The Diverse Neuroscientists Doctoral Training Series, or DeNDriTeS, offered by NYU Langone’s Neuroscience Institute provides diverse neuroscience graduate students with mentoring, career planning, and skill training as they prepare for their future careers.

Funded by an R25 grant awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, our program offers enhanced professional development to graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds and to students with disabilities.

We invite advanced predoctoral students to participate in professional development workshops and networking events to facilitate their transition into future research positions. Our program helps students refine their leadership skills, develop management styles, improve their written and oral communications, and hone quantitative skills that support their overall development as successful neuroscientists.

Importantly, our program also focuses on enhanced mentor training to help our faculty define clear mentorship philosophies and develop better practices for mentoring students from all backgrounds. By improving the academic and social atmosphere for our trainees, we create an environment that is inclusive of the entire neuroscience community.

Specific components of the program include the following.

Mentor Training

Our faculty are committed to providing a supportive and rigorous training environment, and we recognize the importance of equipping our faculty with the necessary tools to mentor our students effectively. Therefore, we provide multifaceted mentoring workshops that offer a well-rounded perspective on training.

Working with the National Research Mentoring Network, Corporate Counseling Associates, and NYU Langone’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, we have developed mentor training that focuses on many important topics such as diversity and inclusion, enhancing communication and expectations, mental health in the workplace, working with students with disabilities, and how to address concerns of discrimination.

Bimonthly Mentoring Meetings and Interdisciplinary Networking Events

As part of the program, we work with our cohort of student participants to organize bimonthly career development and interdisciplinary networking events. Through extensive planning with program leadership and participants, we developed a program that covers topics of importance to participants and benefits the entire community.

Program participants work with faculty to invite expert guests to meet with our trainees and discuss their career paths in an informal setting. Previous event topics have included methods of networking and how to be an effective mentor. In fall 2020, we hosted several events which include navigating academia with a family and general work life balance, how to navigate the research world with a disability, and how to succeed in other science careers. These events provide students with a platform to refine their communication skills and expand their scientific networks.

Annual Guest Speaker

Having diverse role models is crucial for trainee development. Therefore our program participants nominate an annual diverse guest speaker to invite and talk with about career paths. These speakers are leaders in the field of neuroscience and can discuss their personal career trajectories.

Graduate Student Talk Series

To allow our trainees to develop scientific networks outside of NYU, we developed a monthly graduate student talk series. As part of this series, we are inviting diverse advanced graduate students from surrounding institutions to present their work to the entire NYU neuroscience community, network with program participants, and meet with faculty one-on-one.

Summer Workshop Series

Each year we organize a summer workshop series that is open to our cohort and to the neuroscience community. For summer 2021, this extensive programming will also be open to trainees from surrounding institutions. We’re planning to add more workshops throughout the year.

Biostatistics for Neuroscientists

June 7–June 12, 2021
10:00AM–12:00PM
Manpreet Katari, PhD

Dr. Katari will provide a review of basic and advanced biostatistics concepts, with one-on-one and small group activities.

Creating Connections: An Introduction to the Alan Alda Method

June 29, 2021
10:00AM–12:00PM

Learn how to engage and inspire diverse audiences through effective communication, with a particular focus on virtual interactions.

The Essential Online: Alda Method

July 8, 2021
10:00AM–1:00PM

Scientists and researchers learn to connect with others virtually or in person using effective communication strategies and techniques that invite others to explore science and its significance.

This workshop has limited capacity and is open only to DeNDriTeS trainees.

Crucial Conversations

July 28, 2021
3:00–5:00PM
Sponsored by NYU Langone’s Office of Development and Learning

This interactive class prepares trainees for crucial conversations with everyone from mentors to committees to lab mates to partners at home.

For questions about our workshops or how to register, please email Holly Wasserman, EdD, OTR/L, program manager, at holly.wasserman@nyulangone.org

Professional Development Series

Starting in fall 2020, we partnered with neighboring institutions, such as the City University of New York, to invite diverse advanced graduate students to participate in our career development events. These events will include important topics that enhance professional and academic development such as navigating conflict, effective time management, how to get a postdoc position, and how to brand yourself using social media.

Book and Journal Club

Partnering with NYU Langone’s Postdoctoral Training program and the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences to maximize our impact on the entire NYU Langone community, we are starting a Book and Journal Club to discuss important topics and facilitate crucial conversations.

Travel

We understand that two critical components of success in academia are networking and sharing research progress. Therefore each member of our cohort is given $750 towards travel to present at conferences and attend workshops.

Networking

In the fall, we host a networking reception for our cohort, program faculty, and diverse alumni at the Society for Neuroscience conference. It is a great opportunity for current program participants and faculty to interact and foster important relationships with alumni.

Data-Driven Evaluation of the Program

To give us a better understanding of the critical factors that lead to successful scientific careers, we collect survey data from participating students on their training (for example, how often they meet with their mentors, do they attend career development activities) and outcomes (for example, where they go after graduation, do they publish their thesis work). Our goal is to use these data to continue to enhance our training program and support our students, ultimately leading to more diverse students staying in the scientific field