Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity Conference and Workshop

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Creativity in STEM is the difference between basic competency and innovative advancement. To foster continued innovation, it is essential that we develop new methods to foster students' creative thinking skills in STEM. However, many issues regarding creativity remain unresolved. For example, we know little about how creativity develops, how the brain gives rise to creativity, and what sorts of educational experiences can make a student more creative over time. Indeed, even determining how to accurately measure creativity is a source of debate. This conference of the recently founded Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC) establishes an inclusive community of scholars and educators seeking to understand and actively leverage the neural mechanisms that support creative thinking, teaching, and learning. Its specific goals are to 1) establish a reciprocally informative platform to keep researchers updated on the priorities of educators, and keep educators updated on relevant advances in creativity research, and 2) lay out a roadmap for creativity research. This project exemplifies the Education and Human Resources Core Research program's commitment to fundamental research on learning in STEM that combines theory, techniques, and perspectives from a wide range of disciplines and contexts. By supporting collaboration and reciprocal learning between researchers with related interests, this meeting will streamline and catalyze progress in the neuroscience of creativity. Specific scientific priorities identified as critical for the productive development of the neuroscience of creativity include the development of measurement tools and the fostering of creativity through educational experiences. This meeting will also highlight work that advances these priorities and will actively encourage collaboration on these priorities. To foster a meaningful dialogue among researchers and educators, the meeting is targeted at an accessible size of 100-200 attendees. Further, the meeting is scheduled to immediately precede the larger Cognitive Neuroscience Society annual meeting so that attendees of that meeting can participate in the event as a preconference experience. A major goal of the SfNC is the involvement of women and members of underrepresented minority groups. This goal is reflected in the establishment of travel funds that support the participation of underrepresented minority students and teachers of underserved minority students. To further increase the meeting's broader impacts, the participation of local community partners including teachers, administrators, and program developers focused on STEM and music education is also a priority.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.