area 2) the ability to develop and implement a computational approach incorporating the relevant level of biological detail, and 3) the ability to organize, interpret and present the results of the computational work. This project should be a body of work suitable for publication. It is expected that this work will be written up as a manuscript suitable for submission to a journal in the relevant field; a draft of this manuscript must be submitted to the committee at least a week in advance of the meeting. In most cases this project will be in an area related to the student’s eventual thesis project.

With the addition of two TA semesters (1 PNC, 1 Robotics) this project will also fulfill the Robotics Research Qualifier.

Ph.D. Thesis proposal

Required coursework should be completed by the end of the third year. During the fourth year a Ph.D. candidate should present a thesis proposal to his or her thesis committee and the community. The thesis proposal contains both a written and oral component. Both components should include: a succinct summary of the proposed research problem; the significance of the proposed research; a review of relevant literature relating to the problem; a review of the candidate's work leading up to the thesis, including preliminary results; a clear statement of remaining research; and a tentative schedule for completing the work.

Ph.D. Thesis Defense

Normally, the dissertation is completed during the student’s fifth year. The thesis defense is your chance to present the culmination of all your work and research to the neuroscience and robotics community and field questions from your thesis committee.

Additional Requirements

• All students will complete Responsible Conduct of Research Training.
• In order to build skills in teaching, mentoring, communication and management, each student will be required to serve as a teaching assistant for two courses during their career as a graduate student in the program.  Students pursuing the joint degree with Robotics will Additional Requirements

Application Requirements

To apply for the Joint PNC/Robotics PhD program, students must be enrolled in either the PNC or Robotics PhD program and meet the following criteria:

• Achieve a minimum 3.67 GPA in 36 units of specified RI PhD Core Courses.
• Identify a Robotics Core Faculty member as a mentor and meet with this mentor prior to submitting application.

• Identify a PNC Training Faculty member as a mentor and meet with this mentor prior to submitting application.
• Create a plan to complete remaining PNC degree requirements.

All applicants must submit the following to the Robotics and PNC PhD Program Administrators:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• One-page Statement of Research Interests
• Unofficial 바카라 온라인 추천 Transcripts
• Short recommendation letter from home PhD Advisor
• Short recommendation letter from secondary department mentor
• Requirement Completion Plan (Applicants to PNC only)

Applications must be submitted by May 31st.