CCSN Postdoc funding period is closed.
The mission of the CCSN Pathway is to provide interdisciplinary training and promote interdisciplinary research in systems neuroscience broadly construed, and to empower the next generation of researchers with the tools necessary to become independent scientists and leaders in the field. For the past 20 years, we have targeted exclusively graduate students. However, it has become increasingly clear that postdocs would also greatly benefit from CCSN training, and that stronger interactions between pre- and postdoctoral trainees conducting interdisciplinary research would be mutually beneficial to both groups. Thus, we have recently started a CCSN postdoctoral program. Our postdoctoral program is organized along the following guidelines.
(1) The CCSN postdoctoral program develops over 2 years (typically, but not necessarily, Years 1-2 of postdoctoral training).
(2) CCSN postdocs will take two courses – Project Building (along with CCSN students), focused on grant writing, and one additional advanced graduate course of their choosing between several offered at WashU. Possible elective courses include, but are not limited to, Decision Neuroscience (Instructor: Padoa-Schioppa), Dynamic Systems (Instructors: Raman and Ching), and new courses being developed by the Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (CTCN).
(3) CCSN postdocs will actively participate in activities and events – CCSN Squared, Annual Lectures, Annual Retreat, Research Methodology Workshops – sponsored by CCSN. They will present their work at the Annual Retreat and help select and host speakers for the Annual Lectures. In some cases, CCSN Squared events will specifically focus on helping CCSN postdocs prepare for job interviews.
(4) Postdocs will apply for CCSN funding in the Spring. Postdoc candidates for CCSN funding will be selected based primarily on their research interests, which will be required to utilize interdisciplinary approaches integrating systems neuroscience with cognitive science and/or computational methodologies.
(5) Currently, we can support postdocs only with a T32 grant, which restricts support to US citizens and US permanent resident. However, any postdoc will be welcome to participate in the CCSN Pathway if they are conducting interdisciplinary systems neuroscience research at WashU. In particular, postdocs supported by the Center for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (CTCN) are welcome to also enroll in the CCSN program.
(6) Postdocs will be expected to submit their Project Building proposal for as an application for independent funding. Funding sources could be federal agencies (NSF postdoc, NIH F32) or private foundations. In particular, the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience has a Small Grant Program open to applications from postdoctoral trainees at WashU.
In our experience, many postdocs are not sufficiently trained in research methodology and statistical thinking, most of them have scarce experience in grant writing, and most of them are not adequately prepared for the job market and for a career in science. As we launch the CCSN postdoctoral program, our primary goal is to remedy these gaps and to promote impactful interdisciplinary research in systems neuroscience.