Neuroscience

The Neuroscience graduate program consists of ~100 graduate students and their supervisors located in labs throughout the University of Calgary. We are governed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and work collaboratively with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, as well as the Faculties of Medicine, Science, Kinesiology and Engineering to provide research intensive PhD's and MSc's in neuroscience.

The Hotchkiss Brain Institute was established at the University of Calgary in 2004, and ever since brings together nearly 100 neuroscientists and clinician scientists from across the University of Calgary. Faculty encompass all CIHR pillars, including experts in population health, clinical investigators, translational scientists and basic science researchers. Graduate students benefit daily from this rich milieu and contribute directly to it through trainee-led initiatives sponsored through the HBI Trainee organization (HBITO).

Applicants to the MDNS Graduate Program can apply to thesis based programs:

• Master of Science (MSc) program
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program

Journal Clubs

Joining and presenting at a Journal club is an annual program requirement (minimum of 1) for all active Graduate Neuroscience Program students for every passing enrolment year, both up-to and including one's eventual final defense year. The primary focus of these presentations are to facilitate guided discussions with their peers around a selected scholarly publication (that is relevant to to the club) to help draw direct links and conceptual connections between current and future research practice as graduate researchers in the medical/life sciences. For further details regarding club availability and their respective sign-up processes, please visit:

• The HBI Trainee Organization's (HBITO) Journal Clubs webpage; or 
• The ACHRI Trainee Association's (ACHRITA) Events Page (see Current Journal Club Offerings section)

In the event of limited presentation slot availability/scheduling challenges with one's current HBITO JC of membership, the MDNS program will permit the student to present at other JCs that are overseen by alternate grad student associations (e.g. The MedSci Students’ Association (MDSC-SA), the Libin Cardiovascular Institute Trainee Organization (LCITO), etc.) to open up greater flexibility.

Graduate Research-In-Progress (GRIP) Presentations

It is a program requirement for all active Neuroscience Graduate Program students to conduct a minimum of 1 GRIP presentation during every passing program year, up-to and including their eventual final defense year. 

GRIPs can be satisfied through 1 of the following 4 avenues: 

• (PREFERRABLE) A Hotchkiss Brain Institute Trainee Organization (HBITO)-coordinated GRIP
  • Contact the HBITO (hbito@ucalgary.ca) directly for upcoming GRIP presenter opportunities.
• Acceptable alternates, in the event that scheduling an HBITO-coordinated RIP is challenging due to either limited availability or scheduling conflicts:
  • (ALTERNATE I) Inter-lab oral presentations with another UCalgary lab group. Audience must be external to student's home lab.
  • (ALTERNATE II) An ACHRITA-coordinated GRIP
    • Consult the ACHRITA Events Page (see Current Seminar Offerings section) or contact ACHRITA (achrita@ucalgary.ca) directly for upcoming GRIP presenter opportunities.
  • (ALTERNATE III) Oral presentations/platform talks at external national or international scientific conferences, provided that they are ~15 minutes in duration – ± 5 minutes, depending on the size of the audience (i.e. 10 minutes for significant, large-scale events, or 20 minutes for local multi-lab focus groups) – and conducted towards gatherings of other researchers/lab-supported research groups, rather than the general public. 

The intent of the annual GRIPs is for the student to gain valuable experience at presenting key portions of their developing research project to fellow members of the scientific research community with whom they do not interact with on a regular basis (serves as great practice in preparation for one's eventual graduate program examinations). This unfortunately means that neither the student’s regular internal lab meetings nor exhibit-style poster presentations will count as GRIP-appropriate.