The Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics, and Survival (SPINES) is a two month long course given at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) with the purpose of increasing success of under- represented groups in research careers in neuroscience. SPINES has been taught at the MBL for the past sixteen years. The underlying assumption of the program is that no other experience, except graduate training, has such a profound effect upon a student's research career, as a summer course at the MBL. SPINES was created to take advantage of the MBL environment and has the following aims: 1) enrich students experiences in neuroscience through lectures. 2) to increase the probability of individual success by teaching survival skills, which include grantsmanship, effective teaching, laboratory management, poster presentation, obtaining a postdoctoral position, dual career couples, racism in science, career management, and the tenure process. 3) to familiarize students with MBL programs so that they return at later points in their careers. In particular Directors of MBL classes, the Grass Fellows and the MBL Associates program visit SPINES. 4) to teach responsible conduct in research, using case studies, movies, vignettes, 5) to provide a laboratory experience in neurophysiology, 5) to provide successful minority role models in neuroscience, by having the Core Faculty be active successful neuroscientists, and 6) by having SPINES students conduct research for a month in the laboratory of an MBL scientist (Augustine, Langford, Martinez, Mensinger, or Zottoli).
