This proposal is for continued graduate student training support within the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP) of Yale University. Tuition and stipend support is requested for six 1st year and six 2nd year graduate students. The INP is Yale's university-wide degree granting doctoral program in the Neurosciences. In its 17th year, the INP consists of 80 faculty from departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Yale Medical School (YMS), with 46 graduate students, of which 39 are from the US or are permanent residents. The INP has two coDirectors, Haig Keshishian and Charles Greer, and is supervised by an executive committee representing a cross-section of the neurosciences at Yale. Haig Keshishian serves as program director for the INP's Jointly Sponsored NIH Predoctoral Training Program. The INP receives strong university support, including a salaried administrator, office space, 8 fellowships, and stipend supplementation. It undergoes regular provostial-level academic review. Students are admitted through a unified neuroscience admissions committee that is part of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) program of Yale. Upon affiliating with the INP the students remain within the interdepartmental program until graduation. Annually over 90 US/permanent resident students apply, with about 25 offered admission, for an entering class of 8-10 students (2004 class: 7 US students). The INP is actively involved in educating students from underrepresented ethnic and/or racial groups. Since 2000 15% of the entering US/permanent resident neuroscience students were from these groups. Students are supervised by the coDirectors, the executive committee, and advisory committees. All INP students take four core graduate classes in neuroscience and bioethics, three advanced electives, and two 1st year research rotations. They attend invited seminars, research in progress talks, and an annual retreat. In the 2nd year the students select a doctoral advisor from the pool of participating faculty. They also take the doctoral qualifier examination, which has tutorial, written, and oral components. The students advance to candidacy for the PhD upon defending a prospectus in the 3rd year. All students are provided travel funds to attend and present their work at national meetings. A PhD in Neuroscience is awarded to graduates by the INP. Relevance to public health: The INP training program supports the education of the next generation of neuroscience research scientists. INP graduates go on to leading positions in universities, research institutes, and industry, where they contribute to our understanding of the basic principles of the nervous system, as well as develop practical solutions for the disorders of the nervous system that afflict society.
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