Professional Development for Emerging Neuroscientists

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This award provides supplemental assistance to increase the amount and quality of training in research ethics and professional values in a one-month enrichment program with small groups of underrepresented minority students in neuroscience, and to increase the number of trainees. The premise of the effort is that advantages derive from placing ethics within the context of the standard activities in which emerging scientists must engage -- preparing manuscripts for publication, presenting results in public, finding and maintaining employment, teaching, and reviewing grants and papers. Minority students need these exposures as much as their majority peers, and additional skills with which to achieve professional success in an environment that may contain racial and ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, in a climate where reports of scientific misconduct are not infrequent, those involved in the conduct of science must take the initiative to bring about positive change. The workshop occurs at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. Since 1991, it has incorporated explicit training in responsible scientific conduct and other academic survival skills. The workshop has four interwoven parts: (a) formal instruction in ethics and survival skills, (b) extended discussions of specific issues concerning minorities and women, (c) small-group research discussions led by workshop faculty, visiting speakers, and members of the MBL community, and (d) attendance in a lecture series that is part of one of the MBL summer courses. Results will be evaluated and disseminated in a variety of forums.