B.S./M.S. in Neuroscience

Program Description

Students enrolled in the B.S./M.S. program must satisfy all the program requirements of their respective B.S. degree and all the program requirements of the M.S. degree in Neuroscience. WPI allows B.S./M.S. students to double-count courses towards both their undergraduate and graduate degrees whose credit hours total no more than 40 percent of the 31 graduate credit hours required for the M.S. degree in Neuroscience (i.e., up to 12 graduate credits or equivalently 2 undergraduate units), and that meet all other requirements for each degree. These courses can include graduate courses as well as certain undergraduate 4000-level courses, listed below, that are acceptable for satisfying Neuroscience M.S. requirements.

In consultation with the student’s major Academic Advisor and the Neuroscience Program Director, the student prepares a Plan of Study outlining the selections made to satisfy the B.S./M.S. degree requirements, including the courses that will be double-counted. This Plan of Study must then be approved by the Neuroscience Faculty Steering Committee.

Admissions Requirements

Any WPI undergraduate student may apply to the B.S./M.S. program in Neuroscience. Students are expected to apply for admission to the B.S./M.S. program during their junior year so that they have sufficient time to plan their course selection with their major Academic Advisor and the Neuroscience Program Director.

4000-level courses and projects that can be double-counted

For the 4000-level courses listed below, two graduate credits will be earned towards the B.S./M.S. degree if the student achieves a grade of B or higher.

• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology courses:
  • BCB 4001/BB4801. Bioinformatics
  • BCB 4002/CS 4802. Biovisualization
  • BCB 4003/CS 4803. Biological and Biomedical Database Mining
  • BCB 4004/MA 4603. Statistical Methods in Genetics and Bioinformatics
• Biology and Biotechnology courses:
  • BB/CH 4190. Regulation of Gene Expression
  • BB 4260. Synthetic Biology
  • BB/CH 4170. Experimental Genetic Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering courses:
  • BME/ECE 4011. Biomedical Signal Analysis
  • BME 4201. Biomedical Imaging
• Chemistry and Biochemistry courses:
  • CH 4110. Protein Structure and Function
  • CH 4120. Lipids and Biomembrane Functions
  • CH4160. Membrane Biophysics
  • CH/BBT 4170. Experimental Genetic Engineering
• Computer Science courses:
  • CS 4341. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 4342. Machine Learning
  • CS 4432. Database Systems II
  • CS 4445. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
  • CS 4518. Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing
  • CS 4802/BCB 4002. Biovisualization
  • CS 4803/BCB 4003. Biological and Biomedical Database Mining
• Data Science courses:
  • DS 4635/MA 4635. Data Analytics and Statistical Learning
• Mathematics courses:
  • MA 4631. Probability and Mathematical Statistics I
  • MA 4632. Probability and Mathematical Statistics II
  • MA 4635/DS 4635. Data Analytics and Statistical Learning
• Psychology courses:
  • PSY 4800. Special Topics in Psychological Science
  • PSY 4900. Advanced Research in Psychological Science

• Major Qualifying Project (MQP): Up to 3 graduate credits (equal to 1/2 undergraduate unit) can be earned towards fulfillment of the Neuroscience thesis requirement by double counting a Major Qualifying Project, provided that:
  • (1) the MQP involves substantial use of Neuroscience at an advanced level,
  • (2) the thesis research is a continuation or extension of the MQP work,
  • (3) the student satisfies the thesis requirement by completing at least 6 additional credits of NEU 599 Thesis Research, and
  • (4) the M.S. thesis advisor and the Neuroscience Faculty Steering Committee approve the double-counting.
• MQP work may not be double-counted toward the non-thesis option.

Other 4000-level courses and independent studies not on this list but that could be used to satisfy Neuroscience M.S. requirements may be petitioned to double-count. Such petitions need to be approved by the Neuroscience Faculty Steering Committee.

Graduate courses that can be double-counted

A student in the B.S./M.S. Program in Neuroscience can double-count any of the graduate courses listed as electives in the Neuroscience M.S. Degree description in the WPI Graduate Catalog if the course also satisfies a requirement of the student's B.S. degree. 

Restricted Undergraduate and Graduate Course Pairs

Some undergraduate and graduate courses have significant overlap in their content. The following table lists these courses. A student can receive credit towards their M.S. degree for at most one of the two courses in any row of this table.

Courses in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Courses in Computer Science

Courses in Mathematics