9413211 Oakley This award renews support of a joint training effort of 15 faculty from six departments in the Schools of Arts and Sciences, of Medicine and of Dentistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The theme of this Research Training Group (RTG) is developmental neurobiology. Faculty and student research emphasize three aspects of the development of the nervous system: neurogenesis, axonal navigation, and synaptogenesis. The research addresses these issues in a variety of organisms, including invertebrates, fish, birds and mammals using a variety of techniques from cell and molecular biology. The RTG sponsors training at all three post-secondary levels. Besides opportunities for student research, RTG faculty have created new courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Graduate students are selected from students who apply to one of two departmental Ph.D. programs or an interdepartmental Neuroscience Ph.D. program, and receive support for up to three years. Postdoctoral fellows are selected for one year of support from among candidates proposed by participating faculty. Undergraduates are sponsored during both the academic year and summer term. Participants in the summer research program are recruited nationally. The level of involvement of undergraduates in the RTG is particularly noteworthy; over 80 such students carried out research under the auspices of the RTG during its first four years. ***
