Jointly Sponsored Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (JSPTPN)

The Jointly Sponsored Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences (JSPTPN) supports broad and fundamental research training in the neurosciences. This initiative began in 1997 to provide support during the early years of graduate training, the first and second years, typically before full-time thesis research begins. Trainees are expected to be participants in a formal predoctoral curriculum offering broad and fundamental training in the neurosciences. We encourage a curriculum that includes education in multiple levels of analysis, and an understanding of the tools, technologies, and methods used in contemporary neuroscience research. We also expect that training will be grounded in principles of rigorous experimental design, an understanding of the critical need for, and proper use of, statistics, and quantitative literacy.  Students should gain an understanding of the neurobiological basis of diseases and disorders of the nervous system as part of their core knowledge. The portion of the institutional training program supported by a Jointly Sponsored Predoctoral training grant typically includes core courses, laboratory rotations, and programmatic activities including the development of professional skills.  It is expected that these institutional training programs will contribute to basic and disease-related neuroscience research that is relevant to the participating NIH Institutes.

The Jointly Sponsored Institutional Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences is managed by a trans-NIH steering committee with one member from each of the participating Institutes. The current funding opportunity is PAR-22-265.  The next application deadline is May 25, 2024. For the calendar year 2024, Dr. Letitia Weigand is the committee chairperson. Please contact her by email ([email protected]) or phone (301-496-4188) if you have questions.

FAQs

Participating Blueprint Institutes and Program Contacts

National Institute on Aging (NIA) 
Contact: Maria Carranza, Ph.D. ([email protected])

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Contact: Lanay Mudd, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-594-9346

National Eye Institute (NEI)
Contact: Neeraj Agarwal, Ph.D. ([email protected])

National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Contact: Ivana Grakalic, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-443-7600

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Contact: Zeynep Erim, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-451-4797

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Contact: Ralph Nitkin, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-402-4206

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (NIDA) 
Contact: Beth Babecki, M.A. ([email protected]) 301-435-0899

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Contact: Anissa Brown, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-594-4805

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Contact: Carol Shreffler, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 984-287-3322

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (NIMH) 
Contact: Ashlee Van't Veer, Ph.D. (ashlee.van'[email protected]) 301-443-3107

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (NINDS) 
Contact: Delany Torres, Ph.D. ([email protected]v) 301-402-9286

Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
Contact: Dana Greene, Ph.D. ([email protected]) 301-451-3975

Participating Non-Blueprint Institutes and Program Contacts

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Contact: Alberto Rivera-Rentas, Ph.D. ([email protected])

National Institue of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Contact: Laurie Stepanek, Ph.D. ([email protected])

Currently Supported Training Programs
 

California

California Institute of Technology
Title: Predoctoral Training in Quantitative Neuroscience
Program Director: Markus Meister Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of California Berkley
Title: Neuroscience Training Program at UC Berkeley
Program Director: Daniel Feldman Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of California Davis
Title: Training Program in Basic Neuroscience
Program Director: Martin Usrey Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of California San Diego
Title: Neurosciences Graduate Training Program
Program Director: Timothy Gentner Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of California San Francisco
Title: Predoctoral Training in Neurobiology
Program Director: Samuel Pleasure MD/Ph.D. ([email protected])

Stanford University
Title: Training Program in Basic Neuroscience
Program Director: Merritt Maduke Ph.D. ([email protected])

Connecticut

Yale University
Title: Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
Program Director: Charles Greer Ph.D. ([email protected])

Georgia

Emory University
Title: Training in System and Integrative Biology Neuroscience
Program Director: Yoland Smith Ph.D. ([email protected])

Iowa

University of Iowa
Title: Neuroscience Training Program
Program Director: Daniel Tranel Ph.D. ([email protected])

Maryland

John Hopkins University
Title: Training Program in Neuroscience
Program Director: James Knierim Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of Maryland Baltimore
Title: Multidisciplinary Training Program in Neuroscience
Program Director: Jessica Mong Ph.D. ([email protected])

Massachusetts

Brandeis University
Title: Neuroscience: From Channels to Behavior
Program Director: Leslie Griffith Ph.D. ([email protected])

Harvard University
Title: PhD Training in Neuroscience
Program Director: John Assad Ph.D. ([email protected])

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Title: Computationally Enabled Integrative Neuroscience
Program Director: James DiCarlo MD/Ph.D. ([email protected])

Michigan

University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Title: Early-Stage Training in Neuroscience
Program Director: Leslie Satin Ph.D. ([email protected])

Minnesota

University of Minnesota
Title: Predoctoral Training of Neuroscientists
Program Director: David Redish Ph.D. ([email protected])

Missouri

Washington University
Title: Neuroscience Training Program at Washington University
Program Director: Daniel Kerschensteiner MD. ([email protected])

New York

Columbia University
Title: Neurobiology and Behavioral Training Grant
Program Director: Wesley Grueber Ph.D. ([email protected])

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Title: Training Program in Neuroscience
Program Director: George Huntley Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of Rochester
Title: Graduate Training in Neuroscience
Program Director: Anna Majewska Ph.D. ([email protected])

North Carolina

Wake Forest
Title: Neuroscience Training at Wake Forest
Program Director: Carol Milligan Ph.D. ([email protected])

Duke University
Title: Neurobiology Training Program
Program Director: Richard Mooney Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title: Neuroscience Predoctoral Training at UNC-Chapel Hill
Program Director: Mark Zylka Ph.D. ([email protected])

Ohio

University of Cincinnati
Title: Predoctoral Training Program in the Neurosciences
Program Director: James Herman Ph.D. ([email protected])

Oregon

Oregon Health & Science University
Title: Multidisciplinary Training in Neuroscience
Program Director: Gary Westbrook MD ([email protected])

Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania
Title: Graduate Training in Neuroscience
Program Director: Joshua Gold Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of Pittsburgh
Title: Predoctoral Training in Basic Neuroscience
Program Director: Stephen Meriney Ph.D. ([email protected])

Rhode Island

Brown University
Title: Interdisciplinary Predoctoral Neuroscience Training Program
Program Director: David Sheinberg Ph.D. ([email protected])

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University
Title: Training in Fundamental Neuroscience
Program Director: Danny Winder Ph.D. ([email protected])

Texas

Baylor College of Medicine
Title: Graduate Training in the Neurosciences
Program Director: Mathew Rasband Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of Texas San Antonio
Title: Integrated Graduate Training Program in Neuroscience, UTHSCSA
Program Director: David Morilak Ph.D. ([email protected])

University of Texas at Austin
Title: Pre-Doctoral Training in Interdisciplinary Neuroscience
Program Director: Amy Lee Ph.D. ([email protected])

Washington DC

Georgetown University
Title: Predoctoral Training in Integrative Neuroscience
Program Director: Ludise Malkova Ph.D. ([email protected])

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin at Madison
Title: Graduate Training in the Neurosciences
Program Director: Ari Rosenberg Ph.D. ([email protected])