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 building their commitment towards improving the human condition.

The neuroscience training mission of BU resonates with a shared belief that major discoveries relevant to public health will come from innovative thinking and an interdisciplinary community of faculty and students. An essential feature is a set of core courses that are taken by all students in the Graduate Program for Neuroscience, which is aimed at developing a community of thinkers, who move through their training together, building relationships that cross inter- departmental and inter-campus barriers, and foster cross disciplinary collaborations. Every effort is expended to provide an individually tailored mentorship and educational program for each student with an emphasis on rigor and reproducibility that builds upon their unique strengths and interests, while also recognizing areas that need enrichment via faculty guidance and curriculum choice.