{"id":193,"date":"2024-04-26T22:06:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T22:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/?page_id=193"},"modified":"2026-07-23T18:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:36:05","slug":"directors-welcome","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/directors-welcome\/","title":{"rendered":"Director&#8217;s Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-387 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2024\/07\/18223323\/mcmahon-headshot-rotated-1.jpg\" alt=\"headshot of Douglas McMahon\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/>Welcome to the Program in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt!<\/p>\n<p>The program hosts the undergraduate neuroscience major and minor within the College of Arts and Science\u2014which focuses on the study of the brain from diverse perspectives. One of the most popular majors in the college, neuroscience courses are taught by distinguished faculty and internationally recognized researchers from across Vanderbilt, including A&amp;S, the School of Engineering, Peabody College, and the School of Medicine. The <a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/major-minor\/\">major<\/a> encompasses a comprehensive curriculum that includes foundational basic sciences combined with coursework covering the fundamentals of cellular-molecular and integrative-cognitive neuroscience. Our well-prepared and well-placed <a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/career-outcomes\/\">graduates<\/a> usually go forward to medical school, graduate school, and science-based careers in publishing, law, health care, and policy and administration.<\/p>\n<p>A further emphasis of the program is for all students to <a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/research-opportunities\/\">gain immersive research experience<\/a> working in neuroscience labs. Neuroscience majors have access to about 150 Vanderbilt faculty laboratories for research opportunities in a diverse array of disciplines in brain science ranging from molecular and cellular neuroscience, to cognitive neuroscience, to studies on the neural basis of disease and its treatment. Training in research is a core feature of the neuroscience major and we have a very active and large <a href=\"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/honors-program\/\">Honors Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The student experience is also at the heart of the Program in Neuroscience. Our faculty engage in innovative and equitable teaching practices, fosters the <a href=\"https:\/\/anchorlink.vanderbilt.edu\/organization\/neurosciencemajorsclub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Neuroscience Majors Club<\/a>, and sponsors major advising parties and the Neuroscience Research DataBlitz (with prizes!).<\/p>\n<p>We hope you will join us as a neuro major or minor. For more information please contact me or the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Neuroscience Amanda Avona.<\/p>\n<p>Cheers,<\/p>\n<p>Doug McMahon<br \/>\nDirector, Program in Neuroscience<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i>The Brain \u2014 is wider than the Sky \u2014<\/i><br \/>\n<i>For \u2014 put them side by side \u2014<\/i><br \/>\n<i>The one the other will contain<\/i><br \/>\n<i>With ease \u2014 and You \u2014 beside \u2014<\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><i>Emily Dickinson, 1896<\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the Program in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt! The program hosts the undergraduate neuroscience major and minor within the College of Arts and Science\u2014which focuses on the study of the brain from diverse perspectives. One of the most popular majors in the college, neuroscience courses are taught by distinguished faculty and internationally recognized researchers from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":375,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-headline-img.php","meta":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions\/812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/neuroscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}