BRAIN STEM Workshop, Chicago, Illinois, October 14-17, 2015

Reed College, Portland OR

Investigators

Abstract

President Obama's BRAIN Initiative (BRAIN; Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) is directed at supporting projects that seek to advance understanding of normal brain function. A workshop to identify areas where faculty and students from primarily undergraduate institutions (PUI) can make unique contributions to the BRAIN Initiative will be held on October 14-17, 2015 in Chicago, IL. The central goal of the workshop is to enhance PUI involvement in the research challenges described in the Brain Initiative. Consonant with advancing the goals of the BRAIN Initiative, the workshop will focus on developing ways to further NSF's mission to prepare a scientifically literate workforce. A diverse group of twenty-four researchers from PUIs throughout the United States will be invited to participate in discussions of research, neurotechnology, computational approaches, and interdisciplinary training of undergraduates. The workshop will be held in Chicago, Illinois 3 days before the annual Society for Neuroscience (SFN) conference, also scheduled to be held in Chicago. Workshop participants will produce a report of their discussions, conclusions and recommendations aimed at increasing the participation of PUI faculty and their undergraduate research students in the BRAIN Initiative. The report will be made available to the public on the NSF website (http://www.nsf.gov/bio/pubs/reports/index.jsp ), and distributed to the scientific community through the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience website (http://www.funfaculty.org/drupal/ ). The workshop outcomes will also be compiled into a self-running presentation for dissemination at local PUI consortia, academic conferences, and national meetings. It is anticipated that outcomes of the discussion at the workshop will be disseminated through conversations with researchers attending the SFN annual meeting.