# Graduate Program for Neuroscience

> **NIH NIH T32** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · 2024 · $332,532

## Abstract

This proposal for a cohort-based early stage graduate training at Boston University (BU) describes the successful
development of a university wide effort called "The Graduate Program for Neuroscience" (GPN) that celebrates
diversity in membership and scientific perspective. Since the time of its first official class, recruited in 2010, the
program has emphasized the importance of combining a shared training experience for an educationally diverse
group of students that integrates a comprehensive foundation in neuroscience with principles of experimental
design, computer programming, computational modeling, and advanced quantitative thinking as an essential
part of doing basic research on the nervous system and its brain disorders. The program also fosters an
appreciation for translational research efforts by integrating physician-led patient interactions for its students in
a unique clinical rounds experience. GPN is an independent degree granting program which administers two
PhD degrees, one in Neuroscience and the other in Computational Neuroscience. All students during their first
two years take shared curriculum to develop a “core knowledge base” in neuroscience which is expanded upon
by training in specialized areas of thesis research through organized electives. This didactic training in the first
two years is complemented by peer-based learning experiences where GPN students with undergraduate majors
in computer science, math, or engineering help others in the cohort to develop a better framework to master
these topics in our “core” quantitative courses. Likewise, those students with undergraduate training in
biochemistry, biology, psychology, and neuroscience bring computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians
in the cohort closer to an understanding of how cells function as units, within cellular networks, and the complexity
of behaviors that rely on them. This peer-based perspective during the first two years in training will help inform
the computational models these students build with their faculty mentors in the later years of their training. A
vibrant cohort experience is facilitated by the modern student desk spaces, conference room, and student lounge
that was built specifically for GPN students in a building which houses the GPN Administrative Offices. As a
single cohort, neuroscience PhDs and computational neuroscience PhDs participate in professional
development workshops, rotate through the laboratories of our many distinguished and junior faculty, take
leadership of committees, and are dedicated practitioners of the values GPN places on diversity, equity,
inclusion, and accessibility for all. The planned duration of appointments to the proposed T32 will be two years
for three students in an average class size of 10. We are fully committed to helping students reach their highest
potential by uniting them through their common interest in understanding how the brain works; and, through a
direct exposure to human patients ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10868441
- **Project number:** 5T32NS131178-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Shelley J Russek
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $332,532
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10868441

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10868441, Graduate Program for Neuroscience (5T32NS131178-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10868441. Licensed CC0.

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