The thesis M.S. program is available to qualified individuals possessing a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. No specific undergraduate major is required, although some science background is required.

The thesis M.S. degree is offered to students who want to continue their education in Anatomy and Neurobiology and offers the student the opportunity to improve his/her background for career development (e.g., to prepare for a career in teaching, or to prepare for further higher education programs such as a Ph.D. program, Dental or Medical School).

All degree programs require full-time study and it is expected that while participating in these programs, students will devote full-time effort toward completion of the degree requirements.

Program Admission Procedure

All students who wish to apply must submit an application to the Office of Graduate Admissions with the following documents:

1. A formal application submitted to the University of Louisville Office of Graduate Admissions (see website: http://graduate.louisville.edu/apply for forms and directions).

2. Application fee.

3. A minimum of two letters of recommendation.

4. Official transcripts of all college work.

5. Official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test.

6. A brief statement of purpose describing your interests and career goals.

7. All international applicants whose native language is not English must submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores. Students holding a bachelor's or advanced degree from an accredited institution in the United States are exempt from this requirement.

Program candidates are only admitted in the fall semester (orientation begins the first Monday in August). Review of applications begins mid-January and continues until all positions are filled. Admission into the program is competitive, and applicants are encouraged to submit their applications early.

Requirements for the thesis M.S. Degree

Students should familiarize themselves with the general requirements for the master's degree as stated in the current UofL Graduate Catalog. Briefly, a minimum of 30 semester hours is required for the master’s degree, of which 15 semester hours must be in courses of the major subject area. At least one-half of the credits counted toward the degree must be 600 level courses or above. This does not include research credit hours. The department imposes the following additional requirements:

Students will successfully complete at least two of the following courses within the department:

Gross Anatomy (ASNB 601) 6.5 hours

Microscopic Anatomy (ASNB 603) 5.0 hours

Neuroanatomy (ASNB 607) 3.0 hours

Neural Systems (ASNB 608) 4.0 hours

Dental Gross and Neuroanatomy (ASNB 672) 3.0 hours

Head and Neck Anatomy (ASNB 673) 4.0 hours

General and Oral Histology (ASNB 671) 5.0 hours

In addition, Anatomy Seminar (ASNB 606, 1 credit hour) must be taken for credit each semester prior to candidacy.

Credit for laboratory research may be earned by registering for Original Investigation (ASNB 619).

Additional courses (electives) within the department or graduate level courses in other departments may be taken to achieve the minimum requirement of 30 credit hours. The student should consult with his/her advisor on the selection of the appropriate electives.

The minimum number of hours which must be taken is nine (9) in the fall or spring semester and six (6) in the summer semester. The maximum number of hours that may be taken in the fall or spring semester is 12 (or 15 hours if three or more are research hours). 12 credit hours (including research hours) is the maximum allowed for summer sessions.

After completion of all course work and research hours, students who have not completed the writing of their thesis must maintain candidacy by registering for MAST 600. This registration must be maintained year round (Fall, Spring and Summer) until the degree is awarded. Once a student registers for MAST 600, he/she may not register for additional courses. The statute of limitation for obtaining a Master’s degree is six (6) years maximum.

Original Research

Students will conduct this required research under the direction of a member or joint/associate member of the departmental faculty (hereafter known as the thesis advisor) who is also a member of the graduate faculty. Faculty reserve the right to decline accepting a student.

During the first year of studies, students are required to visit the laboratories of potential advisors to become acquainted with the faculty and the research opportunities available. Selection of an advisor and the initiation of a research project should be concluded prior to the end of the first year, at which time a letter of agreement, signed by both the student and thesis advisor, will be filed with the graduate program director.

Students must understand that the thesis master of science degree requires more than the completion of a prescribed curriculum of course work. Completion of a thesis based on original research and its successful oral defense is a requirement for the thesis master’s degree. By its nature, original research does not always achieve positive results within a specific period of time. Therefore, no specific time can be given for the successful completion of this degree. Note that students are advised to complete the majority of their course work in the first year so that adequate time is allotted in the second year to complete their research and thesis. Specifically, students will be required to engage full-time in research for at least three concurrent academic semesters.

Thesis Committee

The composition requirements of, and specific deadlines related to, the thesis committee appear in the Graduate Catalog. Briefly, the thesis committee is composed of the student’s advisor and two other faculty, one of which is from a different department. All three must be members of the graduate faculty. This committee should be established shortly after the student and her/his advisor agree on a specific research project. To avoid unnecessary delays the student should regularly consult with her/his thesis advisor and committee members concerning the direction and progress of the research project.

Thesis Defense

The M.S. candidate will focus exclusively on completing their research projects and writing a thesis describing the results of their experiments. It is expected that the thesis should contain data sufficient for approximately one publishable manuscript. Upon completion of the thesis, the student will distribute a copy to each committee member. The committee will have two weeks to read the thesis and give approval to schedule a defense date or recommend changes that must be completed prior to scheduling a defense date. Once the thesis is approved by the committee, the student will schedule a thesis defense which will consist of an oral presentation to the department (approximately 30 minutes in length) of the research completed during the student’s graduate training. Non-committee members in the audience will then ask questions. The general audience will then be dismissed and the student will defend his/her thesis before the committee. Completion of the M.S. degree will be determined by majority vote of the committee.

