ADVANCED GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAM IN THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE

描述(由申请人提供)： 拟议中的计划设在神经科学系理论神经科学中心，将为理论神经科学跨学科领域的博士前三至五年级学生提供培训。受训者将接受在物理、数学、工程和计算机科学等学科中开发的定量方法以及在生物学和神经科学中开发的实验方法的双重培训。最重要的是，他们将学习如何将分析技术和建模方法应用于大脑功能的研究。完成该计划后，学员将能够弥合理论和实验之间的差距，并在确定将行为与潜在的突触、细胞和回路机制联系起来的统一主题和新原则方面发挥带头作用。这将通过一个培训计划来实现，该计划将分析和计算方法方面的严格课程与相关神经科学实验室的工作相结合。受训者包括主要与理论教师合作的学生，但将与实验同事以及在理论和实验教师双重指导的实验室工作的学生进行广泛的互动。理论神经科学中心将为拟议的计划提供焦点。理论中心由五名全职教员和一名客座成员组成，另有一名全职教员将于未来一两年开始工作。哥伦比亚大学神经生物学和行为学项目的教员将加强这一核心群体。理论神经科学中心以其高度互动的环境和与实验实验室的广泛联系，为理论神经科学的跨学科培训提供了独特的环境。培训计划将接受哥伦比亚大学神经生物学和行为研究生计划以及细胞、分子和生物物理研究综合计划的研究生，并根据需要增加他们的知识，为他们提供丰富的神经科学定量和实验室方法教育。该培训计划旨在培养一批新的研究人员，他们擅长将强大的分析和计算方法应用于复杂的神经生物系统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed program, based in the Center for Theoretical Neuroscience in the Department of Neuroscience, will provide training for predoctoral students in their third through fifth year in the interdisciplinary field of theoretical neuroscience. Trainees will receive dual training in the quantitative methods developed in disciplines such as physics, mathematics, engineering, and computer science and in the experimental approaches developed within biology and neuroscience. Most importantly, they will learn how to apply analytic techniques and modeling approaches to studies of brain function. After completing the program, trainees will be able to bridge the gap between theory and experiment and, lead the way in identifying unifying themes and new principles linking behavior to underlying synaptic, cellular and circuit mechanisms. This will be achieved through a training program that combines rigorous courses in analytic and computational methods with work in the relevant neuroscience laboratories. Trainees include students who work primarily with the theoretical faculty but will have extensive interactions with experimental colleagues as well as with students working in laboratories with dual theory-experimental faculty mentoring. The Center for Theoretical Neuroscience will provide the focal point for the proposed program. The Theory Center consists of a faculty of five full-time and one visiting member, with an additional full-time faculty member to start in the next year or two. Faculty members of Columbia's Program in Neurobiology and Behavior will augment this core group. The Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, with its highly interactive environment and extensive ties to experimental laboratories, provides a unique environment for crossdisciplinary training in theoretical neuroscience. The training program will accept graduate students from the graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular and Biophysical Studies at Columbia and augment their knowledge as needed to provide them with a rich education in both quantitative and laboratory methods in neuroscience. The training program is designed to develop a new breed of researcher skilled at applying powerful analytic and computational approaches to complex neurobiological systems.