Training Program in Neurobiology of Information Storage

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This new proposal is a request for funding of a broadly based predoctoral and postdoctoral Training Program in Cellular and Molecular Basis for Information Storage from the Northwestern University Institute for Neuroscience (NUIN). Funding to support three advanced predoctoral candidates, after they have begun full time thesis research, and three postdoctoral trainees, in early or later stages of training, is requested. This training program has developed from a multidisciplinary group of well-funded investigators whose work focuses on the cellular and molecular basis for information storage with approaches spanning genetic, biophysical, network, behavioral, neuropsychological and clinical neuroscience, including four MERIT awardees, one with a Javits award and one Howard Hughes Investigator. Six of the 21 faculty preceptors are women, including a member of the steering committee. These faculty are affiliated with NUIN, the Cognitive Science Program, the Cognitive Neurology Center and the Alzheimer's Disease Center. The program will be directed by Aryeh Routtenberg, PhD, Nelson Spruston, PhD (Associate Director), an internal Steering Committee and an External Advisory Committee. The three postdoctoral and three predoctoral trainees will conduct their research under the guidance of 21 preceptors from 9 departments of 2 schools on the Evanston and Chicago campuses of Northwestern University. Postdoctoral trainees will be selected on the basis of previous training and a research plan. Predoctoral trainees will be selected from NUIN on the basis of course performance, lab rotation and the relevance of the proposed dissertation research. Special consideration will be given to trainees whose research plans are interdisciplinary and carried out in more than one preceptor laboratory. A concerted effort will be made to recruit women and minorities. The program will offer a broad range of interdisciplinary research and training opportunities in cellular and molecular basis for information storage research. The preceptor faculty will assist and monitor trainee progress through formal advising and evaluations, through the classroom and through informal discussions. In addition to providing research training, the program will help trainees develop skills in written and oral communication, grant writing, networking, and career development. Instilling a clear awareness of ethical issues facing neuroscientists and responsible conduct in science will be another training goal.