Research Training at New England College of Optometry

描述（由申请人提供）：本学院申请为期五年的第二期暑期研究培训奖学金，资助从本学院和其他地方的OD项目中选出的10名学生。本次培训的目的是帮助学生对什么是研究有一个强烈的认识：如何从实验室的实践活动和临床和实地观察中获得证据；理论是如何被提出、检验、接受或拒绝的。受训者不仅应该对他们的领域有更深入的了解，并有能力判断基于研究的主张的质量，而且一些人将根据他们的经验选择从事研究事业。奖学金的申请是通过当地的宣传和信息发送到各个学院来征求的。选拔学员的依据是优异的学术成绩，特别是在硬科学方面的成绩，以及推荐信。每个人根据共同的兴趣分配到导师的实验室/项目。导师在研究的各个方面指导受训者，是他/她的主要倡导者和评估者。十二位导师都是经验丰富的研究者，他们正在进行的研究由国家眼科研究所或其他来源资助。他们的工作范围从解剖学和病理学，到

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Support is requested for a second period of five years of Summer Research Training Fellowships at this College for ten students selected from OD programs here and elsewhere. The goal of this training is to help the student gain a strong sense of what research is: how evidence is gained from the hands-on activities of the laboratory and from clinical and field observations; how theories are advanced, tested, and accepted or rejected. Trainees should not only gain a greater understanding of their field and an ability to judge the quality of research-based claims, but some will opt to pursue research careers on the basis of their experiences. Applications for the fellowships are solicited by local publicity as well as information sent to the various colleges. Trainees are selected on the basis of strong academic records, particularly in the hard sciences, and recommendations. Each one is assigned to the laboratory/project of a mentor on the basis of common interests. The mentor guides the trainee in all aspects of research and is her/his primary advocate and evaluator. The twelve mentors are all experienced investigators with on-going research funded either by the National Eye Institute or other source. Their work ranges from anatomy and its pathologies, to pathophysiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, and autoimmune disease. Myopia and emmetropization are central themes for a number of mentors and is pursued with both animal models and human studies involving physiological optics and epidemiological methods. A research seminar attended by all trainees continues through the summer. This seminar will initially acquaint the trainees with the on-going research within the College. It will include lectures on the ethics of research, constraints and considerations on the use of human subjects and separate lectures on the use of animal subjects. The seminar will also include sections on the use of statistics in research and data analysis leading to a consideration of research design. This College has strong infrastructural supports and fund support for pilot research needs.