REU Site: Summer Research Projects in Neuroscience

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This REU Site award to the University of Missouri, Columbia, MU, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2021-2023. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from an under-represented group, will be trained in the program. The goal is to recruit 90% of the students from non-PhD granting institutions. Students from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.This REU Site will train undergraduates in interdisciplinary neuroscience, with a focus on computational methods. The program starts with a one-week boot-camp on computational tools and technical writing. Neuroscience faculty members from the Colleges of Arts & Science, Engineering, Vet Med, and Medicine train undergraduates in research, in projects that range across the neuroscience spectrum, e.g., neuronal homeostasis and compensation (intracellular), mechanisms of exocytosis (cellular), fear memory formation in amygdala (cellar and network), cortico-basal ganglia system (network/systems), attention in human cognition (cognitive), and neural processing of motivated behaviors (behavioral). Additional projects are described in the program website. Faculty select candidates from the applicant pool, with the PI and his team approving the final selections based on best fit to the program. REU students are required to complete the responsible conduct of research (RCR) training online via the CITI site. The campus Office of Undergraduate Research offers a series of educational enrichment activities to enhance student skills. REU students are expected to attend an average of 3 hours/week of educational enrichment activities and class discussions, including RCR. More information about the program is available by visiting https://engineering.missouri.edu/academics/eecs/neuro/neuro-research/neuro-nsf-reu/or by contacting the PI (Dr. Satish S.Nair at nairs@missouri.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. David Schulz at schulzd@missouri.edu).This award is supported by the Department of Defense ASSURE program thru a partnership with the NSF REU program.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.