An explosive growth in neuroscience during the past two decades fuels the demand for researchers and neuroscience health professionals. A proposal by UAB to offer an undergraduate degree in neuroscience has been approved by the UA System Board of Trustees and now will go to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education for approval.

The proposed degree program will provide a broad, challenging sequence of courses in biology, psychology, chemistry, mathematics and physics. It also will feature introductory and advanced classes in neuroscience. UAB anticipates graduates of the program will have academic, intellectual and research skills that will make them highly competitive for professional schools in health-related sciences and research.

UAB expects to enroll 15 students in the program, which will be administered by the Department of Neurobiology in the School of Medicine and the Department of Psychology in the School of Social & Behavioral Sciences. The program also will draw from the schools of Optometry and Natural Sciences & Mathematics.

Students in the program will have unique opportunities to work with top UAB neuroscience faculty and participate in original research projects.

In 2006, UAB created a Comprehensive Neuroscience Center to develop a world-class program in interdisciplinary neuroscience research, clinical care and education. UAB is home to the Alabama Neuroscience Blueprint Core facility, a research program funded by the National Institutes of Health that will link investigators from universities and institutions across the state and region. A 2006 grant of $8.6 million over five years provides six shared core facilities for scientists working in neuroscience. UAB was one of only four institutions nationally to receive NIH Neuroscience Blueprint funding.