Project Profile
NeuroEngineering Training Program (NET)
University of California at Los Angeles
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research involving the UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI), and the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). These groups have joined forces in a major new enterprise — the… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research involving the UCLA Brain Research Institute (BRI), and the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). These groups have joined forces in a major new enterprise — the development of a center of educational excellence for multidisciplinary neuroscience and its translation into engineering and technological applications. To accomplish this vision, they are initiating the NeuroEngineering Training (NET) Program, a joint endeavor between the Interdepartmental Ph.D. Program for Neuroscience and the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. Program in SEAS. The program will be supplemented with the active involvement of industry and government laboratories.
NET will enable students: (1) with a background in biological science to develop and execute projects that make use of state-of-the-art technology, including microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); (2) with a background in engineering to develop and execute projects that address problems that have a neuroscientific base — including locomotion and pattern generation, central control of movement, and the processing of sensory information; and (3) to develop the capacity for the multidisciplinary teamwork that will be necessary for new scientific insights and dramatic technological progress in the 21st century. Most importantly NET will convert the enormous enthusiasm for this type of collaboration into a lasting intellectual discipline and an institutional framework to sustain innovation.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to facilitate the establishment of innovative, research-based graduate programs that will train a diverse group of scientists and engineers to be well-prepared to take advantage of a broad spectrum of career options. IGERT provides doctoral institutions with an opportunity to develop new, well-focussed multidisciplinary graduate programs that transcend organizational boundaries and unite faculty from several departments or institutions to establish a highly interactive, collaborative environment for both training and research. In this second year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-one institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. This specific award is supported by funds from the Directorates for Biological Sciences, for Engineering, and for Education and Human Resources. « less
