This application is a request for continued funding of a broadly based comprehensive predoctoral Neurobiology of Information Storage Training Program (NISTP) from the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neurosciences PhD program (NUIN). This training program has developed from a multidisciplinary group of investigators whose work focuses on the mechanisms of information storage with approaches spanning molecular, cellular, systems, behavioral, neuropsychological and clinical neuroscience. Funding is requested for 6 predoctoral trainees who will be selected in their second or third year once they have begun thesis work. Training will be supervised by the program's 22 preceptors who represent 8 departments of 2 schools on the Chicago and Evanston campuses of Northwestern University, and who collectively participate in 60 NIH grants totaling over $11 million/yr (direct costs). This group comprises established leaders in the field, including 3 current or past NIH MERIT Award winners. Seven of the 22 faculty preceptors are women, including one member of the Steering Committee. The program will be directed by Aryeh Routtenberg, PhD, with assistance from Nelson Spruston, PhD (Associate Director), an internal Steering Committee, and an External Review and Advisory Committee (ERAC). Predoctoral trainees will be selected primarily from NUIN and the Medical Scientist PhD Training Program on the basis of course performance, lab rotations, and the relevance of 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 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 of responsible conduct in science, will be another training goal. In the initial 4+ years NISTP has become part of the fabric of the Northwestern University neuroscience community, catalyzing synergistic activities among an already highly collaborative group of scientists. These years were also highly productive: The 11 trainees appointed to the program published several papers in top journals, and 4 went on to receive NRSA fellowships.
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