This REU Site award to the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is supported by the Department of Defense ASSURE program thru a partnership with the NSF REU program. This REU will support the training of ten students for eight weeks during the summers of 2021- 2023. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities and who are from under-represented groups will be trained in the program. Students will learn to conduct high-level neuroscience research from neuroscientists in the field of learning, memory and cognition. Several students will present the results of their work at scientific conferences such as the Annual Spring Meeting on Learning and Memory or the Society for Neuroscience. Student projects will span various scales: from neurotransmitters to systems-level neuroscience. Assessment of the program will be done thru the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program to determine their career paths.
The Summer Institute in Neuroscience REU Site is housed at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM) where projects cover areas of neuroscience research ranging from neurotransmitters to cellular, behavior, and systems level studies. For example, students might: (1) collect and analyze neuropsychological and multimodal neuroimaging data in human subjects to understand how the human brain store and retrieve information, (2) perform state-of-the-art embryologic manipulations, pharmacologic treatments, and in vivo microscopy imaging in aquatic animals to understand how the brain develops, (3) evaluate gene expression and chromatin modifications in transgenic mouse models to understand how early-life exercise impacts memory function. Others projects are described in the REU website (see link below). Student activities include an introductory boot camp, weekly journal clubs and professional development workshops, networking activities, and biweekly neuroscience methods workshops. Students present their research at a symposium at the end of the program. Students interested in neuroscience research, especially those from schools with limited research opportunities or members of underrepresented groups, are encouraged to apply. Students apply online and will be selected by a committee composed of CNLM scientists, the PI and co-PI. More information about the program is available by visiting https://cnlm.uci.edu/REU, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Colon-Perez at lcolonpe@uci.edu) or the co-PI (Mrs. Yassa at manuella.yassa@uci.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.
