Bachelor of Science (BSc) Majoring in Neuroscience
Dunedin, New Zealand
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
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STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Introduction
Bachelor of Science (BSc) Majoring in Neuroscience
The Bachelor of Science (BSc) is a three-year undergraduate degree which enables each student to develop his or her own interests in a science subject (science major) and related subjects. Students have the flexibility to combine their major subject with other science subjects, as well as subjects from other disciplines across the University.
Why study Neuroscience?
The brain is a final frontier… a last great unknown.
Neuroscientists are its explorers. They try to understand how the brain functions, how it deals with injury or damage, and how it develops and changes over time.
What they find helps neurologists, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists and provides important models for high-level information processing and robotics.
Knowing how the brain perceives stimuli and controls movement helps those working on human performance from sports science to space medicine.
Neuroscience research
Neuroscientists at the University of Otago are involved in a range of exciting research. Neuroscience students learn about this (and other) research as undergraduates, and can work in the lab with Otago's neuroscientists as postgraduates.
For example:
Professor Cliff Abraham is interested in the neural mechanisms of memory. His lab is also investigating biomarkers and therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease.
Associate Professor Mike Paulin is investigating how animals use sensory information to move quickly, accurately, and efficiently.
Professor John Reynolds is interested in how we learn and remember skills, with a focus on Parkinson's disease and stroke.
Professor Colin Brown investigates how the brain controls reproduction and cardiovascular function.
Associate Professor Christine Jasoni is researching how a mother's health during pregnancy affects the formation of the foetal brain to elevate risk of mental illness.
Associate Professor Beulah Leitch is interested in the changes that occur at synapses (the contacts between brain cells that allow them to communicate with each other) during ageing and various brain disorders including epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.
Dr Paul Szyszka investigates olfactory search behavior in insects what are their perceptual limits in olfaction, and what patterns of neural activities are behaviourally relevant?
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Several scholarship options are available. Please check the university website for more information.
Curriculum
Every Program of study for the degree
- shall consist of papers worth not less than 360 points
- shall include at least 180 points for papers above 100-level, of which at least 72 points shall be for papers above 200-level
- shall satisfy the requirements for at least one of the major subjects listed above. No paper above 200-level may count for more than one Major Subject Requirement
- may include one or more optional minor subjects which satisfy the Minor Subject Requirements listed in Science Schedule A, or Arts and Music Schedule A, Commerce Schedule A, or Applied Science Schedule A, or BHealSc Schedule Part 2. No paper may count for both a Major and a Minor Subject Requirement or for more than one Minor Subject Requirement unless that paper is at 100- or 200-level and is specified as compulsory for both Requirements.
- may include papers which are not listed in Science Schedule C either:
- up to 90 points; or
- as specified in the Science Major Subject Requirements and/or the Science subjects in the Minor Subject Requirements; or
- as specified in the Minor Subject Requirements.
Major Subject Areas
For a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree you must major in at least one of the following subjects:
- Anatomy
- Biochemistry
- Botany
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Ecology
- Economics
- Electronics (no new enrolments)
- Energy Science and Technology
- Exercise and Sport Science
- Food Science
- Genetics
- Geography
- Geology
- Human Nutrition
- Information Science
- Land Planning and Development
- Mathematics
- Marine Science (enrolments for 2022 will be available for this subject from the end of July 2021)
- Microbiology
- Neuroscience
- Oceanography (not offered from 2022)
- Pharmacology
- Physics
- Physiology
- Plant Biotechnology
- Psychology
- Sport Development and Management
- Statistics
- Surveying Measurement
- Zoology
Minor Subject Areas
Selecting a minor subject is not compulsory and there may be other combinations of papers more appropriate to your degree. There are no particular subject requirements for the other papers of your degree, but if you wish you may have another subject specified as a minor subject in your degree by passing the prescribed papers for any of the listed subjects.
Full list of available minor subject areas.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons)) is also available.
A specific aim of the Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons)) degree is to develop advanced theoretical and research skills and in so doing to provide a platform for an advanced professional or academic career.
Program delivery
Application Details
Applicants must apply online. They should also attach all the necessary supporting documents which includes scanned copies of their official high school or foundation transcripts (awards gained, marks, grades); scanned copies of the relevant official transcripts of previous university study; and provide proof of their identity: this is usually achieved by providing a certified copy of the personal details page of their passport or a birth certificate (in English). Applicants may also be required to submit an Educational Credential Evaluators report (ECE). As soon as applicants have completed their online application, their proof of identity document must be posted to International Office, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. International student applications for semester 1/summer school study close: Oct-31; Semester 2 study close: Apr-30.