Graduate Training in Neuroscience

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG) at the University of Pennsylvania is the home of a highly successful Jointly Sponsored NIH Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences, which we refer to as the Neuroscience Training Grant (NTG), that is helping to prepare exceptional predoctoral students in their first two years of graduate school for productive careers in basic neuroscience research and related fields. The NGG is part of Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS), which provides oversight and resources to ensure effective curricular development, quality control, and uniform admission standards across all participating Graduate Groups, including the NGG. Direct management of the NTG is provided by two highly experienced co-PIs, who have complementary administrative roles and are also part of a five-person Executive Committee that sets and reviews policy and selects trainees. NTG faculty come from 42 Departments in 7 Schools of the University of Pennsylvania plus the affiliated Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Faculty membership is governed by: 1) expertise in a relevant field of study, 2) significant contribution to training, 3) commitment to the goals of the program, and 4) extramural funding to support trainees. Junior faculty receive extensive guidance on mentoring. NTG students are selected from the highly talented pool of NGG students, based on scientific interests and plans, academic achievement, and diversity. Support for each NTG trainee encompasses their first two years in graduate school, during which time they complete two years of coursework plus at least two lab rotations before settling into a dissertation laboratory. Trainees are active participants in numerous complementary activities that provide training in the responsible conduct of research, scientific rigor and reproducibility, and quantitative methodologies including faculty-led workshops and a newly developed Quantitative Neuroscience Core course. Trainees also participate in seminars, journal clubs, annual retreats, scientific meetings, paper and poster presentations, social events that encourage interactions, and other activities central to successful scientific careers. At the end of their period of support, trainees complete a comprehensive Candidacy Examination that marks the start of their independent dissertation research. Both during and after the period of NTG support, trainees receive extensive mentoring and guidance to help them navigate the challenges of establishing their independence as scientists. The NGG and NTG have a strong record of success in recruiting and retaining diverse and talented trainees whose extensive accomplishments include high academic achievement, substantial involvement in community outreach, publishing and presenting their research to broad audiences, earning fellowships and awards, and going on to successful neuroscience-related careers. We request continued support for 12 trainees per year (typically 6 first-year and 6 second-year students), so we can build on and extend this history of success in helping to train the next generation of leaders in the field of neuroscience.