Academic Policies

Satisfactory Progress

All graduate students are expected to make steady and satisfactory progress toward the completion of degree. Unsatis­factory performance may result in immediate dismissal or in academic probation, at the discretion of the Graduate Education Committee of the department.

A student may not remain on academic probation for more than one semester, after which his/her performance must meet or exceed the minimum requirements. If a probationary student does not achieve the minimum perform­ance level, the Education Committee will consider their dismissal from the program. In all cases, students receiving financial aid must maintain satisfactory progress in order to be eligible for continued financial support.

Satisfactory progress is assessed by a number of factors. While taking courses, students are required to maintain a minimum average grade of "B", i.e., a cumulative grade point of 3.0 on a 4.0 value scale. Deficiencies in the cumulative average grade generated through course work cannot be overcome using research credits (i.e. ASNB 616, 619 or 620). Unsatis­factory performance (i.e., GPA< 3.0) may result in immediate dismissal or in academic probation.

For degree candidates, satisfactory progress also involves maintaining steady progress in laboratory research, analysis, or the documentation of research results. The Reading or Thesis Committees will evaluate the student’s progress and unsatisfactory progress will be reported to the Education Committee.

Satisfactory progress also involves maintaining the standards of academic and professional integrity. Plagiarism or other failures to maintain appropriate academic standards will result in immediate dismissal from the program.

Administration

For administrative purposes, an interim advisor will be assigned to each incoming student until he/she has selected a Thesis Advisor.

Guideline Changes

The Department reserves the right to change requirements at any time. When requirements change, the student may have the option of satisfying either the requirements in effect when he/she entered the program or the new requirements, depending on circumstances.

William Guido
Professor
Chairman, ASNB

Robert Acland
Professor/Emeritus
Director, Fresh Tissue Laboratory

Martha E. Bickford
Professor

Jennifer Brueckner-Collins
Professor
Course Director, Medical Gross Anatomy

Nigel G.F. Cooper
Professor
Vice-Chair for Research
Director, Molecular Neurobiology Core Laboratory

Raymond Ho
Professor
Course Director, Dental Gross and Neuroanatomy; Head and Neck Anatomy

Charles H. Hubscher
Professor
Director, Graduate Program

Robin F. Krimm
Professor
Course Director, General and Oral Histology

Ashok Kumar
Professor

George D. Mower
Professor
Course Director, Medical Neurosciences

Matthew Qiu
Professor
Director, Neurochemistry Shared Instrumentation Laboratory

Guillermo W. Rougier
Professor

Michael T. Tseng
Professor
Course Director, Dental Hygiene

Rita M. Colella
Associate Professor
Course Director, Medical Microscopic Anatomy

Nobuyuki Kuwabara
Associate Professor
Facilitator for Guest Clinical Gross Anatomy Instructors

Robert F. Lundy, Jr.
Associate Professor
Director, Graduate Admissions

Samuel Scott
Associate Professor

Richard Benton
Assistant Professor

Nicole R. Herring
Assistant Professor
Course Director, Advanced Head and Neck

J. Patrick Moore
Assistant Professor

Jeff Petruska
Assistant Professor

Joint/Associate Appointments

Manuel Casanova
Professor
Endowed Chair, Psychiatry

Allan Farman
Professor
Diagnosis & General Dentistry

Robert Friedland
Professor
Chairman, Department of Neurology

Susan Harkema
Professor
Neurological Surgery

David Magnuson
Professor
Neurological Surgery

Maureen McCall
Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Gülgün Tezel
Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Gordon Tobin
Professor
Surgery

Scott Whittemore
Professor
Endowed Chair, Neurological Surgery

John Barker
Associate Professor
Surgery

Maxwell Boakye
Associate Professor
Neurological Surgery

Rif El-Mallakh
Associate Professor
Psychiatry

John Johnson
Associate Professor
Chairman, Orthopedic Surgery

Michael Voor
Associate Professor
Orthopedic Surgery

Tongalp Tezel
Associate Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Jun Cai
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics

Qingxian Lu
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Nicholas Mellen
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics

Patrick Scott
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Welby Winstead
Assistant Professor
Surgery, Otolaryngology

Adjunct/Gratis

Claire Meena-Leist
Assistant Professor  

Paul Kiser
Assistant Professor  

Emeritus/Emerita

Kunwar P. Bhatnagar
Professor

James B. Longley
Professor and Former Chair

G. Stephen Nettleton

Kenneth Reid
Professor

Professor/Emeritus

Richard H. Swigart
Professor

Kathleen M. Klueber
Associate Professor

Ferrell Campbell
Professor

Fred Roisen
Professor and Former Chair