# Training in Theory and Computation for Next Generation Neuroscientists

> **NIH NIH R90** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2023 · $247,202

## Abstract

Project Summary
To understand the function and dysfunction of the brain it is necessary to confront its complexity. Over the past
two decades the field of neuroscience has leveraged the tremendous advances in electronics, genetics, and
microscopy to collect a bewildering amount of neuronal data, especially when compared to the state of the field
at the turn of the last century. More than ever these datasets require sophisticated analysis techniques to expose
the salient aspects of brain dynamics and computation. Of equal importance is building a coherent theory of
brain function. Theory can both organize these datasets under a conceptual umbrella, as well as suggest the
next series of experiments to be performed. These realities require more neuroscience researchers to be trained
in a variety of computational and mathematical techniques. This project outlines an ambitious graduate and
undergraduate Training Program in Computational Neuroscience (TPCN) at the University of Chicago.
The University of Chicago TPCN has 31 training faculty distributed over 10 departments. The training faculty
are composed of 6 faculty in computational neuroscience (dry-lab), 9 training faculty whose laboratories are
primarily experimental, and 15 training faculty whose laboratories are both computational and experimental. At
the graduate level the TPCN offers a PhD program in Computational Neuroscience and a complementary PhD
program in Neurobiology. At the undergraduate level the University of Chicago has a highly popular Major in
Neuroscience, and students can Minor in Computational Neuroscience. The TPCN is set within a highly collegial,
cross-disciplinary environment of our Neuroscience Institute and the Grossman Center for Quantitative Biology
and Human Behavior. The Neuroscience Institute was established in 2014 to foster interdisciplinary research on
the neural mechanisms of brain function, and now comprises 87 faculty having appointments in 16 departments.
The Grossman Center was launched in 2020 and is a space within the Neuroscience Institute with an explicit
focus on computational and theoretical neuroscience. Over the next five years the Grossman Center will grow
to house 5 computational neuroscience faculty to complement our already existing community of theoretical
neuroscientists. During this funding period the TPCN will (1) strengthen the course offerings in computational
neuroscience at both the graduate and undergraduate level; (2) create a undergraduate research program in
computational neuroscience; (3) enhance our minority recruitment by taking advantage of the undergraduate
neuroscience research program.
TPCN trainees work in vertically integrated, cross-disciplinary research teams. Graduate students take a series of directed courses in computational neuroscience that span both statistical and modeling approaches. To
ensure their competency in core neuroscience principles they also take courses in cellular, systems, and behavioral neuroscience....

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10879209
- **Project number:** 1R90DA060338-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Brent D. Doiron
- **Activity code:** R90 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $247,202
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-15 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10879209

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10879209, Training in Theory and Computation for Next Generation Neuroscientists (1R90DA060338-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10879209. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*