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Behavioural Neuroscience Major

Bachelor of Science

The Department of Psychology and the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology co-operate to offer this program leading to a Bachelor of Science in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences or the Faculty of Science.

A committee consisting of three members from each department (undergraduate program chairs, department advisors, and behavioural neuroscience co-chairs) and one student representative administers the program. The committee is co-chaired by a member of each department.

Admission Requirements

There is no direct admission from high school into this program. Students admitted from high school or transferring to Simon Fraser University from another post-secondary institution are normally admitted as intended Behavioural Neuroscience majors into the Faculty of Science or Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Once at SFU, students apply for approval into the Behavioural Neuroscience major program through the internal transfer process as outlined below.

Approval is competitive. An approval average is established each term, depending on spaces available. Students must excel in the university science and psychology courses required for this major to meet the competitive approval average.

For students transferring from another post-secondary institution, transfer courses will count towards the total units required for the major, but grades in these courses will not be used towards the program approval GPA.

Students must complete a minimum of 5 required courses at SFU to form the basis of their program approval GPA for entry into the Behavioural Neuroscience major program.

Internal Transfer

  • Applicants will be approved based on a competitive grade point average (GPA) calculated over 5 or more required courses taken at SFU.
  • Students may apply as soon as they have completed the required SET 1 courses.
  • Students who are not admissible after completing SET 1 can reapply to the major program after they have completed 4 or more courses from SET 2.
  • All SET 1 and 2 courses completed at SFU will be included in the approval GPA.
  • A C- grade or better is required in all courses except for PSYC 201W where a minimum grade of C is required.

SET 1

Students complete both of

  • BPK 142 - Introduction to Kinesiology (3)
  • PSYC 201W - Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology (4)

and two courses from

  • BISC 101 - General Biology (4)
  • CHEM 121 - General Chemistry and Laboratory I (4)
  • MATH 154 - Calculus I for the Biological Sciences (3)
  • PHYS 101 - Physics for the Life Sciences (3)

and one course from

  • PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology I (3)
  • PSYC 102 - Introduction to Psychology II (3)

SET 2

Students must complete

  • Courses listed in SET 1 not yet taken
  • PSYC 210 - Introduction to Data Analysis in Psychology (4) or STAT 270 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3) 

and, if necessary, additional courses from

  • BPK 205 - Introduction to Human Physiology (3)
  • BPK 207 - Sensorimotor Control and Learning (3)
  • CHEM 122 - General Chemistry II
  • CHEM 281 - Organic Chemistry I (4)
  • MATH 155 - Calculus II for the Biological Sciences (3)
  • MBB 201 - Biochemistry of the Cell (3)
  • PHYS 102 - Physics for the Life Sciences II (3)
  • PSYC 221 - Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (3)
  • PSYC 280 - Introduction to Biological Psychology (3)

Application Procedure

Students should complete a program approval form available on the Behavioural Neuroscience website and submit it to the BPK or Psychology advisor by June 1 for fall term approval, October 1 for spring term approval, or February 1 for summer term approval. Students who do not meet the competitive approval GPA upon completion of all SET 1 and SET 2 courses should make an appointment with the program advisor to discuss alternatives.

Program Requirements

Students complete 120 units, as specified below.

Lower Division Requirements

Students complete all of the following 58 units.

Biology

BISC 101 - General Biology (4)
MBB 201 - Biochemistry of the Cell (3)

Chemistry

CHEM 121 - General Chemistry and Laboratory I (4)
CHEM 122 - General Chemistry II (2)
CHEM 281 - Organic Chemistry and Laboratory I (4)

Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology

BPK 142 - Introduction to Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (3)
BPK 205 - Introduction to Human Physiology (3)
BPK 207 - Sensorimotor Control and Learning (3)

Mathematics

MATH 154 - Mathematics for the Life Sciences I (3)
MATH 155 - Mathematics for the Life Sciences II (3)

Physics

PHYS 101 - Physics for the Life Sciences I (3)
PHYS 102 - Physics for the Life Sciences II (3)

Psychology

PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology I (3)
PSYC 102 - Introduction to Psychology II (3)
PSYC 201W - Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology (4)
PSYC 210 - Introduction to Data Analysis in Psychology (4) or STAT 270 - Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3)
PSYC 221 - Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (3)
PSYC 280 - Introduction to Biological Psychology (3)

Upper Division Requirements

Students complete a total of 45 units, including 43 required units as shown below.

Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology

Students complete at least 22 units, including all of

BPK 305 - Human Physiology I (3)
BPK 306 - Human Physiology II (3)
BPK 326 - Functional Anatomy (4)
BPK 426 - Functional Human Neuroanatomy (3)

and six additional units from the following

BPK 415 - Neural Control of Movement (3)
BPK 420 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology I (3) ^
BPK 421 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology II (3) ^
BPK 422 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology III (3) ^
BPK 423 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology IV (3) ^
BPK 446 - Neurological Disorders (3)
BPK 447 - Neuroplasticity (3)
BPK 448 - Rehabilitation of Movement Control (3)

and three additional units selected from the following 

BISC 405 - Neurobiology (3)
BPK 304W - Inquiry and Measurement in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology (3)
BPK 336 - Histology (3)
BPK 407 - Human Physiology Laboratory (3)
BPK 409 - Wearable Technology and Human Physiology (3)
BPK 415 - Neural Control of Movement (3) *
BPK 420 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology I (3) ^*
BPK 421 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology II (3) ^*
BPK 422 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology III (3) ^*
BPK 423 - Selected Topics in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology IV (3) ^*
BPK 446 - Neurological Disorders (3) *
BPK 447 - Neuroplasticity (3) *
BPK 448 - Rehabilitation of Movement Control (3) *
BPK 496 - Directed Study Literature (3) ^ or BPK 498 - Directed Study Experiential (3) ^

*if not counted above

^Topic must be relevant to behavioural neuroscience

Psychology

Students complete at least 21 units, including all of

PSYC 300W - Critical Analysis of Issues in Psychology (4)
PSYC 381 - Behavioural Endocrinology (3)
PSYC 382 - Cognitive Neuroscience (3)

and at least 11 units selected from the following

PSYC 301 - Intermediate Research Methods and Data Analysis (4)
PSYC 303 - Perception (3)
PSYC 325 - Learning and Memory (3)
PSYC 330 - Attention (3)
PSYC 383 - Psychopharmacology (3)
PSYC 386 - Laboratory in Human Electrophysiology (4)
PSYC 388 - Biological Rhythms and Sleep (3)
PSYC 480 - Advanced Topics in Biological Psychology (4) *
PSYC 491 - Advanced Topics in Psychology (4) *

and three upper division elective units in any subject.

*Topic must be relevant to Behavioural Neuroscience

No more than six Research Engagement or Directed Studies units may be applied to this program. No more than six PSYC Field School units may be applied to this program.

Research Engagement Course

PSYC 393 - Research Engagement (0)

Enrollment enables an individual to work with psychological research in consultation with the supervising instructor.

The minimum requirement is completion of the Tri-council ethics certificate, PSYC 201, 60 units, an upper division GPA of at least 2.5, and departmental permission. Research Engagement students complete an application form from the SFU Psychology website with the intended instructor. This course can be repeated for additional credit with the same or different instructor.

Directed Studies Courses

PSYC 493 - Directed Studies (3) *
PSYC 494 - Directed Studies (3) *

*Topic must be relevant to Behavioural Neuroscience

Enrollment enables an individual or small group to work with a faculty member on a reading or research project of mutual interest.

The minimum requirement is an upper division GPA of at least 3.00, at least 60 units and department permission. Directed studies students complete an application form from the SFU Psychology website with the intended instructor. Each Directed Studies course must be with a different instructor.

Program Continuation

A cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of not less than 2.20 is required for the continuance in the major.

Students must obtain a final course grade of C (2.0) or better in PSYC 201W-4 Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology.

Students must have grade of C- or better in all other required courses.

University Degree Requirements

Students must also satisfy University degree requirements for degree completion.

Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements

Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

WQB Graduation Requirements

A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit

Requirement

Units

Notes
W - Writing

6

Must include at least one upper division course, taken at Simon Fraser University within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each)

Q - Quantitative

6

Q courses may be lower or upper division; two courses (total six units or more)
B - Breadth

18

Designated Breadth

Must be outside the student's major subject, and may be lower or upper division:

Two courses (total six units or more) Social Sciences: B-Soc
Two courses (total six units or more) Humanities: B-Hum
Two courses (total six units or more) Sciences: B-Sci

6

Additional Breadth

Two courses (total six units or more) outside the student's major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements).

Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas.

A minimum of six units of designated humanities breadth (B-Hum) courses must be completed. The social sciences breadth (B-Soc), science breadth (B-Sci), undesignated breadth (UB) and quantitative (Q) requirements are satisfied through completion of the behavioral neuroscience lower division required courses so no additional course work is required. As well, the writing intensive requirement is satisfied by the completion of required courses PSYC 201W and 300 W. For more information, see www.sfu.ca/ugcr.

Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit

  • At least half of the program's total units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.
  • At least two thirds of the program's total upper division units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.

Elective Courses

In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.