Dear Neuroscience Community,

As you may be aware, the UM Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics is planning to propose a new Master’s degree in Neuroscience, starting in the Fall of 2025. Although by necessity, this is a Pharmacology initiative, the intent is to reach across department, college and faculty borders to involve and benefit as many faculty throughout the neuroscience community as possible.

This Master’s degree will be different than anything offered now in the biomedical sciences. We are not in a strong position at this time to offer an interdisciplinary graduate program in neuroscience that is thesis based and could compete with our existing department-based programs. Instead, we intend to build a complementary program that attracts a broader cohort of potential applicants than our current MSc programs, and produces a pipeline of Master’s graduates in neuroscience who are highly-qualified to enter our PhD programs.  

The plan will leverage a burgeoning international partnership between the University of Manitoba and the University of Strasbourg. The degree will be a Dual International Master’s in Neuroscience, with recognition from both institutions. The goal is to admit up to 12 Manitoba-based students and 12 Strasbourg-based student per year (24 total per year). The 2-year program of study will be highly course-based for the first 18-months and will not require a primary student-advisor relationship or financial support to qualify for admission; however, there will also be intensive focus on research skills, with a 1^st year (terms 1 and 2) full lab course in experimental neuroscience, term 3 in-lab experimental neuroscience experiential learning, and a final 6-month final research project akin to a European-style MSc thesis project. The program will include international learner mobility and all the inherent benefits therein; MB-based students will complete their project in Strasbourg while Strasbourg-based students will complete their project in host labs in Manitoba.

Building a course-based advanced degree in our research-intensive model is challenging. Simply out, there is a lot of teaching required. Having a partner helps this cause immensely. Strasbourg faculty will cover at least 50% of the teaching required. Our contribution will be covered by leveraging existing courses and creating some new ones. I’m very thankful that there has been strong interdisciplinary collaboration within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences over the past several months. Together, we will contribute 14 courses, spanning 46.5 credit hours and 5 departments or colleges. Manitoba-source course material will be taught in-person to local students in the mornings, while Strasbourg-based students participate live and remotely in the later afternoon, their time. Conversely, Strasbourg-based material will be taught to their students in the French afternoon, reaching our students remotely and live in the mornings Winnipeg time.

I emphasize that this will be a stronger program if we involve the broad neuroscience community in Manitoba. Although the initial courses have been set, there will always be opportunities to add new ideas to the curriculum. New ideas are thus always welcome for discussion. We will also need a lot of help training Manitoba-based students in experimental neuroscience – both in the first-year lab course and in term 3 experiential in-lab training – and hosting Strasbourg-based project students who have already completed extensive lab training in France. The following is a list of ways you could get involved if you so desire.   

• Lead/develop the 6-credit hour laboratory course in experimental neuroscience (delivered in Rady teaching lab in BMSB)
• Lead a 3-hour laboratory module for experimental neuroscience students (with TA assistance)
• Accept MB-based students for in-lab experiential training
• Host well-trained France-based students for 6-month thesis projects
• Develop and teach new courses in neurosciences

If you have any questions about this program proposal or would like to be involved, please reach out to chris.anderson@umanitoba.ca.

Thank you!