Conference: University of Minnesota Minority Undergraduate Summer Research Program in Neuroendocrinology. The conference will be held at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

90年代被宣布？大脑的十年？当时的总统乔治·布什和国会这个宣言肯定了几个世纪以来许多人已经知道的事情；神经系统的重要性？在协调不同分类群的生理和行为过程中的作用。这一总统/国会授权促使我们对神经功能的理解进入了基础科学进步的新时代。多年后的挑战仍然是激发新一代科学家致力于加速这一基础生物学学科的进步。在招募有才华的学生从事科学职业方面，在历史上代表性不足的少数群体中一直存在差距。尽管美国的少数族裔人数不断增加，但神经科学领域未被充分代表的少数族裔人数却少得可怜。许多研究表明，解决这个问题的办法是通过早期参与研究项目，以及学术和社会支持和专业发展来吸引和培养这些学生。接触有效的榜样，即取得一定程度成功的未被充分代表的少数民族成员，是必要的，因为它让学生看到自己在类似的角色。明尼苏达大学少数族裔本科生暑期研究项目的首要目标是建立一个严格的项目，从传统上代表性不足的人群中招募、培养和指导有前途的本科科学专业学生，从事行为神经内分泌学的专业研究。这个为期10周的课程的计划是：1)通过为这些学生提供重要的研究经验，在他们本科生涯的早期招募这些学生从事科学事业；2)通过与其他研究领域的学生进行一次顶级海报展示，让这些学生接触到整个生物科学领域；3)通过专业发展和持续的指导支持，让这些学生留在该领域。

The 1990s were declared ?The Decade of the Brain? by then President George Bush and Congress. This declaration affirmed what many had known for centuries; the critical importance of the nervous system?s role in coordinating physiological and behavioral processes across a diverse set of taxa. This Presidential/Congressional mandate spurred on a new era of basic science advances in our understanding of neural function. The challenge many years later remains to excite a new generation of scientists committed to accelerating the advances made in this fundamental biological discipline.A persisting gap in recruiting talented students to careers in science is among historically underrepresented minority groups. The number of underrepresented minorities in neuroscience is woefully small despite the ever growing numbers of these populations in the US. A number of studies suggest that the solution to the problem is to engage and nurture these students through early inclusion in research projects coupled with academic and social support and professional development. Exposure to effective role models, i.e. members of underrepresented minorities who have achieved a measure of success, is warranted as it allows students to see themselves in similar roles.The overarching goal of the University of Minnesota Minority Undergraduate Summer Research Program is to establish a rigorous program to recruit, nurture, and mentor promising undergraduate science majors from traditionally underrepresented populations to professional careers in research in behavioral neuroendocrinology. The plan for this 10-week course is to 1) recruit these students to a career in science early in their undergraduate career by providing them with a significant research experience, 2) expose these students to the field of biological sciences at large through a capstone poster presentation with students in other research areas, and 3) retain these students in the field, through professional development and ongoing mentored support.