Neuroscience: From Channels to Behavior

About This Grant

Project Summary Across the 30 years (1992-2022) of our previous TG, Brandeis built a multi-disciplinary program encompassing faculty in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Mathematics and Psychology. We educate students (who themselves come from the same breadth of scientific backgrounds as our faculty) in the full range of Neuroscience topics from the molecular biology of neuronal non-coding RNAs to the cognitive effects of aging. Our tight-knit faculty collaborates across this range: each lab PI collaborates with multiple others, and most projects involve several levels of analysis. Our students are integral agents of this intellectually and spatially tight-knit neuroscience community, in that they typically work across more than one lab. The cohesion that results from this collaborativity is reflected in every aspect of the program—in coursework, rotations, thesis supervision, the shared availability of advanced instrumentation and the collegiality of interactions. The breadth of opportunity and interaction that characterizes Brandeis, and the close attention we pay to student progress, means that each student develops according to their individual needs, which in turn results in a very low attrition rate. Our students graduate with excellent credentials and go on to obtain positions in academia, health care, government and industry, and to directly contribute to the NIH mandate to benefit human health. A strong, abiding aspect of our program has always been our emphasis on quantitative thinking. Every area of Neuroscience is increasingly driven by large data sets; to be prepared for the myriad available careers in Neuroscience, students must become generally expert in the analysis of complex multivariate data. For this proposal, we evolve our approach to quantitative literacy, proposing extensive curricular changes that will ensure that our students graduate grasping the fundamentals of quantitation (rather than just knowing specific methods). Armed with an understanding of computational tools and programming, all of our students will have a solid foundation upon which to do rigorous research at any level of analysis. Program changes instituted for this proposal will ensure that the program of course work, rotations, multiple small-group colloquia, proposition exams, and participation in teaching does not keep our trainees from digging into their dissertation work before the end of Year 1. Laboratory research is not the sole focus of the first (or even 2nd) year at Brandeis, and our students are not supported on research grants in these critical first years. This training grant provides crucial funding to support students while they develop a broad set of intellectual skills. There are 20 mentors in our program and we are requesting funds for 8 trainees.