Training in Systems and Integrative Biology: Neuroscience

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a competing renewal of a five-year Institutional NRSA application for the support of outstanding predoctoral students in the interdepartmental Graduate Program in Neuroscience at Emory University. The objective of the Program is to provide graduate students a breadth of knowledge and research skills in modern systems and integrative neuroscience so that they may enter a variety of careers in biomedical research, education, and industry. A fundamental strength of this program is the broad interdisciplinary training we provide in a wide spectrum of neurobiological issues spanning several classical disciplines. We are seeking support for 10 students per year in this renewal. The Neuroscience Program currently has 79 students (+ 17 new recruits for Fall 2005) enrolled and has consistently attracted a large and very high quality applicant pool. The program has been extremely successful in enrolling outstanding underrepresented minority students during the past five years. Fifteen percent of the current pool of students in the program are minorities. An Executive Committee representing the 104 (76 on this grant) faculty from 20 departments and Yerkes Center administers the program. This committee is headed by the Director, who oversees all aspects of program operation, a Director of Graduate Studies, who oversees the monitoring of student progress, and the Director of Admissions, who oversees all aspects of recruitment and admission of students to the program. The laboratory space and core facilities available for neuroscience research at Emory have grown substantially during the past funding period with the opening of two major neuroscience centers. Students in the program receive a broad curriculum of courses in their first two years, including three core courses in Neuroscience, a course in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a course in Biostatistics. A required written thesis proposal (with oral defense) in the form of an NRSA predoctoral fellowship application teaches valuable grant-writing skills. A wide variety of elective courses ranging from Molecular to Computational Neuroscience and a required research rotation program provides the specialized training necessary for the development and completion of a thesis research project. Students are actively mentored through series of seminars, laboratory meetings and journal clubs, and yearly thesis committee meetings, institutions around the world to visit Emory, present their research, and interact with our students.