Declaration of the major and graduation requirements:
Students may declare the CBN major as soon as they satisfy all requirements, at the earliest after the Spring semester of the Sophomore year, or up to the Fall semester of the Senior year. To declare the major in CBN, students must:
- Have completed one of the two introductory CBN core courses (Fundamentals of Neurobiology OR Fundamentals of Cell and Developmental Biology) with grades of C or better.
- It is strongly recommended that students also complete at least 1 semester of Organic Chemistry with a grade of C or better prior to declaring the major.
- Declare the major in CBN at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Students will be notified when the application is processed.
In order to graduate students must complete all the courses required for the major with grades of C or better. Courses can only be repeated once to replace D/F grades.
Courses required for the CBN Major:
1. Life Sciences Core Courses
Course Name | Course Number | Credits | Suggested Years |
General Biology I | 01:119:115 | 4+ | 1st |
General Biology II | 01:119:116 | 4 | 1st |
Biological Research Lab | 01:119:117 | 2 | 1st |
General Chemistry (1st semester) 01:160:161 can be substituted with |
01:160:161 | 4+ | 1st |
General Chemistry (2nd semester) 01:160:162 can be substituted with |
01:160:162 | 4 | 1st |
Intro to Experimentation | 01:160:171 | 1 | 1st |
Calculus for Life/Soc Sciences I 01:640:135 can be substituted with 01:640:151 (Calc I Math/Phys) |
01:640:135 | 4+ | 1st/2nd |
Basic Stat for Research 01:960:401 can be substituted with 01:960:379 (Basic Prob and Stat) or Statistics II (01:960:212 for students who have credits for 01:960:211), or |
01:960:401 | 3 | 1st/2nd |
General Physics (1st semester) 01:750:203 can be substituted with |
01:750:203 | 3+ | 2nd |
General Physics (2nd semester) 01:750:204 can be substituted with |
01:750:204 | 3 | 2nd |
General Physics Lab (1st semester) |
01:750:205 | 1+ | 2nd |
General Physics Lab (2nd semester) |
01:750:206 | 1 | 2nd |
Organic Chemistry (1st semester) 01:160:307 can be substituted with |
01:160:307 |
4+ |
2nd |
Organic Chemistry (2nd semester) 01:160:308 can be substituted with |
01:160:308 |
4 |
2nd |
Organic Chemistry Lab 01:160:311 |
01:160:311 |
2 |
2nd |
Genetics | 01:447:380 | 4 | 3rd |
Intro Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 01:694:301 can be substituted with 01:694:407 |
01:694:301 | 3 | 3rd |
2. CBN Core Courses
Course Name | Course Number | Credits | Suggested Year |
CBN INTRODUCTORY COURSES: | |||
Fundamentals of Neurobiology |
01:146:245 |
3+ |
2nd/3rd |
Fundamentals of Cell and Dev Bio |
01:146:270 |
3 |
2nd/3rd |
CBN UPPER LEVEL COURSES |
|||
Advanced Neurobiology I | 01:146:445 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Advanced Neurobiology II | 01:146:447 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Advanced Cell Biology I | 01:146:470 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Advanced Cell Biology II | 01:146:480 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Advanced Developmental Biology | 01:146:472 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Immunology | 01:146:474 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
Human Histology | 01:146:322 | 3 | 3rd/4th |
3. CBN Track options (select at the start of the Senior year)
- General Track (default): 2 life science electives at the 300-400 level (at least 6 total credits), including at least 1 lab course, 1 course with an associated lab, or 2 semesters of Research in CBN.
Course Name Course Number Credits Suggested Year 2 life science electives See list of Approved Electives 3 or more per elective 4th 4 options to complete the lab requirement:
1.) 1-credit lab course
2.) 3-credit advanced lab course (fulfills 1 elective + lab requirements)
3.) 4-credit lecture/lab combination course (fulfills 1
elective + lab requirements)
4.) 6-junior/senior research credits (fulfills 1 elective + 1 lab requirement)
See list of Approved Electives1 or more 3rd/4th - Honors Track: 1 life science elective at the 300-400 level, Honors Seminar, Honors Research (at least 12 total credits). A written research thesis and oral presentation are required at the end of the Senior Spring semester in order to attain Departmental Honors. Requires a minimum CBN major GPA of 3.4, and submission of a CBN Honors Application Form.
Course Name Course Number Credits Suggested Year 1 Elective See list of Approved Electives 3 4th Honors Seminars 01:146:405 3 Spring 4th Honors Research 01:146:408 3+ 4th Honors Research 01:146:409 3 4th
For CBN Major residency rules, please check the Residency Requirements.
CBN Major Worksheet (PDF)