IGERT: Dynamics of behavioral shifts in human evolution: brains, bodies and ecology

这一综合性研究生教育与研究培训(IGERT)奖侧重于人类大脑、认知和相关行为对环境变化的反应的演变。该计划整合了多个学科的跨学科研究培训，这些学科包括考古学、生物力学和工程学、认知科学、比较和实验功能形态学、生态学、进化和发育生物学、遗传学、地球化学、形态计量学、生命史、分子生物学、神经科学和古气候学。创新的教育和培训方面包括强调通过小组以问题为基础的学习方法进行合作，在两个不同学科进行必要的实验室轮换，以及道德和专业行为研讨会。该项目结合了乔治华盛顿大学S古人类生物学博士项目和霍华德大学生理学和生物物理学博士学位，以及史密森学会和约翰霍普金斯大学S功能解剖学和进化中心的教师，与霍华德大学的合作，以及现有的和计划中的本科生实习计划，将增加对未被充分代表的少数族裔的招聘。外联活动包括与国家地理学会、《今日美国》、美国国家公共广播电台、国家科学院、美国人类学协会、当地学校和其他机构合作，为公众了解科学提供必要的实习机会。该项目为欧洲的主要国际机构(如马克斯·普朗克人类进化研究所、瑞典自然历史博物馆、费伦泽大学？S实验室、波尔多大学)、中国和非洲提供研究培训机会。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的项目，旨在应对培养具有跨学科背景、所选学科的深厚知识以及满足未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能的美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战。该项目旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award focuses on the evolution of the human brain, cognition, and related behavioral responses to environmental change. The program integrates cross-disciplinary research training in a unique mix of disciplines, namely archeology, biomechanics and engineering, cognitive science, comparative and experimental functional morphology, ecology, evolutionary and developmental biology, genetics, geochemistry, morphometrics, life history, molecular biology, neuroscience, and paleoclimatology. Innovative educational and training aspects include an emphasis on collaboration via group problem-based learning approaches, required laboratory rotations in two different disciplines, and seminars in ethics and professional conduct. The program combines George Washington University?s PhD program in Hominid Paleobiology with the Howard University PhD in Physiology and Biophysics, together with faculty from the Smithsonian Institution and Johns Hopkins University?s Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, The collaboration with Howard University (an HBCU) and existing and planned internship programs for undergraduates will increase the recruitment of underrepresented minorities. Outreach activities include a required internship in the public understanding of science, in conjunction with area institutions such as the National Geographic Society, USA Today, NPR, the National Academy of Sciences, American Anthropological Association, local schools and others. The program offers research-training opportunities at major international institutions in Europe (e.g., Max Planck Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie (MPIEA); Swedish Museum of Natural History; Università degli Studi di Firenze?s Laboratori di Antropologia; University of Bordeaux), China and Africa. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.