Mission & Goals

• Engage high school students (9-11th grade) that have faced barriers to access science and medicine related opportunities.

• Educate them about neuroscience content in a way that excites and allows students to see themselves thriving in the field.

• Foster curiosity and appreciation for scientific methods, including through demonstrations and direct experimentation.

• Create community and provide students with a support network. This includes: Providing opportunities for team building during the program. Providing students with interactions with undergraduates pursuing careers in research. Providing an undergraduate mentor, a graduate student mentor, and a professor mentor.

• Encourage ownership and continuity of education, including via student content creation, outreach and/or research participation during the school year, and welcoming students back for multiple years.

• Ensure the program is accessible and demonstrate that the students and their contributions are valued, including via covering travel expenses and providing a stipend.

Program Description

Go4Brains is a week-long program offered by the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota geared for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade high school students that have faced barriers to access science and medicine related opportunities.  The program provides increased awareness of careers in neuroscience, provides students with engaging neuroscience learning activities, basic career and experimental skills, and establishes mentoring connections with faculty and students for long-term support. Throughout the week, students will attend short lectures, a poster session, and career skills workshops, learn about brain research, and make network connections. Students will learn useful and practical information for how to begin and succeed in a career within a Neuroscience field.

Twelve lucky students who enroll in the summer program will be selected from Twin Cities schools by letters of reference from either their science teachers, an organization leader, or a church pastor. We aim to increase the broadest possible participation in Neuroscience by strongly encouraging all students, especially those from groups that have been historically underrepresented in the US biomedical workforce, to apply on our website by taking an enrollment survey and returning the completed signed form back to us by Monday, March 10, 2025. Students will be notified in April 2025 of their acceptance into the program. The summer program is scheduled for July 21-25, 2025.

Sincerely,

Department of Neuroscience

University of Minnesota

View or Print Go4Brains Program Materials Below:

Go4Brains Flyer