Neuroscience Training Grant

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Project Summary This is a competitive renewal application for a Jointly Sponsored Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (JSPTPN) for pre-thesis Ph.D. students in the Neuroscience Training Program (NSP) at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz). The NSP is an interdisciplinary Ph.D. granting degree started in 1986 that has been funded by this training grant since 2001. Presently, NSP has more than 70 faculty members of whom 55 are Training Faculty on this application. NSP aims to train stellar graduate students who develop into independent, thoughtful, and critical thinking neuroscientists who can succeed in the 21st century. This is achieved through broad-based training in neuroscience that includes instruction in the fundamental concepts of neuroscience, diseases of the nervous system, experimental design and statistical methodologies, literacy in quantitative methods, and the responsible conduct of research. Further, our plan trains graduates who are not only high caliber academic scientists but also well-informed about various career options and professionally well-equipped. These specific objectives are achieved through coursework, mainly in the first two years of graduate school, and research projects in training labs. In addition, concepts that are introduced to students in coursework are reinforced and integrated throughout the student’s time in graduate school through various enrichment activities such as seminars and journal clubs and close mentoring by faculty during benchmark exams and Ph.D. thesis committee meetings. Our training plan has been continually enhanced over the years, especially in the area of quantitative methods, reflecting the Program’s identification of these skills as critical for performing high caliber research and for competitive placement of our graduates. Our mission is also to grow and sustain a diverse and inclusive student body. Our training plan includes multiple evaluative components to help ensure effectiveness. These include an annual evaluation by a Neuroscience T32 Advisory Committee of senior faculty at CU Anschutz experienced at leading training grants. The appointments for the Jointly Sponsored Predoctoral Training Program are for the first two years of predoctoral training. As in the prior funding period, we seek to have six student appointees every year, split evenly between first- and second-year students. We are requesting five years of support. The funded student slots will help us meet the research needs of a dynamic and growing neuroscience community at CU Anschutz and is, moreover, justified based on the demonstrated success of our prior trainees.