Creating Opportunities for Underrepresented Neuroscience Students

Creating Opportunities for Underrepresented Neuroscience Students Image
$1,925
19%
Raised toward our $10,000 Goal
9 Donors
158
days left
Project ends on October 01, at 11:59 PM PDT
Project Owners

Research Experience Pathways (REP)

The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley is helping us deepen our understanding of the brain and the rest of the nervous system through original research and neurotechnology innovation. We are also training the next generation of neuroscientists as undergraduates in our labs. However, many students from historically underrepresented backgrounds experience barriers to participating in training because of extremely limited *paid* opportunities to conduct research at the undergraduate level. 

Crucial to increasing diversity in Neuroscience is providing underrepresented students access to opportunities for research at the undergraduate level. Undergraduate research is the launch pad of all scientific careers, and students shouldn't have to choose between a paid student job or unpaid research.

Please join the students of the Neuroscience and Psychology departments in supporting Research Experience Pathways (REP). The success of this campaign will have a real impact on students' lives, and open up the option of research to many who would otherwise not have the opportunity to take part in it. 

As a REP scholar, our students will:

  • Gain career relevant research experience working as a research assistant in an on-campus laboratory
  • Learn the fundamentals of neuroscience research in a chosen domain (Cognitive, Computational, Systems, Cellular)
  • Receive access to new career networks and opportunities after completing undergraduate study
  • Attend social events for REP students to cultivate belonging
  • Be paid for their time allowing students to focus on research

With your support, we can encourage and welcome driven undergrads to stretch their ambitions and abilities — and diversify the perspectives and strengths of our community as we push out the boundaries of knowledge — to the benefit of patients, families, and the common good.

Levels
Choose a giving level

$35

Glia Supporter

This covers the cost of one poster for one student. Equivalent to the short-lived plasticity boost from a paired pulse in electrophysiological experiments. A little push can go a long way.

$50

Neurotransmitter Sponsor

Contributes toward our goal of providing one student the opportunity to conduct research for a full semester.

$100

Synapse Sponsor

Provide funding for 3 student poster presentations

$250

Dendrite Sponsor

Contributes toward our goal of providing one student the opportunity to conduct research for a full semester.

$535

Neuron Sponsor

This covers one students' fees for two semesters, plus the poster for the poster session. This allows them to be paid for their time in lab independently of the lab's funding, for the entire duration of the program. Equivalent to the larger spatial scale plasticity that allows for neurons within a area perpendicular to the brain's surface to achieve similar functionality, and stability like the columns of the Parthenon.

$1,070

Circuit Sponsor

This covers two students' fees for two semesters, plus each of their posters. Fund two students and we can achieve a better chance of community and support systems that will help students remain in the program and research more broadly. Just like people, brain regions don't work in isolation, and this tier is equivalent to the song and dance of neural dynamics that give rise to cognition.

$3,000

Network Sponsor

This covers six students' fees for two semesters, plus each of their posters. Fund six students and we can achieve a better chance of community and support systems that will help students remain in the program and research more broadly. Neural networks demonstrate the interconnectedness of our nervous system, and your donation will ensure that more students will have the chance to connect with their passion of neuroscience.

$6,000

WHOLE BRAIN Sponsor!!!

This covers twelve students' fees for two semesters, plus each of their posters. Fund twelve students and we can achieve a better chance of community and support systems that will help students remain in the program and research more broadly. Just like people, brain regions don't work in isolation, and this tier is equivalent to the song and dance of neural dynamics that give rise to cognition.

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