Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota

04/25/2026

Now accepting applications for a new Master's Degree program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota!

Application deadline is July 1, more info below and online: https://med.umn.edu/neuroscience/education-training/masters-program

07/17/2020

Free Virtual Biomed Grad School Fair on July 28!

Connect with Faculty and Grad Students from Minnesota and 22 other top .

This virtual event is free for all prospective students to attend.

For More Information and to Register:

The institutions participating in this virtual fair encourage a diverse group of students, including minority, first-generation, veteran, and disabled students, to participate in the fair.

07/14/2020

Exciting news - the University of Minnesota received a $9.9M grant to establish a Center for Neural Circuits in Addiction!

The Center will be a national resource for developing neural circuit research technologies and high-impact science to address addiction.

NIDA has awarded the U of M $9.9 million to establish the Center for Neural Circuits in Addiction.

07/02/2020

The Graduate Program in Neuroscience will be participating in a free virtual information session for PhD programs in biomedical science at the University of Minnesota.

***Thursday, July 9 from 10 am to 2 pm CDT***

Come meet us and learn more about our program!

Register here:

07/02/2020

Join in this important discussion hosted by the Society for Neuroscience, today at 11am CDT

🗣️📣 Tomorrow, join moderator Joanne Berger-Sweeney, PhD, and panelists Nii Addy, PhD, Marguerite Matthews, PhD, and Fitzroy ‘Pablo’ Wickham from noon – 1 p.m. EDT, for their panel discussion “Black Lives Matter and Neuroscience: Why This Moment Matters.”

Neuroscience is stronger with diverse perspectives. Register today https://bit.ly/BLM_Neuroscience

08/18/2018

We're thrilled to welcome Professor Jocelyn Richard to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota!

Dr. Richard is a member of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, and she visited our new graduate students at Lake Itasca this week, to share her research on the the neurobiological mechanisms of motivated behavior.

Learn more about research in the Richard lab at

The central goal of research in the Richard Lab is to understand how external cues and internal states act together to powerfully modulate motivated behaviors. Physiological and affective states modulate both positive and negative motivated behaviors in unexpected ways not well accounted for by cur...

07/29/2018

We're thrilled to welcome Professor Benjamin Saunders to the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota! Dr. Saunders is a member of our Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, and his research on the motivational function of dopamine was just published in Nature Neuroscience. Learn more about the Saunders lab here: https://saunderslab.com

07/26/2018

Congratulations to our newest PhD recipient, Dr. Matt Green, pictured here in his native habitat: “Greenland” in the Thayer lab!

07/21/2018

Coverage of new research from Dr. Brian Sweis and Professors David Redish, Mark Thomas, and Angus MacDonald!

Animals, like humans, are reluctant to give up on pursuits they’ve invested in, psychologists report.

07/13/2018

Belated congratulations to Dr. Brian Sweis, a University of Minnesota MSTP (MD/PhD) student who successfully defended his PhD in Neuroscience on May 24!

Since then, Brian's dissertation research with Professors Mark Thomas and David Redish has appeared in four first-authored publications, including one yesterday in Science. Great work!

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6398/178
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04967-2
http://www.pnas.org/content/115/27/E6347.long
http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2005853