After 10 successful years, the SCAN Certificate has been discontinued as of academic year 2023-24. We are re-envisioning interdisciplinary neuroscience education for graduate students through our CNS Graduate Fellows program. You can view our webpage here.  

Gain a foundation in the neuroscience of human behavior

The Graduate Certificate in Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) program enables graduate students and professionals preparing for a wide range of careers to work knowledgeably with neuroscience. Our program’s aim is to supplement your education if you have expertise in areas other than neuroscience, enabling you to incorporate some of the concepts and methods of neuroscience into your work. The program is aimed at doctoral students (including Juris Doctor) although Master’s students who can articulate the special relevance of neuroscience to their studies or future career are also welcome to apply. The program is not intended to train future neuroscientists. The curriculum focuses on the aspects of neuroscience that have the most direct application to a wide variety of professional and academic fields, such as those listed under Areas of Study.

More specifically, the SCAN certificate program fosters:

  • Understanding: Our program offers students from a wide variety of science and non-science disciplines a basic grasp of neuroscience, at a stage (i.e. post-undergraduate) when opportunities for in-depth learning in another field are rare.
  • Productivity and creativity: We enable you to recognize topics and findings within neuroscience that can be incorporated into your work.
  • Critical thinking: You are equipped with the knowledge and skills to critically evaluate both neuroscience research and its relevance to your field.
  • An intellectual community: You join an interdisciplinary community of individuals from diverse academic backgrounds, all seeking new insights about human behavior and human experience from the study of the brain.
  • Broadened teaching portfolios: If you are on an academic career path and plan to teach a course on the intersection of neuroscience and your field, SCAN prepares you with the expertise needed.

Fast facts about SCAN