The University of New Hampshire is located in the small city of Durham, established in 1635. The school itself dates to 1866. It has more than 12,000 undergraduate students and more than 2,000 graduate students. The university launched its major in neuroscience "in response to intense student interest," according to a 2010 press release. The degree is intended primarily for students who plan to go on to medical, veterinary or dental school, and for those who want to enter research.
Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 and has a venerable history. Undergraduates at the school can choose to major or minor in neuroscience. The major is intended to teach students experimental methods in neuroscience. The doctoral degree is a neuroscience track in the program in experimental and molecular medicine. At the postdoctoral level, the National Institutes of Health awarded Dartmouth's Neuroscience Center a translational neuroscience training program that offers mentoring and research immersion. The Neuroscience Center is located in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and is affiliated with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The center focuses on three pathways: clinical neuroscience; cognitive and behavioral neuroscience; and molecular, cellular and systems neuroscience. Dartmouth also hosts a Neuroscience Day every year that features a keynote lecture and oral and poster presentations (see Resources).
The study of neuroscience involves a lot of hands-on time in a laboratory setting. It also draws heavily from calculus, statistics, psychology and life sciences.
Because neuroscience spans a number of different disciplines, career opportunities in the field are abundant. The traditional approach is to enter medical school or research, but according to a 2007 article in "Science" magazine, people who have expertise in managing clinical trials in neurological and psychiatric disease and negotiating regulatory matters will also be in strong demand (see Resources).