# Neurobiology Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $292,150

## Abstract

Abstract
This application seeks support for early stage training of doctoral students in the neurosciences at Duke
University. The goal of this comprehensive, broad-based, interdisciplinary Neurobiology Training Program
(NBTP) is to train top-level neurobiologists for research-oriented positions in academia, industry, and related
arenas. The application seeks funding for 6 predoctoral trainees each year, typically 3 in their first year and 3 in
their second year. Richard Mooney, PhD directs the program in concert with the NBTP Steering Committee
comprising select faculty and students. Preceptors are drawn from many departments across the School of
Medicine, the School of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences and represent a broad diversity of
fields including molecular, cellular, circuits, systems, computational, translational and cognitive neuroscience.
Preceptors include scientists with long and distinguished records of achievement as well as recently recruited,
talented young faculty. A large applicant pool - approaching close to 200 candidates per year - permits
recruitment of a talented, diverse class of ~7 new students each fall. Close to half of the matriculants will be
supported in their first two years by the Duke Graduate School, which enables the program to pull from
international as well as domestic pools. Students undergo extensive training including demanding coursework
addressing the depth and breadth of fundamental and translational neuroscience, including experimental design,
technical implementation, data analysis, and interpretation. Required course work emphasizes molecular and
cellular neuroscience; circuits and systems neuroscience; the neurobiology of disease; quantitative, statistical
and computational neuroscience methods; scientific writing; written and oral presentation; teaching and career
development. Their thesis committees and the Program Steering Committee carefully monitor students' progress
throughout the entire period of graduate training. Students in our program are expected to obtain their doctoral
degree within 5 to 6 years and to publish original research articles stemming from their doctoral studies. Upon
completion of postdoctoral fellowships and clinical training (where applicable), we expect that our graduates will
secure tenure-track faculty positions in research institutions, obtain neuroscience-related jobs in industry, use
their neuroscience training to practice medicine, and teach and train the next generation of neuroscientists at
the graduate and undergraduate levels. The Training Program makes extensive efforts to recruit and retain
students from underrepresented groups. The goal of the program is to train a new and diverse generation of
scientists equipped with the knowledge, imagination and insight needed to cross disciplinary boundaries in
search of a new and deeper understanding of the basis of nervous system function in health and disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9974592
- **Project number:** 5T32NS105608-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard D Mooney
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $292,150
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9974592

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9974592, Neurobiology Training Program (5T32NS105608-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9974592. Licensed CC0.

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