URM: Mentoring Program in Neural Circuits and Behavior at the University of Puerto Rico

波多黎各大学医学院获得了一项奖励，用于在该机构建立一个国家科学基金会本科生研究和指导（URM）计划，以便为本科生提供获得神经生物学领域研究和指导经验的机会。在项目的前四年，每年将招募四名学生参加该项目，并为这些学生提供为期两年的NSF支持。在五年的资助期内，共有16名学生将参加该项目。在神经生物学中代表性不足的群体的学生将在本科学习的第二年被招募。现有的地方联网机制将被用来识别来自波多黎各各地大学的学生。学生将全年参与正在进行的教师研究项目，目的是让学生展示和/或发表他们的工作。研究领域涵盖了广泛的主题，但统一的跨学科目标是使用神经生物学的方法来增加我们对神经系统结构和功能的理解。每个项目调查员都有相当多的指导经验，教师研究项目的结构使本科生能够迅速参与出版质量的研究。该项目指导策略包括个性化的“动手”技术指导，使学生接触到最先进的生理、分子和成像方法和设备。学生在科学方法的指导下，学习如何制定假设，这些假设是可测试的，适合于他们想要回答的问题。他们参与研究工作的各个方面，包括实验设计、数据收集、分析和结果交流。在“实验室文化”中，信任、合作和团队合作的重要性贯穿于学生的整个培训过程。这种个人指导经验被整合在一个高度互动的团体环境中，传递并灌输科学探索的兴奋和热情。更多信息请访问http://www.neuro.upr.edu/nsf-urm.html，或联系Mark Miller博士mark.miller@upr.edu。

An award has been made to the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus to establish an NSF Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (URM) program at the institution, in order to provide opportunities for undergraduate students to obtain research and mentoring experience in the field of neurobiology. Each year, for the first four years of the project, four students will be recruited to participate in the program, and the students will be provided NSF support for a period of two years. Over the five-year period of the grant, a total of sixteen students will participate in the program. Students from groups that are under-represented in neurobiology will be recruited following their second year of undergraduate study. Existing local networking mechanisms will be utilized to identify students from universities throughout Puerto Rico. Students will be engaged in ongoing faculty research programs on a year-round basis, with the objective of getting students to present and/or publish their work. The areas of research cover a broad range of topics, but are unified by the interdisciplinary goal of using the methods of neurobiology to increase our understanding of nervous system structure and function. Each program investigator has considerable mentoring experience, and the structure of faculty research programs enable undergraduate students to become rapidly involved in publication-quality research. The program mentoring strategy consists of personalized "hands-on" technical guidance that exposes students to state-of-the-art physiological, molecular and imaging approaches and equipment. Students are mentored in the scientific method, learning how to formulate hypotheses that are testable and appropriate to the questions they wish to answer. They are involved in all aspects of the research effort, including design of experiments, data collection, analysis, and communication of results. The importance of trust, cooperation, and teamwork within the "laboratory culture" is emphasized throughout the students' training. This individual mentoring experience is integrated within a highly interactive group setting that conveys and instills the excitement and enthusiasm of scientific exploration. Additional information is available at http://www.neuro.upr.edu/nsf-urm.html, or by contacting Dr. Mark Miller, at mark.miller@upr.edu.