Brown University Summer Scholars Program in Computational Brain Science

PROJECT SUMMARY Neuroscience is one of the fastest growing areas of biomedical research, with many unanswered questions about the basic mechanisms of brain function and how dysfunction at the genetic, cellular, and systemic levels leads to neurological diseases and disorders. All of these areas of research are increasingly incorporating cutting-edge computational research techniques, thus competitive neuroscience research training programs must teach these skills for a successful research career. Women and historically underrepresented groups (HUGs) are less common in computational fields, and we will fail to achieve our full potential for neuroscience research if we cannot remove the barriers that disproportionately impact individuals from HUGs. Our goal is to provide world-class hands-on training in computational brain science and career building skills to undergraduate students from HUGs. We aim to increase the readiness and competitiveness of trainees as they prepare for careers in the biomedical research workforce. We designed a nine-week summer training program to enhance the research career trajectories of HUG undergraduates through a coordinated set of elements focused on neuroscience research, building computational fluency, and professional skills development. We will recruit participants through The Leadership Alliance (TLA), an organization devoted to developing underrepresented students into outstanding leaders and role models. Through TLA’s Summer Research Program, undergraduates gain research experience and mentoring in the principles underlying the conduct of research to prepare them to pursue competitive applications to PhD or MD-PhD programs. The Aims of our program are: 1) Engagement in individualized research projects in an interdisciplinary research environment; 2) Enhancement of coding and computational research skills; 3) Exposure to a breadth of neuroscience methods and research; and 4) Skills development to prepare for careers in the biomedical sciences. To accomplish these goals, each participant will join a lab where they will work closely with the faculty trainer and a near-peer mentor to conduct a research project. We will enhance students' computational fluency through a short course to establish fundamentals of adopting and using programming languages and interfaces. To learn about the broad range of neuroscience topics, participants will participate in weekly neuroscience research techniques series with faculty trainers. They will build professional development skills through workshops with a graduate student mentor. The summer will culminate in the presentation of a poster featuring their research project at The Leadership Alliance National Symposium. Overall, this R25 program merges individual lab experience in computational neuroscience with structured research skill building and professional development programming. Participants will build computational research skills that will serve them well in their future research endeavors.