Undergraduate Opportunities

Learn more about the Optica Student Chapter at the University of Rochester

Undergraduate Courses in Vision Science

Check the course schedules/descriptions available via the Registrar's Office for the official schedules for the widest range of terms for which such information is available.

  • CVSC/BCSC/PSYC 110: Neural Foundations of Behavior
  • CVSC/BCSC/PSYC 151: Perception and Action
  • CVSC/BCSC/PSYC 208: Laboratory in Perception and Cognition
  • CVSC/BCSC/NSCI/PSYC 220: The Intelligent Eye
  • CVSC/BCSC/NSCI 245: Sensory and Motor Neuroscience
  • BCSC 391: Independent Study
  • BCSC 395: Independent Research

Vision Science Minors

CVS offers two minors, the Visual Science Minor, and the Visual Science Research Minor.

Check the course schedules/descriptions available via the Registrar's Office for the official schedules for the widest range of terms for which such information is available.

Requirements for a Minor in Visual Science

Five courses are required

1. One of the following:

  • CVSC/BCSC 110: Neural Foundations of Behavior
  • CVSC/BCSC 111: Foundations of Cognitive Science
  • CVSC/BCSC 153: Cognition
  • BCSC 240/NSCI 201: Basic Neurobiology

2. CVSC/BCSC 151: Perception and Action

3. OPT 248/448: Vision and the Eye

4. One of the following upper-level courses:

  • CVSC/BCSC 220: The Intelligent Eye
  • CVSC/BCSC 245: Sensory and Motor Neuroscience
  • CVSC/BCSC 504: Sensory Systems (with permission of instructor)
  • CVSC/BCSC 505: Perception and Motor Systems (with permission of instructor)

5. CVSC/BCSC 391: Independent Study (one semester only)

Requirements for a Research Minor in Visual Science

Five courses are required

1. One of the following:

  • CVSC/BCSC 110: Neural Foundations of Behavior
  • CVSC/BCSC 111: Foundations of Cognitive Science

2. CVSC/BCSC 151: Perception and Action

3. OPT 248/448: Vision and the Eye

4-5. Two semesters of CVSC/BCSC 395: Independent Research in Visual Science. These may be either with the same faculty member in CVSC or with two different faculty.

Walt and Bobbi Makous Prize

The Walt and Bobbi Makous Prize was established in 2012 by the Center for Visual Science, a research program of more than 40 faculty at the University dedicated to understanding how the human eye and brain allow us to see. The prize is named for Walt Makous, who was Director of the Center for Visual Science at the University of Rochester throughout the 1980s, and his wife Bobbi. The prize honors the graduating senior who has made the most outstanding contribution to vision research at Rochester.

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