Neuroscience Program Michigan State University Joe Lonstein Yanny Lau

Deliberations so far: Who participated? two meetings with same focus opposite ends of campus 18/41 total faculty (44%) 16/31 training faculty (52%) 2/12 post-docs (17%) 11/22 students (50%)

Deliberations so far: Role and Mission of the Program For what careers should we be educating students? implicit expectation for academic careers need for exposure to and acceptance of varied choices students can’t expect individualized alternative training alternative training can’t be at expense of fundamentals alternative training in conflict with research grants?

Deliberations so far: Role and Mission of the Program What are the particular strengths of the program? Students broad-based curriculum varied levels of analysis laboratory course comprehensive exam format community within and across depts.

Deliberations so far: Role and Mission of the Program What are the particular strengths of the program? Faculty long history of successful training students in same lab may be in different programs collaborative opportunities clinical opportunities sense of community

Role and Mission of Program To be addressed: What differentiates us from other academic units? How should our program contribute to the academic mission of MSU?

Role and Mission of Program What qualities should the program look for in a first year student? What differences would you expect to see between first-, third-, and fifth-year students?

Stewardship of the Discipline How do we teach students to ask and frame important questions? What do our students learn about history of neuroscience and what history should they know?

Stewardship of the Discipline Does program encourage students to have respectful understanding of other fields? How do we train students to communicate the excitement and promise of neuroscience to the public? What ethical standards are important for our graduates to hold?

Program Elements We will assess importance, effectiveness, value, and how to improve the current: required courses lab rotation research forum colloquium series training in responsible conduct in science dissertation research Is our program missing any important elements?

Design Experiments (what needs more attention?) Dissertation What constitutes successful defense of a dissertation? Student recruitment What can we do to improve diversity and quality? Student retention Is there a problem? Mentoring and Advising How can mentoring be monitored and assessed?

Design Experiments (what needs more attention?) Research Are all students receiving equivalent research training? Does it matter? Curriculum Are required and elective courses in line with other neuroscience programs ? Examinations What skills are and should be assessed? How do students learn these skills?

Critical issues to be addressed What is the most effective way to train researchers in a biomedical area that requires investigation and integration across multiple levels of analysis? How to structure early years of training to accommodate students with widely varying undergraduate backgrounds?

Critical issues to be addressed What are the critical career survival skills for a neuroscientist, and what is the best way to teach them? Skills common to all disciplines Skills particular to biomedical sciences The art of collaboration (receives little attention)

Critical issues to be addressed How does a training program balance the need to provide a broad-based, multi-disciplinary, multi-level of analysis foundation in the nervous system, specialized research training, professional socialization, and professional skills development, with the goal of keeping the degree program to about 5 years in length?

Critical issues to be addressed What are the best strategies for maintaining faculty interest and participation in an inter- departmental program when the rewards that motivate faculty are held by departments?

Critical issues to be addressed How will we know if we’ve done a good job? Development of a process for ongoing evaluation Identification of appropriate measures of success for different career tracks that a student might take after doctoral training (academia vs industry vs government)