University of Minnesota

The Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society aims to (1) to recruit new people to neuroscience and society work, especially those from institutions and geographies that have not previously been engaged around this type of work; (2) to create and communicate new opportunities for fostering and sustaining work in neuroscience and society; and (3) to provide networking opportunities for trainees to form relationships that will contribute to career development. In addition to these original goals, the Career Network will focus on the following areas over the next two years: (1) facilitating stronger communication and sharing of resources with campus-based advisors, e.g. directors of undergraduate neuroscience programs; (2) supporting institutional cross-disciplinary training and experiential learning in neuroscience and society through the creation of a “train-the-trainer” program consisting of webinars and an accompanying web page and .pdf toolkit. The intended audience for the train-the-trainer model will be post-secondary faculty and staff. In this way, the lessons and tools created by the Career Network will be decentralized and placed in the hands of those with direct student contact; and (3) enabling outreach to international neuroscience and society partners (a type of outreach that the Network has not previously emphasized). 

This grant supports the Dana NextGen objective to strengthen workforce development for careers within academia and beyond, empowering a new generation of scholars in neuroscience and society who will shepherd neuroscience’s positive role in the world.