Conference Program for Young Minority Scientists

描述（由申请人提供）：长期目标：自1981年以来，神经科学学会（S FN）在神经科学领域接待了代表性不足的少数民族（UR M）研究生和博士后，作为该学会年会的旅行研究员。这项活动是由协会的少数民族教育、培训和专业发展委员会（METPAC）组织的。1997年，SFN将增加研究员在一流实验室接受培训并最终在一流部门和机构获得职位的可能性作为其长期目标，而这些部门和机构目前特别缺乏URM神经科学家的代表。作为拥有众多顶尖神经科学家的最大神经科学家组织，SfN在这项任务中提供了特殊的优势。在过去的三年中，每年大约有8名研究员从强大的实验室中入选，并提供三年的支持，包括参加年会的所有费用，以及参加其他专业会议（如戈登会议）和暑期课程的额外支持。具体目标：目前提交的目标是a)增加已经在强大实验室的研究员人数，每年任命3年，从8人增加到10人；B)每年增加5名在没有最大挑战性的实验室中表现出色的研究员；C)每年增加3名高级本科生，以减少管道问题；D)提供额外的网络和指导活动；E)跟踪研究员3年任期后的进展情况；f)评估自1997年以来的项目，以确定最有效的策略和实现目标的进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Long Term Objective: Since 1981, the Society for Neuroscience (S FN) has hosted underrepresented minority (UR M) graduate Students and postdoctoral fellows in neuroscience as Traveling Fellows at the Society's Annual Meeting. This activity has been organized by the Society's Minority Education, Training and Professional Advancement Committee (METPAC). In 1997, the SFN took as its long term goal increasing the probability that the Fellows will be trained in leading labs and ultimately acquire positions i n leading departments and institutions where URM neuroscientists are now especially underrepresented. As the largest organization of neuroscientists with many leading neuroscientists as members, the SfN offers special strengths in this task. In the last three years, about 8 fellows have been chosen per year, from strong labs, and provided with 3 years of support, which covered all the expenses of attending the annual meeting and additional support for attending other professional meetings (e.g. Gordon conferences) and summer courses. Specific Aims: The objectives in the present submission are to a) increase the number of fellows already in strong labs, appointed per year for 3-year terms, from 8 to 10; b) add 5 fellows per year who are performing strongly in labs that are not maximally challenging; c) add 3 advanced undergraduates per year, as a contribution to diminishing the pipeline problem; d) provide additional networking and mentoring activities; e) track the progress of the fellows after their 3-year appointments; and f) evaluate the program since 1997 to determine the most effective strategies and progress toward the goal.