Deborah J. Walder - US grants

The objective of the Neuroscience Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at Brooklyn College (BC) is to immerse diverse students in innovative research on clinical, cognitive, and behavioral neuroscience. Twelve students are selected annually for mentored research projects, especially undergraduates at ethnic-minority serving, public two-year and four-year institutions in the New York metropolitan area where the PIs have identified a need for such programming.

Intellectual Merit:

The central component is a semester-long laboratory immersion under the close supervision of BC Psychology Department faculty mentors who have experience working with diverse students, which results in a completed research project. The Department offers a vibrant and highly collaborative research and teaching environment, and the faculty utilizes multiple approaches to understanding brain-behavior relationships. The REU site students are exposed to a variety of behavioral, neuroscientific, and computational methods to address their individual research topics. Students attend a weekly seminar that presents an overview of basic neuroscience principles and domain-specific topics relevant to research conducted in laboratories of core REU faculty. The seminar also address professional issues, including a module on ethics. In addition, students participate in a journal club and attend colloquia in which speakers from outside the Department present cutting-edge neuroscience research and applications. As a capstone experience, students present a poster at the annual Brooklyn College Science Research Day, where they compete with other undergraduates for awards based on the quality of their work and ability to communicate their findings. Some students also have the opportunity to assist in the preparation of a poster for presentation at a national scientific research meeting and/or a peer-reviewed manuscript. The PI team emphasizes the generation of high quality research and integration of psychological theory with the design, execution, and interpretation of neuroscientific data.

Broader Impacts:

This REU site advances neuroscience discovery for the scientific and broader communities while promoting mentoring, learning, and professional development. The specific objectives are to: (1) increase participation of students from underrepresented groups (e.g., women, racial minorities, first-generation college students, veterans returning from active duty) in the field of neuroscience; (2) guide students through the scientific process, from generation of viable research questions to communicating study results; (3) immerse students in relevant didactics that complement their laboratory work and highlight its relevance and applied value; and (4) provide knowledge, skills, and exposure to leading neuroscience research, as well as opportunities for students to make contributions to this research, to enhance their competitiveness for graduate school or professional positions. Strong institutional support from BC of the City University of New York and clearly defined criteria for self-evaluation ensure that the PI team meets their stated goals. Importantly, this REU Program enables BC faculty members to supervise talented undergraduates, who might otherwise miss out on mentored laboratory and professional development experiences, and contribute to the training and advancement of the next generation of neuroscientists.

This project is supported under the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program, which is an NSF-wide program although each Directorate administers its own REU Site competition. This program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in an effort to introduce them to scientific research so as to encourage their continued engagement in the nation's scientific research and development enterprise. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects designed especially for the purpose. The REU program is a major contributor to the NSF's goal of developing a diverse, internationally competitive, and globally-engaged science and engineering workforce. The Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) sciences Directorate awarded this REU Site grant to the Brooklyn College (BC) in the City University of New York (CUNY); it is a renewal of an ongoing REU Site at this location. The objective of the project is to immerse diverse students in innovative research in psychology and neuroscience. The REU Program aims to advance scientific discovery for the scientific and broader communities while promoting mentoring, learning, and professional development by: (1) increasing participation of students from underrepresented groups (primarily women, racial minorities, first-generation college students) in neuroscience research; (2) guiding students through the scientific process, from generation of research questions to communication of results; (3) immersing students in didactics that highlight the relevance and applied value of their laboratory work; (4) enhancing students' competitiveness for graduate school and professional positions; and (5) boosting the research competence of local high school teachers with downstream positive learning effects for their students. This REU Program also enables faculty members to supervise talented individuals who might otherwise miss out on mentored laboratory and professional development experiences, and contributes to the training and advancement of the next generation of psychologists and neuroscientists.

The central (scientific) component of this REU Program is a semester-long laboratory immersion, under the supervision of Psychology Department faculty mentors, which results in a completed research project. REU students are exposed to a variety of behavioral, neuroscientific, and computational methods to execute their projects. High quality research and the integration of psychological theory with the design, execution, and interpretation of neuroscientific data are emphasized. Ten students are selected annually for mentored research projects, especially undergraduates at ethnic-minority serving, public two-year and four-year institutions in the New York metropolitan area. Students attend weekly didactics: a neuroscience seminar that dually focuses on neuroscience principles/research methods and professional issues; a journal club that familiarizes students with scientific literature in modern neuroscience through learning to select, read, and critically analyze original research papers; and a statistical methods seminar that emphasizes data analysis, statistical reasoning, and presenting research findings in academic contexts. Students also undergo intensive neuroethics training. As a capstone experience, students present a poster at the BC Science Research Day, where they compete for awards based on the quality of their work and ability to communicate their findings. In addition, the project has a RET (Research Experiences for Teachers) component, which provides local high school teachers with coursework in research methods, mentored laboratory experience, and professional development opportunities to enhance their neuroscience literacy and raise the level of science education in local high schools.