The Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate (CID)
In the Fall of 2003 the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine was selected by the Carnegie Foundation to serve as a Partner Department in their Initiative to Examine the Doctorate (CID) in the discipline of Neuroscience. This 5 year program enables us to make a concerted effort to examine the way in which we prepare our students to become stewards of the discipline of Neuroscience, and to identify best practices developed here and by the other eight partner departments across the country. The outcomes of this process will help shape the path of graduate Neuroscience education in the United States. Most of the faculty, postdoctoral trainees and students in our department are involved in some aspect of our CID activities. One of our first efforts was to identify four core areas, specific to our department, in which to concentrate our introspection, exploration, and new activities.
Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate
1. The Role of Teaching
The charge from the CID Leadership Committee to this subcommittee is to define the goals of the teaching component of our Neuroscience Program and suggest how we can enhance this facet of our training program. The committee members include graduate students, postdocs, and faculty representing junior to senior ranks, all of whom have long-standing interests in the teaching activities and training in the Department.
2. Professional Portfolios
We decided that one of the ways in which to prepare our graduate students for the diversity of career options that will be available to them as neuroscientists was to help them create a portfolio of experiences and credentials tailored to their individual job aspirations. Such a portfolio might contain reprints, recordings of presentations, grant proposals, teaching evaluations etc. The goal is to have portfolio construction begin when a student enters the department, and to refine the portfolio toward particular career goals as the student progresses through the program.
3. New Career Pathways in Neuroscience
Our main goal is to develop a set of recommendations for Neuroscience students and professionals, regarding career opportunities outside of conventional academic research and teaching careers. We try to combine creative thinking about the diversity of opportunities available to neuroscientists with practical information about the requirements and realities of various career choices.
4. Full Circle Mentoring
Mentoring can be a key to professional success and satisfaction. We are exploring ways in which members of the Department can become better mentors at all levels. We believe that this does not just involve mentoring of students by research advisors, but also fostering supportive relationships between junior and senior students, between alumni and students, and by way of feedback from students to faculty members. Hence the concept of “full circle” mentoring.
