Neuroscientists Invited to Apply for a Travel Award to Attend the SPINES Neuroscience Symposium in Chicago

Monday, June 15, 2015, Chicago, IL

Contact: Chinonye Nnakwe, PhD
spinessymposium@gmail.com

Event: SPINES Neuroscience Symposium—Scientific Excellence and Lifelong Mentoring to Increase Diversity

Date and Location: October 16, 2015 – Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Dr., Chicago IL

Deadline to Apply for a Travel Award: June 30, 2015

The aim of the SPINES Neuroscience Symposium is to deepen our knowledge and understanding of current findings in neuroscience, recruit young and aspiring underrepresented scientists, as defined by the National Institutes of Health, to the field of neuroscience and to enhance retention and success of those already in scientific careers.

Applications from pre-doctoral and postdoctoral neuroscientists, and faculty/scientists from academia, industry and non-profit organizations are encouraged. There is a special interest in receiving applications from past and present SPINES students. The deadline to apply for a travel award is June 30, 2015.

About the Symposium
The SPINES Neuroscience Symposium will bring together a large contingent of underrepresented minority neuroscientists from multiple SPINES generations to provide encouragement, support, and networking, in the context of a scientific conference. Planned activities include scientific lectures, professional development workshops, lightning talks, mentoring sessions, and a showcase of the successes of SPINES student and faculty alumni.

About the SPINES Course
SPINES (Summer Program in Neuroscience, Ethics & Survival) is a novel professional development course offered each year at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) to facilitate the careers of underrepresented doctoral and postdoctoral students and early career neuroscientists. It is considered a model for the successful training of early career scientists from underrepresented groups. The SPINES course has been offered for over 20 years and has hundreds of alumni — from those who are beginning their careers to those nearing retirement. The key ingredients for the success of SPINES are career-long mentoring, monitoring, networking, and understanding the current boundaries of neuroscience knowledge. No other experience, except graduate training, has such a profound effect upon a student’s research career, as does a summer course at the MBL. Many describe the effect as magical and transformative.

Additional Symposium Sponsors
Alzheimer’s Association
Grossman Institute for Neuroscience, Quantitative Biology and Human Behavior