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)在年会上接待了代表不足的少数族裔(UR M)神经科学研究生和博士后研究员。这项活动是由协会的少数民族教育、培训和职业发展委员会(METPAC)组织的。1997年，SFN将增加研究员在一流实验室接受培训的可能性作为其长期目标，并最终在URM神经科学家目前特别不足的领先部门和机构获得职位。作为最大的神经科学家组织，拥有许多领先的神经科学家成员，SFN在这项任务中提供了特殊的优势。在过去三年中，每年从强大的实验室中挑选约8名研究员，并提供3年的支持，其中包括参加年会的所有费用，以及参加其他专业会议(如Gordon会议)和暑期课程的额外支持。具体目标：本文件中的目标是：a)增加已经在强大实验室中的研究员的数量，每年任命3年任期，从8人增加到10人；b)每年增加5名在不具有最大挑战性的实验室中表现出色的研究员；c)每年增加3名高级本科生，作为对减少管道问题的贡献；d)提供更多的网络和指导活动；e)跟踪研究员在3年任期后的进展；以及f)评估1997年以来的计划，以确定最有效的战略和实现目标的进展。

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.