Neurobiological Engineering Training Program

 描述(申请人提供)：反向工程大脑是我们这个时代最大的科学和工程挑战之一，将依赖于研究大脑的技术的无数突破。要实现这些突破，将需要培养一代又一代的神经技术专家，他们在神经生物学和工程领域都具有高度的知识和熟练的技能。认识到这一点，NIH大脑倡议咨询小组的中期报告建议，培训是创新神经技术建立和传播的关键组成部分。在这里，我们建议创建一个新的神经生物学工程培训计划(NBETP)，以满足麻省理工学院(MIT)对高级、最先进的神经技术博士前培训的需求。该项目的目标是培养一批高素质的学生，他们将从NBETP中脱颖而出，在基础神经科学和工程学的交叉点上拥有杰出的专业知识和领导能力。这些学生将根据他们的兴趣和研究潜力以及多样性标准从现有的麻省理工学院研究生项目中挑选出来。他们将通过课程作业和负责任的研究行为培训获得基础。他们还将有机会领导活动，并与各自领域顶尖的教职员工和其他学生建立联系。获准进入该项目的学生将在 或者进入研究生二年级，那时他们才刚刚开始专攻和选择研究项目，他们每人将得到两年的支持。麻省理工学院的NBETP将具有两个突出和创新的特点。首先是它极端的多学科特性， 反映在参与倡议的教职员工的广度上。该计划将特别扩展到更新的工程领域，如生物工程和材料科学，这将是下一代神经技术发展的核心，但在更经典的神经工程概念中被省略了。NBETP的第二个特点将是其主要专注于基础神经科学研究的技术开发，以及医疗应用的扩展。这一功能特别解决了当前迫切需要促进开发了解大脑功能的工具。作为第一个此类项目，NBETP将直接使麻省理工学院从事神经技术研究的学生和教职员工受益。该项目将成为麻省理工学院跨部门和学科互动的强大催化剂，并将培养出训练有素的毕业生，对全国的学术、工业和临床研究产生全球影响。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Reverse engineering the brain is one of the greatest scientific and engineering challenges of our time, and will depend on numerous breakthroughs in the technology for studying the brain. Achieving these breakthroughs will require training successive generations of neurotechnology experts who are highly knowledgeable and adept in both neurobiological and engineering fields. Recognizing this, the interim report of the NIH BRAIN Initiative advisory panel recommended that training be a key component of how innovative neurotechnologies are established and disseminated. Here we propose to create a new Neurobiological Engineering Training Program (NBETP) which addresses the need for advanced, state-of-the-art predoctoral training in neurotechnology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The objective of the program is to educate a set of high quality students, who will emerge from the NBETP with outstanding expertise and leadership ability at the intersection of basic neuroscience and engineering. These students will be selected from existing MIT graduate programs according to their interests and research potential, as well as diversity criteria. They will be given a grounding via coursework and training in the responsible conduct of research. They will also be offered opportunities to lead activities and network with faculty and other students at the top of their field. Students admitted into the program will be in or entering their second year of graduate school, when they are just beginning to specialize and choose a research project, and they will be supported for two years each. MIT's NBETP will be characterized by two salient and innovative features. The first is its extreme multidisciplinarity, reflected in the breadth of faculty involved in the initiative. The program will extend in particulr to newer engineering fields, such as bioengineering and materials science, which will be central to the development of next generation neurotechnologies, but which are omitted from more classical conceptions of neuroengineering. A second hallmark of the NBETP will be its primary focus on technology development for basic neuroscientific research, as well as extensions to medical applications. This feature specifically addresses the currently pressing need to foster the development of tools for understanding brain function. As a first-of-its kind program, the NBETP will directly benefit students and faculty engaged in neurotechnology research at MIT. The program will serve as a powerful catalyst to interactions across departments and disciplines at MIT, and will produce highly trained graduates positioned to have global impact on academic, industrial, and clinical research throughout the country.