This REU Site Award to New York University Washington Square Campus, located in New York City, NY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students will be from schools with limited neuroscience research opportunities or from an under-represented group, including first generations to attend college. The program will include students from junior colleges or with marginal GPAs but with recommendation letters and personal statements revealing self-directed, inquisitive minds. Students will learn how neuroscience research is designed and conducted. They will practice writing their scientific research paper and research proposal through weekly written assignments. All students will be coached on oral presentation skills, leading them to present their research activities at scientific conferences. Students will witness the diversity of paths available for growing up in science through small weekly group luncheons with research mentors. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.
The scientific focus of the REU-Site is neural science. Students will be placed in one of the laboratories that are within Center for Neural Science of NYU Washington Square Campus. Almost all CNS faculty mentors have joint appointments with other departments, encompassing Psychology, Biology, Economics, Data Science, NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, and others These collaborative research activities will provide students with the glimpse of the highly synergistic nature and societal relevance of neuroscience research, demonstrating to them the Broad Impact of neuroscience research. All students will receive weekly in-person training in ethics/responsible conduct of research. Students initiate the online application process (currently by obtaining an NSF_REU ID by registering at www.nsfreu.org). The ten NSF-REU participants, from an applicant pool of >300, will be selected jointly by the PI, co-PI, and research mentors. More information about the program is available by visiting http://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/departments/cns/UndergraduateProgram/summer-research-program.html or by contacting the PI at surpinfo@cns.nyu.edu.
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.
