DURHAM, N.H. - In response to intense student interest, the University of New Hampshire will offer a new bachelor's degree in neuroscience and behavior beginning in the fall. UNH is one of the first public universities in New England to offer such a degree.

The new degree will draw from the university's considerable strengths in the areas of psychology and biological sciences. The degree will provide students the opportunity to develop a big picture perspective about various disciplines, including animal behavior, neurobiology, genetics, chemistry, biology, psychology, and neurochemistry. The major also may be of particular interest to premed students.

"Neuroscience is a field of study that traditionally has brought scientists together from a variety of disciplines. Psychology, physiology, biochemistry, even physics and electrical engineering are just some of the many disciplines that contribute to the field of neuroscience. UNH in recent years has developed a critical mass of scientists from such disciplines devoted to studying brain and behavior, and student interest in this topic has grown considerably. The university's new strategic plan calls for a deep commitment to interdisciplinarity, and the neuroscience and behavior major is a perfect example of this agendum," said Ken Fuld, dean of the UNH College of Liberal Arts. 

UNH's new degree is one of the first of its kind at a New England public university. The University of Vermont will also offer a bachelor of science in neuroscience for the first time this fall.

The degree is designed for students planning to enter medical, dental and veterinary school, those wanting to study behavior, neuroscience, and brain and behavior in graduate school, and those looking for employment in technical research positions in academic, medical, and industrial research, in the biotechnology industry, or in jobs that deal with animal behavior.

"This new degree provides UNH students with an opportunity to study and integrate the neural mechanisms that lead to behavior as well as the behaviors themselves. It will provide our students with an education that is both analytical aimed at understanding the biology of the nervous system and of behavior; but also is synthetic by linking the two. This degree should allow our students to develop a strong understanding of nervous systems and how they work and how nervous system function brings about behavior," said Tom Brady, dean of the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

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