Neurobiological Engineering Training Program

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The mission of the NBETP is to train early-mid stage graduate students to become future leaders at the interface between neurobiology and engineering. This is accomplished via a blend of course requirements in neuroscience and engineering, including several dedicated neurotechnology classes, as well as through mentorship and community-associated events that encourage student leadership and career development. Students admitted into the program are selected based on intellectual caliber, leadership potential, commitment to neurobiological engineering research, willingness to take on risky and potentially game-changing projects, and disciplinary breadth. Students are engaged in innovation of emerging bioengineered technologies that enable fundamental biological discoveries with translational potential related to a broad spectrum of neurobiological diseases including neuropsychiatric and neurological conditions, as well as addiction. Goals of the program are thus very well aligned to the objectives of NIBIB-funded T32 grants and to the mission of NIBIB overall, and they also synergize with interests of ICs such as NIMH, NINDS, and NIDA. An administrative structure oversees the training program’s direction, student admission, and assessments. Preceptors associated with the NBETP include a set of faculty with multidisciplinary expertise encompassing multiple departments and intersection of multiple traditional disciplines such as bioengineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, and neurobiology. The program thus closely fits the profile of a “broad-based NRSA training program,” as described in NOT-EB- 07-005. Funding currently provides for four predoctoral students to participate in the program for two years each. In its first five years, the program has attracted a remarkable set of trainees and offered them important and enriching experiences during and after their funded periods. The program has also contributed to substantial research and leadership accomplishments by individual trainees, as well as to significant expansion of the footprint and visibility of neuroengineering research and education at MIT and beyond.