Conference Program for Young Minority Scientists

描述（由申请人提供）：长期目标：自1981年以来，神经科学学会（S FN）在学会年会上接待了代表性不足的少数民族（UR M）研究生和神经科学博士后研究员。这项活动是由学会的少数民族教育、培训和职业发展委员会组织的。1997年，SFN将增加研究员在领先实验室接受培训的可能性作为其长期目标，并最终在URM神经科学家现在特别缺乏代表性的领先部门和机构中获得职位。作为最大的神经科学家组织，拥有许多领先的神经科学家作为成员，SfN在这项任务中提供了特殊的优势。在过去的三年里，每年从强大的实验室中选择约8名研究员，并提供3年的支持，包括参加年会的所有费用和参加其他专业会议（例如戈登会议）和夏季课程的额外支持。具体目标：本文件的目标是：（a）将每年已在强有力的实验室任职、任期三年的研究员人数从8人增加到10人;（B）每年增加5名在并非最具挑战性的实验室工作表现出色的研究员;（c）每年增加3名高年级本科生，以帮助减少后备人才问题;（d）提供更多的网络和辅导活动; e）跟踪研究员在3年任期后的进展情况; f）评估自1997年以来的方案，以确定最有效的战略和实现目标的进展情况。

DESCRIPTION (provided by the applicant): Long Term Objective: Since 1981, the Society for Neuroscience (S FN) has hosted underrepresented minority (UR M) graduate Students and postdoctoral fellows in neuroscience as Traveling Fellows at the Society's Annual Meeting. This activity has been organized by the Society's Minority Education, Training and Professional Advancement Committee (METPAC). In 1997, the SFN took as its long term goal increasing the probability that the Fellows will be trained in leading labs and ultimately acquire positions i n leading departments and institutions where URM neuroscientists are now especially underrepresented. As the largest organization of neuroscientists with many leading neuroscientists as members, the SfN offers special strengths in this task. In the last three years, about 8 fellows have been chosen per year, from strong labs, and provided with 3 years of support, which covered all the expenses of attending the annual meeting and additional support for attending other professional meetings (e.g. Gordon conferences) and summer courses. Specific Aims: The objectives in the present submission are to a) increase the number of fellows already in strong labs, appointed per year for 3-year terms, from 8 to 10; b) add 5 fellows per year who are performing strongly in labs that are not maximally challenging; c) add 3 advanced undergraduates per year, as a contribution to diminishing the pipeline problem; d) provide additional networking and mentoring activities; e) track the progress of the fellows after their 3-year appointments; and f) evaluate the program since 1997 to determine the most effective strategies and progress toward the goal.