REU Site: in Neural Science

About This Grant

This REU Site award to the Center for Neural Science, New York University, located in New York City, NY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2025-2027. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program and contribute to development of the US STEM workforce. The scientific focus will be neuroscience, spanning the topics of cognition, decision-making, perception, neural control of movement, development of the nervous system, neural basis of social interactions, learning and memory. To prepare students for research, they will participate in a one-week bootcamp, to learn fundamental skills used across many neuroscience laboratories. For professional development, students will read scientific literature and become trained in scientific writing and oral communication. Through these activities, students will learn how research is conducted, and all will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. The effectiveness of the REU site will be assessed using student feedback and tracking the career path and publication record of program participants. Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). This REU Site in Neural Science at NYU will provide neuroscience skills to enhance preparation for pursuing graduate-level research or other STEM careers. Students will be matched to a lab aligned with their own interests to conduct hypothesis driven research that uses molecular, computational, and developmental approaches for understanding perception, cognition, learning, memory, and decision making. Research will involve cutting-edge training using immunocytochemical, biochemical, biophysical and molecular approaches to analyze neural samples. Techniques applied in the research will include neurophysiology, brain imaging, behavioral analyses using specialized imaging equipment, MRI, and in vivo recording of brain activity. Professional development activities will train students in scientific literature reading, science communication skills, research ethics, lab safety, and general lab skills. This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.