Go4Brains
High-School Neuroscience Summer Program for Students Underrepresented in Neuroscience
July 15-19, 2024
Deadline to Apply: March 1, 2024
Join us this summer for a week-long Neuroscience Program at the University of Minnesota!
While college education is an important stepping stone for financial and personal success, it has been widely documented that students from under-served communities are not being afforded the same opportunities as their peers. This also contributes to barriers to equity and inclusivity in neuroscience research.
Our mission is to work towards rectifying these inequalities in education and increase diversity in the field of Neuroscience, to improve neuroscience research and clinical care, and to improve equity in academia and in health outcomes. One of the ways we choose to do this is through the high school program, as these students have not yet committed to a career path and provide a rich talent pool from which to draw. We seek talented, motivated high school students who are curious and excited about learning.
We believe in the mantra ‘think globally and act locally’, and in beginning change with ourselves. We will therefore begin our program with high school students in the Twin Cities larger metropolitan region and will actively encourage engagement and feedback from the community to continuously improve our program. Future growth areas include expanding to other research areas and larger geographical areas.
DEADLINE TO APPLY IS MARCH 1, 2024
Go4Brains Program Video
Learn more about our Go4Brains program by watching this short video.
Go4Brains Video 12.8.20.wmv
Mission & Goals
Engage high school students (9-11th grade) from groups underrepresented in Science and Medicine with Neuroscience content in a manner which strengthens enthusiasm for the topic.
Foster curiosity and appreciation for scientific methods, including through demonstrations and direct experimentation.
Expose high school students from groups underrepresented in Science and Medicine to career opportunities in Neuroscience, and give them useful, practical information for how to begin and succeed in those career paths.
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 Highlights:
Get to hold a human brain
Get an EEG print of your brain activity and brain scanning demonstrations
See how research is done and conduct your own experiments
Neuroscience research lab tours
Meet neuroscience students and researchers
Help with outreach programs to teach younger kids how cool the brain is
Learn about future neuroscience summer opportunities
Learn about neuroscience related career paths and career skills
Get to know other high school students interested in the brain
Get paired with mentors who can answer your questions
Cost
Free for ten students who are selected for the summer program!
Students will receive a $400 stipend!
Meals and travel expenses will be covered for the whole week!
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 underrepresented in science and medicine. 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, are encouraged to apply on our website by taking an enrollment survey and returning the completed signed form back to us by Wednesday, March 1, 2024. Students will be notified in April 2024 of their acceptance into the program. The summer program is scheduled for July 15-19, 2024.
Sincerely,
Department of Neuroscience
University of Minnesota
View or Print Go4Brains Program Materials Below:
Mini Go4Brains Zoom Event
June 4th 10:30-11:30am
Free Virtual Event!
DEADLINE to register: June 3, 2021 by 12 pm
For all Go4Brains 2021 applicants!
We will have several speakers discussing University of Minnesota DEI initiatives, sharing their career stories/trajectory and challenges encountered as URM in Neuroscience, and leaders from different UofM Youth Programs.
Please use the buttons to register for the event and check out our event schedule.
You will be sent a Zoom link via email closer to the event date.
Mini Go4Brains Zoom Event Recording
RecordingofMiniGo4Brains.mp4
DEPARTMENT OF NEUROSCIENCE
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