The first year of the program is spent at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. During this time, students take advantage of the rich academic as well as research opportunities at Brown, form close bonds with their classmates in both graduate programs, reflect on the future direction of their thesis research, and otherwise enjoy their yearlong stay in the country's smallest state.
While at Brown, students fulfill all the coursework requirements for the program (except for statistics, which is taken in the 2nd year) alongside their colleagues in the NSGP program. In addition, they pursue up to two lab rotations. While these rotations cannot serve to establish a thesis project at Brown, they can be very useful in acquiring research and interpersonal skills that will be useful to the student's future research at NIH. At the end of each semester, students take parts 1 and 2 of the Comprehensive Exam, a written exam based on course material covering the entire field of neuroscience.