Enhancing Mentoring, Agency, and Training Across the Neuroscience Graduate Education Continuum

University Of Michigan At Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Our goal is to enhance the success of graduate students in the neuroscience workforce pipeline by improving mentoring and professional development across all stages of neuroscience graduate education. We aim to create an environment where all students can thrive, develop a strong sense of belonging, and grow in self-agency by clarifying the hidden curriculum and strengthening the explicit curriculum at the forefront of neuroscience education. Our approach is guided by several core principles: focusing on individualized student development, implementing evidence-based pedagogies, and promoting a strong sense of community. The University of Michigan Neuroscience Graduate Program (NGP) currently enrolls about one-hundred PhD trainees, spread across key training stages from entering students (Pre-candidate), students transitioning to candidacy (Early PhD candidate), and senior PhD students completing thesis research and making career decisions (Late PhD candidate). The mentoring and educational needs of these students evolve across these transitions, necessitating intentional programming that targets each stage as well as activities that span the entire graduate experience. We will meet these needs with initiatives and training activities in three major areas: Mentoring (Aim 1), Research Education and Professional Development (Aim 2), and Curriculum Development (Aim 3). In Aim 1, we propose stage-specific individual and small group mentoring programs, training in best practices in mentoring, and a seminar-workshop series focused on effective and responsive mentoring strategies. In Aim 2, we offer all students access to impactful professional development opportunities, advanced research training courses, and opportunities to build collaborative career networks. In Aim 3, we will strengthen key curricular components to support students’ research and career prospects through practice-based learning in quantitative analysis of neural systems (Neuroanalytics) and scientific communication (Applied Improv). Our faculty have an outstanding record of supporting graduate and undergraduate trainees and are dedicated to student achievement in neuroscience. The effectiveness of these activities will be independently evaluated by the UM School of Education Center for Education Design, Evaluation and Research (CEDER) program. We expect that our proposed mentoring, professional development, and curricular initiatives will enhance students’ self-agency, self-efficacy, sense of belonging, communication skills, research education, and overall success as they navigate both the hidden and explicit aspects of neuroscience graduate education and their future careers