Annual Retreat
Every year in the fall, the Neuroscience Graduate Program holds an annual half-day retreat for students and faculty at an off-campus location. Typically, the schedule consists of several fun ice-breaker activities, short talks from new faculty about their career paths, and a seminar from a recent NGP alumna.
Community Outreach
Brain Awareness Week: Every March, NGP students participate in Brain Awareness Week, a series of events held around the world to increase public awareness about the brain. All NGP students participate in this event, which is held at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in downtown Columbus over several days. The exhibit consists of several stations which include:
- Human and animal brain specimens
- Hands-on activities to demonstrate brain plasticity
- A plastic brain model which could be taken apart and reassembled
N.E.U.R.O (Neuroscience Education: Urban and Rural Outreach) is a group of Ohio State faculty, students, and staff who share the desire to promote neuroscience literacy in the general public. Students in the Neuroscience Graduate Program developed N.E.U.R.O. with support from Ohio State and the Society for Neuroscience. Its purpose is to implement outreach events within underserved public schools in central Ohio. The program’s primary goal is to demystify neuroscience at an age when students are beginning to form lifelong interests, and thereby kindle an interest in basic scientific research.
The Community Service & Outreach Committee of the Neuroscience Graduate Student Organization (NGSO) plans several events each semester. Past events have included panels about careers in science given to local high school students, hands-on outreach events at local libraries and at a local STEM expo, and volunteer opportunities at on-campus events.
IGP Symposium
The IGP Symposium showcases the research of students belonging to the Life Sciences Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs: Biophysics; Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB); Neuroscience (NGP); and Ohio State Biochemistry Program (OSBP). The event involves the entire life sciences community at The Ohio State University and is intended to provide opportunities to renew connections, forge new ones, and witness the great science being done by our outstanding students. This symposium takes place on campus in May each year.
IGP Career Day
Every other spring, the Life Sciences Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs hosts a career day that includes talks and networking opportunities with successful professionals that hold a variety of job titles. Past speakers have included medical writers, industry scientists, NIH review officers, intellectual property lawyers, and more. Students have the opportunity to hear from and interact with all invited speakers.