Message from the Director

     I am pleased that you are interested in the Undergraduate Neurobiology Major at the University of Washington. UW is one of the leading institutions in the world in neurobiology research and graduate training, and now that expertise is available to UW students in a classroom setting.
    The excitement of neurobiology in the 21st century comes in great part from research progress in the field that now allows us to speak of higher brain functions and neurological diseases in terms of single cells and molecules. Our goal is to bring that excitement directly into the undergraduate classroom in a setting that encourages close cooperation among students in the program and between students and faculty. To that end, we keep the program small (48 students are admitted each year at present and laboratory sections in our courses are limited to 12 students), we restrict our core classes to Nbio majors only, and we require all students in a given year's class to take those courses in the same sequence as a group.
     In the Autumn Quarter of each year, we admit a new year's Nbio class. (See the Admissions page of this site for more information about our admissions process.) These students start the program in the Winter of that academic year by taking a 2-quarter introductory course sequence. These two courses (Nbio 301, 302) are intense lecture- and laboratory-based courses that introduce our students to the study of nervous systems, from single ion channel proteins to neural circuits and behavior. Students in these courses gain a deep understanding of the basic concepts of nervous system function and, in our course laboratory, learn many of the basic techniques used to study nerve cells. We also teach our students how to analyze neurophysiological data, write up the results of that analysis, and present their results orally to their peers. In the second year of the program, students take four advanced seminar courses that cover neuroanatomy, neuropathology, neuropharmacology, and the neural basis of behavior. You can learn more details about each of our introductory and advanced courses within this site.
     If you are interested in how the nervous system works, and especially if your are considering a career in medicine or in basic research (or both), please consider joining our program. If you would like to discuss the program and how it relates to your career plans, don't hesitate to contact me by email. I will be happy to set up an appointment and speak with you.

Bill Moody
Professor of Biology
Director, Undergraduate Neurobiology Major
profbill@u.washington.edu