Boot Camp
Students enter our program from a variety of academic backgrounds, bringing a great richness of prior experience. To begin to understand the fundamental techniques and principles of our common field, we have initiated a one-week Boot Camp at the beginning of the school year, to introduce incoming students to the range of techniques used in modern-day neuroscience research.
Faculty, postdocs, and graduate students who use and develop different techniques present broad lectures outlining the principles behind key research methods, explaining their pros and cons and their applications. Each lecture is followed by interactive demonstrations, with examples of how the techniques are actually implemented in the laboratory.
The course also aids students in choosing a lab for their first rotation project, exposing them early on to the different approaches utilized by our mentors. In addition, this intensive week at the beginning of the school year helps to establish good rapport with new classmates.
Topics covered in 2008 included: Electrophysiology; Microscopy, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Computational methods; Primate studies and imaging (intrinsic and fMRI); Fly and worm genetics; Circuit tracing, Culture Methods and Gene delivery. Click Here for the 2008 Boot Camp Course Schedule. (PDF)
Eighth Annual Neuroscience Poster Session
For the last eight years, an Annual Neuroscience Poster-Fest has been held annually in January. Students, postdocs and faculty in the Doctoral Program as well as neuroscientists from clinical departments such as Neurology and Psychiatry present their work in poster form, offering viewers an opportunity to interact with fellow students and scientists in areas other than their own. The posters are "recycled", having been prepared for recent meetings of the Society for Neuroscience, Biophysics Society, ANCP, Society for Developmental Psychobiology, ARVO, etc.
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Time: 3:00 to 6:00 PM
Location: Kolb Annex Lobby, 722 West 168th Street (40 Haven Avenue)
For questions: contact Alla Kerzhner ak487@columbia.edu
Retreat
A two-day biennial retreat for students, faculty and postdocs was held in upstate New York on October 5th-7th, 2007, at the Hudson Valley Resort located in Kerhonkson, New York. In addition to scientific sessions, there was time for socializing and recreational activities. The Hudson Valley Resort’s outstanding facilities are set amidst 400 acres of lush landscapes surrounded by the Shawangunk Mountains and adjacent to Minnewaska State Park- just 90 minutes from New York City. The casual atmosphere of the retreat encouraged the forging of academic and social ties among participants. In addition to brief research talks and a poster session by members of the program, representatives from industry presented a panel discussion about careers in biotechnology.
Two major events that draw together the entire neurobiology community at Columbia are annual honorary lectureships that commemorate two of our late faculty members -Alden Spencer and Steve Schuetze.
Recent Spencer lecturers include Joseph Takahashi, Eric Knudsen, Charles Gilbert, Huda Zoghbi, Thomas R. Insel, Emmanuel Mignot , Edvard Moser and May-Britt Moser, and David Tank and Winifred Denk.
Recent Schuetze lecturers include David Clapham, Jeremy Nathans, Yang Dan, and Liqun Luo.
Brain Awareness Week
Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is a series of events held around the world to increase public awareness about the brain This year BAW was held from March 12th -18th, and our students participated.
The Brain Awareness Week campaign, launched in 1996 by the Society for Neuroscience with The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, is supported by a coalition of over 1,200 science, advocacy, and other health organizations that share an interest in elevating public awareness of brain and nervous system research.
During the week-long educational blitz, neuroscientists sponsor a variety of educational activities for the general public including lectures, lab tours, classroom visits, and exhibits across North America to demonstrate the importance of basic neuroscience research to the health and well-being of the American public. For More information on BAW go to: http://www.sfn.org/baw/
Below are photos of Neurobiology graduate students Kelley Remole, Rebecca Schoer, and Gene Sirotin at The School at Columbia University, teaching 4th graders about the brain.
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