COMPARATIVE AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY OF HEARING

这项建议是由马里兰州大学帕克分校的生物学和心理学系以及神经科学和认知科学研究生项目共同努力的结果。我们在UMD有一个由10名教师组成的特殊小组，他们对比较听力和听力进化有着共同的研究兴趣。实验方法和物种研究的广度，为我们提供了一个机会，提供研究生和博士后水平的研究培训，不存在其他地方。研究培训计划的核心是10名获得资助的研究人员，他们拥有经过验证的研究和培训记录，其中大多数人都在同一栋大楼里。有一个强大的历史研究之间的互动，这是进一步促进了最初的五年资助这一培训补助金。研究生和博士后学生（以及本科生）利用教师和研究小组之间的互动。拟议的计划将提供支持，每年四个博士前和三个博士后研究员。我们的计划中强调了两个独立但密切相关的问题。第一个是比较听觉功能和结构，第二个是听觉系统的进化。我们计划的主要目标是培养出对脊椎动物听觉机制的多样性和听觉系统的进化有欣赏和理解的科学家。我们预计，在我们的计划培训的个人将在学术环境中进行进化和/或比较问题的全职研究。至少，我们的培训将确保他们能够将他们的工作纳入适当的内容，并有助于增加我们对这些问题的理解。博士前和博士后培训生在全国范围内招聘。非常重要的是，UMD和我们的参与部门和学院在招聘，保留和保留妇女和少数民族方面有着良好的记录。我们将继续利用这些机会，继续将招聘和留住妇女和少数族裔作为我们计划的一个非常重要的方面。

This proposal is a joint effort of the Departments of Biology and Psychology and the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Graduate Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. We have at UMD an exceptional group of 10 faculty with a common research interest in comparative hearing and evolution of hearing. The breadth of experimental approaches and species studies, provides us with an opportunity to provide research training at the graduate and postdoctoral level that exists no where else. At the core of the research training program are 10 funded investigators with proven research and training records, most of whom are located in the same building. There is a strong history of research interaction among this group, and this was further facilitated by the initial five year funding of this training grant. Graduate and postdoctoral students (as well as undergraduates) take advantage of the interaction between faculty and research groups. The proposed program will provide support for four predoctoral and three postdoctoral fellows each year. Two separate but closely related issues are emphasized in our program. The first is that comparative auditory function and structure, and the second is the evolution of the auditory system. The major goal of our program is to produce scientists who have an appreciation for, and an understanding of, the diversity of vertebrate hearing mechanisms and the evolution of the auditory system. We anticipate that the individuals trained in our program will conduct full-time research on evolutionary and/or comparative questions in academic settings. At the very least, our training will ensure that they will be able to put their work into the appropriate content and help add to our growing understanding of these issues. Predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees are recruited nationally. Very importantly, UMD and our participating departments and colleges have strong records of recruiting, retaining, and retention of women and minorities. We continue to take advantage of these opportunities to continue to make recruitment and retention of women and minorities a very important aspect of our program.